Walhalla is a town in Victoria, Australia, founded as a gold-mining community in late 1862, and at its peak, home to around 4,000 residents. As of 2023, the town has a population of 20 permanent residents, though it has a large proportion of houses owned as holiday properties. It attracts large numbers of tourists and is a major focus of the regional tourism industry. The town's name is taken from an early gold mine in the area, named for the German hall of fame, the Walhalla temple.
The Walhalla Goldfields Railway is a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge tourist railway located in the Thomson River and Stringers Creek valleys in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, near the former gold-mining town and tourist destination of Walhalla.
The Walhalla railway line was a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge railway located in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The line ran from Moe to the former gold-mining town and popular tourist destination of Walhalla. Construction began in 1904. The line closed in sections from 1944 to 1954.
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia, built a number of experimental 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.
Temporary Station Site was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The station was never officially opened or named, it was used during the construction of the railway. It consisted of the main line and two loop lines, with a possible dead-end siding for ballast loading.
Gould was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The station was opened in 1910 and consisted of a station platform and a goods siding.
Moondarra was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The station was opened in 1910, consisting of a "waiting shed" and a goods siding. For a time a tramway also operated from the station, which opened in March 1937 and closed during the 1940s.
Watson was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The station was opened in 1910, it consisted of a "waiting shed".
Erica was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Officially opened in 1910, it became the terminus of the line on 4 October 1952, following the closure of the section of track to Platina, and closed on 25 June 1954.
Platina was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The station was opened in 1910, and consisted of a passenger shed and a number of sidings. The Evans brothers built two lime kilns nearby in 1912, and had their own siding at the station, connected to the kilns by a tramway.
Murie was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The station was opened in 1910 and was closed on 22 April 1914. In lieu of Murie station, Knott's Siding, located a half-mile towards Moe, was opened to passenger traffic.
O'Shea and Bennett's Siding was a railway siding on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, named for the local sawmill company of William O'Shea and David Bennett. The siding opened in 1921. Located at the down end in a dead end was the White Rock Lime Company's original siding, later moved to Platina. It closed in 1941 under the name Ezard's Siding, the name having been changed after the purchase of O'Shea and Bennett's sawmills by James Ezard in 1931.
Walhalla was a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The station was originally built to serve the Gold Mine town of Walhalla, however just 3 years after the line opened the last gold mine in the town closed.
Thomson is a railway station on the Walhalla narrow gauge line in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located where the line crossed the Thomson River. The station was situated on the section of line closed in 1944.
Rail transport in Australia involves a number of narrow-gauge railways. In some states they formed the core statewide network, but in the others they were either a few government branch lines, or privately owned and operated branch lines, often for mining, logging or industrial use.
The Walhalla Goldfields Rail Easement is a 7.7 kilometre trail which follows the former route of the narrow gauge Walhalla railway line between Erica and Thomson station, near Walhalla in Victoria's east. Another small section of the former line, which runs through Moondarra State Park between Moe and Erica, also opens as the unofficial Moondarra Rail Trail.
Unlike the broad-gauge, the Victorian Railways' 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge network never had four-wheeled trucks. Instead, a single design of 249 underframes was constructed, with identical structure, bogies, couplers and brake equipment. Different bodies were provided on these frames for each purpose. The most common, by far, was the convertible flat/open truck, followed by cattle, louvred, insulated and boxcar types.
This article outlines the history and types of passenger rolling stock and guards vans on the narrow-gauge lines of the Victorian Railways in Australia. The types were constructed in parallel with very similar designs.
