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Gippsland Railway

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The '''Gippsland Railway''' is the general name for rail lines between Melbourne and Gippsland. Rail lines were built to Gippsland in the 1870s and initially played a crucial role in developing agricultural industries in Gippsland as well as tourism. It also played a crucial role in the development of coalmining in the Latrobe Valley in the 1920's. At its peak, the railway travelled as far east as Orbost, Victoria Orbost and there are still frequent services to many of the towns. Some of the disused rail lines have been turned into tourist railways and/or rail trails.

Services and Branchlines
The Victorian Government finished a railway to Gippsland in 1878. The first train to Warragul, Victoria Warragul (99km) started running in March 1878. Warragul was the hub for the Noojee Line (opened 1919, closed 1959). In 1987 suburban services started to Warragul. Moe (130km) was a major hub with the narrow-gauge line north to Walhalla, Victoria Walhalla (part preserved by the Walhalla Goldfields Railway) (opened 1910, Erica-Walhalla closed 1944, Moe-Erica closed 1954), and the broad-gauge Yallourn, Victoria Yallourn and Thorpdale lines (opened 1888, closed 1958). Morwell, Victoria Morwell (144km) (opened 1877) was the hub for the Mirboo North line (32 km, opened 1886, closed 1974) and the Maryvale paper siding. There was a major upgrade in 1954 with the duplication and electrification to Morwell, Victoria Morwell mainly for the brown coal "Briquettes". The line to Traralgon (158km) opened 1877. The line branched at Traralgon to Stratford (222km), with one line via Sale, Victoria Sale (207km) (opened 1877), the other via Maffra, Victoria Maffra. It continued to Bairnsdale, Victoria Bairnsdale (274km) (closed 1993, reopened 2004) and Orbost, Victoria Orbost. The Victorian Fast Rail project upgraded one of the two lines in 2004, between Pakenham, Victoria Pakenham and Traralgon, Victoria Traralgon.

Significance
The expansion of the railroad in the late 1870's helped to develop Gippsland. It enabled milk from western Gippsland to be sold fresh into Melbourne while the dairy industry of east Gippsland provided cheese and butter. It also enabled development of west Gippsland's market gardening and orcharding industry for sale in Melbourne markets. It also encouraged the development of a tourism industry notably at Lakes Entrance, Victoria Lakes Entrance. It did however end coastal shipping traffic and the use of Sale and Bairnsdale as ports. In the 1920s, the Gippsland railway played an important role in developing the mining of lignite coal and the development of the LaTrobe Valley for power generation primarily serving Melbourne and Victoria. This saw the development of industry in towns such as Yallourn, Morwell, Traralgon, Moe, Warragul and Drouin, Victoria Drouin. The development of the Gipplsand Railway helped fuel the Melbourne land boom in the 1870s. The original departure point for the railway was Oakleigh, Victoria Oakleigh with the line connecting Oakleigh and Melbourne not built until 1879. The Victorian railways bought land in Oakleigh for use as workshops. Oakleigh became a centre of what was known as "railway fever" as developers developed and marketed houses close to rail lines between Oakleigh and other suburbs for use of workers travelling to and from their job. At the height of the land boom in 1888, land sales were being held two or three times a week in the district. The collapse of the land boom in 1889 led eventually to banking collapses in 1893 and the major depression of the 1890s.

Tourism Railways and Rail Trails
Many of the lines in Gippsland have closed because they had become uneconomic. Some of these have been turned into tourist railways including: * the Walhalla Goldfields Railway between Moe and Walhalla, Victoria Walhalla; and * the South Gippsland Railway between Leongatha, Victoria Leongatha, Korumburra, Victoria Korumburra and Nyora, Victoria Nyora. Other stretches of line have become rail trails for use by bicyclists. These include: * the Noojee Trestle Bridge Trail in the upper reaches of the Latrobe River; * a section between Erica and the Thomson River, Victoria Thomson River on the former Walhalla railway; * Collins Siding to Tyers Valley Rail Trail near Moe; * Moe to Yallourn Rail Trail; * Mirboo North to Boolara Rail Trail; * Great Southern Rail Trail from Leongatha, Victoria Leongatha to Foster, Victoria Foster; * Bass Coast Rail Trail Kilcunda, Victoria Kilcunda to Wonthaggi, Victoria Wonthaggi; * East Gippsland Rail Trail from Bairnsdale, Victoria Bairnsdale to Nowa Nowa, and in 2005 being extended to Orbost, Victoria Orbost; and the * Gippsland Plains Rail Trail from Stratford, Victoria Stratford to Maffra, Victoria Maffra.

External links

- South Gippsland Railway
- City of Monash page on the Gippsland Railway
- Gippsland Rail Trails
- Monash University gazeteer on Oakleigh
- Monash University gazeteer on Moe Category:Regional railway lines in Victoria

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