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Healesville | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Closed line – Yarra Valley Railway, Yarra Valley Trail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner |
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Locale | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Continues from | Lilydale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connecting lines | Lilydale, Warburton lines, Yarra Valley Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stations |
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Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | Former Melbourne suburban service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) |
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History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Commenced | 15 May 1888 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened |
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Completed | 1 March 1889 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed |
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Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 24.773 km (15.393 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of tracks | Single track | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Healesville railway line , in Melbourne, Australia, was the non-electrified continuation of the suburban Lilydale line, extending into the Yarra Valley. The line closed in the 1980s, but a heritage railway group, the Yarra Valley Railway, is working to retain part of the line between Yarra Glen and Healesville.
The Lilydale line was extended to Yarra Flats (now known as Yarra Glen) on 15 May 1888 with intermediate stations at Coldstream and Yering. [1] Part of the structure included a long timber viaduct with 502 openings near Yarra Glen, spanning the Yarra River and the adjacent flood plains. [2] The extension of the line from Yarra Glen to Healesville on 1 March 1889 required a 1 in 40 climb into a 154.4 metre tunnel with a corresponding descent at nearly the same grade. [3] Opened at the same time was the intermediate station of Tarrawarra.
Traffic on the line included timber, livestock, milk and dairy products. Early timetables included regular goods services specifically for transporting milk.
The last regular steam passenger service was hauled in August 1964. From that time until the closure of the line in 1980, passenger services were run using diesel-electric rail motors. As from 9 December 1980 all services were withdrawn, except for some goods services to Coldstream. The line was officially closed to all traffic on 10 March 1983. [4]
Around 2003, the uncontrolled level crossings at Beresford Road and Macintyre Lane were effectively removed by simply rebuilding the roads at a slightly raised level, burying the tracks beneath the bitumen. This was advantageous for the bus company whose depot is situated near the Beresford Road crossing as buses are required to come to a complete stop at uncontrolled level crossings even if the rail line is disused. Stopping is no longer necessary now that the crossing has been removed.
On 7 February 2009, most of the trestle bridges which were a major part of the viaduct crossing the Yarra river and its floodplains were destroyed in the Black Saturday bushfires.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2024) |
The Healesville line had both passenger and freight services. The passenger services generally ran as a shuttle between Lilydale and Healesville stations. The freight services transported local timber, live-stock, and dairy products. Early trains running on the line included a daily evening "mixed milk and passenger train" and a single milk train on Sundays.
Prior to electrification reaching Lilydale in November 1925, the line was operated by 'A2' locomotives. After this time passenger trains on the Healesville and Warburton lines were run by two electric motor carriages from Melbourne to Lilydale, at which place 'K' or 'D3' steam locos took the carriages onto Healesville and Warburton.
On 28 October 1957, the steam hauled 7-day-a-week service was replaced by a 153hp Walker railmotor operating four services a day each way and three on weekends. Prior to this, services were limited to three each way on weekdays and two each way on weekends. On 21 April 1958, the Victorian Education Department subsidised school trains using a Walker railcar. This rail car service crossed with other services at Yarra Glen until 1972.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2024) |
Services to Healesville mostly departed from Lilydale. Throughout the existence of the line many steam and diesel locomotives and railcars operated on the Healesville line.
By 1913 all classes of locomotives were permitted on the line, however by 1918 all classes but the C class were allowed.
Towards the closure of the line the DERM (Diesel Electric Rail Motor) was only permitted a maximum speed on 30 km/h and no locomotive-hauled passenger trains were permitted. Only "Y" class diesels could haul the freight services due to the deterioration of the track condition, which resulted in the derailment of T401 on 5 August 1980.
This section needs to be updated.(May 2024) |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2024) |
The Yarra Valley Railway currently run a Walker railmotor from Healesville to the Tarrawarra Winery, crossing the Watts River, under the Donovan's Road overbridge and through the tunnel.
There are plans in place to improve the line from Healesville to Tarrawarra to a standard suitable for the running of Rail Motors, with further goals being reconstruction to Yarra Glen. Works are underway to restore the track from Yarra Glen to Healesville following the loss of 13 bridges on Black Saturday 2009.
Railmotor operations have commenced with restored 153 hp walker railmotor RM22 receiving accreditation to run a passenger train on the line as of 5 March 2010. It ran its first paying passenger run since restored on 7 March with the seats being auctioned in singles, doubles and triples to the exhibitors of the model railway show.
The tourist railway is in possession of a number of locomotives, including two Victorian Railways J-class steam engines, a T-class diesel-electric locomotive, a W-class diesel-hydraulic locomotive, a Y-Class diesel, a 153 hp Walker Rail motor and a diesel electric rail motor (DERM).
