Over the last few months I have really started enjoying bike riding as my main form of exersize, to the extent that I thought for a holiday I would bike ride along some of the Victoria (Australia) rail trails. I chose the Tallarook – Mansfield (Goulburn Valley High Country) and Wangaratta – Beechworth rail trails. Rather than re-invent the wheel, so to speak, below are some links to files generated from my general interest blog which also has a number of railway related photos and information in them.
- Day 1: Tallarook – Yea with a detour to the Kerriesdale Mountain Railway at Kerriesdale.
- Day 2: Yea – Bonnie Doon .
- Day 3: Bonnie Doon – Mansfield .
- Day 4: Wangaratta – Beechworth .
I have also uploaded a large number of photos to the photo gallery of this website, so below are a selection of them.
The Mansfield railway station in 2013 (above) is still in reasonable condition but lacks the hustle bustle of the station in the photo below (notice all the people!) taken in the early days of the station.
Of all the railway station locations on the rail trail, Yea is the best preserved example.
The station itself is made of brick. Today it is a major location on the rail trail, just as it was for the railway when it operated.
The Yea goods shed, shown above, is an example of a typical goods shed that once existed at various places on the Tallarook – Mansfield railway. This is the best preserved example of all that those remain today.
The Cheviot Tunnel, about 10km from Yea, heading towards Molesworth, was one of the most interesting features on the Tallarook – Mansfield line. The tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in Victoria and was lined with bricks built on site. It is estimated there are more than 650,000 bricks lining the tunnel.
The photo above shows the western entrance to the Cheviot tunnel. Below is a photo of the Brickwork inside the tunnel
The Tallarook – Mansfield section of the rail trail is around 120km long, with a branch from Cathkin to Alexandra. The bridges on the trail are all well made, and mostly use the existing concrete supports built when the railway was built or upgraded by the Victoria Railways later in the life of the railway line. The example below, near Milepost 87, is an example of the high quality of the bridges on the trail.
Some of the bridges are there as relics of timber trestle bridges, such as the one below. In those instances, the rail trail goes around them, but the remains are there as a reminder of the way bridges were built in the past.
At Bonnie Doon there is a long and tall bridge across Lake Eildon. It might not look tall with lots of water in the lake, but when the lake was empty a few years ago the height of the bridge was apparent.
To see all the photos of the Tallarook – Mansfield rail trail, including some of Mansfield shot in 2012, go to the Tallarook – Mansfield photo album in the Photo Galleries section of the website.
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