The Daylesford Spa Country Railway (which is operated by the Central Highlands Tourist Railway) is a volunteer-operated 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a section of the closed and dismantled Daylesford line, and currently runs services between Daylesford and the hamlet of Bullarto.
| Daylesford Spa Country Railway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Stations | Daylesford to Bullarto |
| Website | dscr.com.au |
| Service | |
| Type | Tourist Railway |
| History | |
| Opened | 1880 |
| Closed | 1978 |
| Reopened | 1990 |
History
editVictorian Railways era
editThe original line was opened in two stages, from the mainline junction at Carlsruhe to the town of Trentham, on 16 February 1880. The remainder of the line, from Trentham to Daylesford, was opened a month later on 17 March. The line initially had significant goods and passenger traffic, with 50,000 passengers travelling the line in 1884 alone. However, over the next seventy years, both traffic and the quality of line gradually degraded, until the last passenger service was replaced with a road coach in 1978.
Reopening as a tourist railway
editThe Central Highlands Tourist Railway was founded two years later, and set about restoring the railway to operating condition. After several years of restoration, trolley services commenced from Daylesford station to a temporary terminus located in the Wombat State Forest, a distance of 3.2 km, in the latter half of the 1980s. On 15 September 1990 rail services commenced between Daylesford and the nearby hamlet of Musk, a distance of 5.4 km. Another 3.8 km of line was opened on 17 March 1997, allowing services to operate as far as Bullarto, 9.2 km from Daylesford. As Bullarto station had been demolished, this required building a new platform and installing a portable station building.
In 2002, the organisation changed its trading name from the Central Highlands Tourist Railway to the Daylesford Spa Country Railway.[1]
On the evening of 23 February 2009, bushfires in the Daylesford region destroyed 1.6 kilometres of track running through the Wombat State Forest, with about 2000 sleepers destroyed, rails buckled, and the last two broad-gauge cattle pits on a running railway in Victoria destroyed.[2] As a result, services were truncated, running out of Daylesford on the 1.7 km of line which remained unaffected.[3] The repairs were expected to cost $250,000.[4]
In August 2010, services over the first 5.4 km from Daylesford to Musk were reinstated after repairs to the damaged section through the forest, and the rest of the line through to Bullarto was reopened in December 2013.[5]
Rollingstock
editDSCR Locomotives & Railmotors
edit| Number | Image | Year built | Builder | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RM 7 | 22 July 1949 | Under Restoration | 102 hp Walker railmotor. Stored for future restoration. | ||
| RM 32 | 24 March 1953 | Operational | 153 hp Walker railmotor. | ||
| RM 53 | 15 February 1926 | Under Restoration | A double ended Leyland railmotor | ||
| RM 62 | 21 July 1930 | Stored | DERM, Stored for future restoration | ||
| RM 63 | 
|
7 August 1930 | Operational | DERM | |
| RM 74 | 8 February 1937 | Under Restoration | Passenger mail motor. | ||
| RM 82 | 11 October 1950 | Stored | 280 hp Walker railmotor. Spare parts for RM 91. | ||
| RM 85 | 15 May 1951 | Stored | 280 hp Walker railmotor. Stored for future restoration. | ||
| RM 91 | 30 May 1952 | Operational | 280 hp Walker railmotor. | ||
| DRC 40 | 
|
18 May 1971 | Operational | Diesel Rail Car. | |
| Y 159 | 
|
14 March 1968 | Operational | Y Class Diesel Locomotive | |
| RT 3 | 15 February 1957 | Operational | Rail tractor |
Trailers and Carriages
edit| Number | Image | Year built | Builder | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 MT | 29 August 1930 | Stored | DERM trailer. Stored for future restoration. | ||
| 56 MT | 5 February 1952 | Stored | Walker railmotor trailer | ||
| 200 MT | 24 April 1928 | Operational | Brill railmotor trailer | ||
| 28 C | 15 December 1891 | Stored | C van | ||
| ZL 544 | 26 February 1918 | Operational | ZL van | ||
| BN 1 | 16 September 1981 | Operational | N type carriage | ||
| BRN 52 | October 6, 1983 | Operational | N type carriage | ||
| ACN 54 | October 6, 1983 | Operational | N type carriage |
Current operations and extension plans
edit
The railway operates every Sunday, with five return services to Bullarto and one to Musk on its regular time table. In 2017, the railway commenced operations on Wednesdays during the school holidays with three return services to Bullarto. On the first Saturday evening of each month, the railway operates the Silver Streak Food and Wine Train.,[6] although these have been suspended since March 2020 [7]
The railway also runs the famous Daylesford Sunday Market within the station grounds, which has been an important part of the railway's activities since the early 1980s.
In 2018 a new platform opened adjacent to the Passing Clouds winery at Musk, opening up new opportunities for passengers to enjoy the hospitality of the winery and travel there by vintage train.
For many years, there have been plans to re-open the line from Bullarto to Trentham, which is 9.7 km from Bullarto and 18.9 km from Daylesford. While these plans were on the back burner for some time, this re-opening is now in planning and is considered a priority project by Hepburn Shire Council.[8] The project will see the reopening of the disused Lyonville and Trentham stations, and the construction of a new station at Wombat Forest. However no date has been set for when the Bullarto-Trentham section will reopen.
Line guide
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See also
editReferences
edit- Osborne, M., (1993?), Timber, Spuds and Spa, A descriptive history and lineside guide of the railways in the Daylesford district 1880–1993, Australian Railway Historical Society: Victoria Division, ISBN 0-85849-044-7
- ^ "History". www.dscr.com.au. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- ^ "Daylesford Spa Country Railway in jeopardy". Hepburn Advocate. hepburnadvocate.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
- ^ "Daylesford Spa Country Railway Timetable". dscr.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
- ^ "Daylesford Spa Country Railway seeks $1.7m for repairs". Hepburn Advocate. hepburnadvocate.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
- ^ "Regular Operations to recommence between Daylesford and Bullarto". Daylesford Spa Country Railway. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ "Daylesford Spa Country Railway - Timetable and Fares". Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
- ^ "The silver streak". Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ^ "Crossing The Divide - Spa Country Railway - Construction" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
External links
edit- http://www.dscr.com.au/ - official site