A rail trail is being progressively constructed as the Yarra Valley Trail along the whole disused alignment of the line, including the reconstruction of bridges. Between Yarra Glen to Healesville, the trail will run parallel to the track. Future connections were also proposed to link up Healesville to the Warburton rail trails and form a loop. Stage 1A of the rail trail opened between Lilydale and Yering in February 2020. [5]
Station | Opened [6] | Closed [6] | Age | Notes |
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Lilydale | 1 December 1882 || || data-sort-value=51,732 | 141 years | |||
Blacks Siding | 29 May 1911 || 10 May 1946 || data-sort-value=12,765 | 34 years | |||
Coldstream | 15 May 1888 || 1992 || data-sort-value=38,052 | 104 years | |||
Yering | 15 May 1888 || 15 March 1981 || data-sort-value=33,906 | 92 years | |||
Yarra Glen | 15 May 1888 || 9 December 1980 || data-sort-value=33,810 | 92 years | Formerly Yarra Flats | ||
1985 || 1989 || data-sort-value=1,461 | 4 years | Tourist service | |||
1993 || 1994 || data-sort-value=365 | 12 months | ||||
Tarrawarra | 15 May 1889 || 15 March 1981 || data-sort-value=33,541 | 91 years | |||
1988 || 1989 || data-sort-value=365 | 12 months | Tourist service | |||
1992 || 1994 || data-sort-value=730 | 24 months | ||||
Healesville | 1 March 1889 || 12 September 1980 || data-sort-value=33,432 | 91 years | |||
1990 || || data-sort-value=12,419 | 34 years | Tourist service |
A railcar is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach, with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railway companies, such as the Great Western, termed such vehicles "railmotors".
Lilydale railway station is a commuter railway station and the terminus of the Lilydale line, serving the north-eastern Melbourne suburb of Lilydale in Victoria, Australia. Lilydale is an elevated premium station, featuring an island platform with two faces. It opened on 1 December 1882, with the current terminus station and stabling provided in 2022.
Yarra Glen is the city-end terminus of the Yarra Valley Railway, which operates over part of the former Healesville railway line.
Tarrawarra was a station on the former Healesville line between Yarra Glen and Healesville stations, in Victoria, Australia. The station opened in 1889 and closed along with the line in December 1980. In the 1970s, timetables showed that the station was a flag stop because of the small number of passengers using the station.
Healesville is a railway station in Victoria, Australia. Formerly the terminus of the Healesville railway line, it is currently the principal station of the heritage Yarra Valley Railway. A temporary station was built on the site in 1888–1889 when the railway line was extended from Lilydale to Healesville. The current station was built in 1903 and is now listed with Heritage Victoria.
Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.
The Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail is a walking, cycling and horse-riding track in eastern Victoria, Australia. It runs a distance of 40 km (25 mi) between Lilydale and Warburton, along the former Warburton railway line in the Yarra Valley.
The Yarra Valley Railway is a heritage railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne, Australia.
The Warburton railway line just outside Melbourne, Australia, was a railway branching off from the Healesville line at the present terminus, Lilydale.
The South Gippsland railway line is a partially closed railway line in Victoria, Australia. It was first opened in 1892, branching from the Orbost line at Dandenong, and extending to Port Albert. Much of it remained open until December 1994. Today, only the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne remains open for use. The section of the line from Nyora to Leongatha was used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway until it ceased operations in 2016. The section from Nyora to Welshpool, with extension trail to Port Welshpool and a portion of the former line at Koo Wee Rup, have been converted into the Great Southern Rail Trail.
The South Gippsland Railway was a tourist railway located in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It controlled a section of the former South Gippsland railway line between Nyora and Leongatha, and operated services from Leongatha to Nyora, via Korumburra, the journey taking about 65 minutes.
Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it.
The steam rail motors (SRM) were self-propelled carriages operated by the Great Western Railway in England and Wales from 1903 to 1935. They incorporated a steam locomotive within the body of the carriage.
The Gulflander is a passenger train operated by Queensland Rail on the isolated Normanton to Croydon line in the Gulf Country of northern Queensland, Australia.
The Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM) was a type of railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways in Australia.
The MT type carriages were railmotor trailers, used on the Victorian Railways (VR) in Australia.
The New Deal for Country Passengers was a timetable introduced on 4 October 1981 in Victoria, Australia which revolutionised the provision of country passenger railway services in that state. Thirty-five little-used passenger stations were closed, rolling stock utilisation was improved, and new rolling stock introduced. The timetable and associated service changes resulted in an average patronage growth of 8.7% per year, from 3 million in 1981 to 5.6 million passengers in 1990/91.
The family of Walker railmotors were a type of diesel railcar operated by the Victorian Railways in Australia.
Creamy Kate is a former New South Wales Government Railways railmotor, numbered 38. It is an evolution of the CPH rail motor class.