Kew railway line

The Kew railway line was a former railway line in Melbourne, Australia. The line ran from Hawthorn to Kew. It was opened on 19 December 1887 and was officially closed on 13 May 1957. The last train ran on 18 August 1952 after years of decline.

The Kew line was a single track railway 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length, departing from the western side of Hawthorn station and running parallel to the Lilydale line for several hundred metres, before curving to the north between the Grace Park and Glenferrie Oval. The line then entered a curved cutting, where three road bridges passed overhead for Chrystobel Crescent, Mary Street, and Kinkora Road. The cutting ended, and a level crossing was provided at Hawthorn Grove, before Barker station was reached. Barkers Road was then crossed, before the terminus of Kew station was reached in a cutting to the south of Wellington Street.

The construction of a railway to Kew was pushed by the Kew Railway League, which urged that the line branch from the Lilydale line west of Hawthorn station, passing on an easy curve on the right side of Bulleen Road (now Church Street, Hawthorn and High Street South, Kew), through low-lying vacant land and old brick fields, to Kew and Prospect Hill. A tunnel under Burwood Road would have been required, but that was offset by no cuttings being required.

The line eventually decided upon by the Victorian Railways consisted a single track line 1.5 mi (2.4 km) in length, as described above, the construction contract being let to Noonan Brothers contractors for £18,086 ($36,172). Residents and members of the Kew Borough Council were unhappy with the course of the line, criticising it for not being the most direct route to Kew.

The first train left Princes Bridge station on 19 December 1887 at 5.40 am, and arrived at Kew to be greeted by the Station Master, a ticket seller, and the signalman. There was no ceremony on the opening, but once the last spike was driven a bottle of Irish whisky was produced from a portable hut near Barker station to celebrate the occasion.

...
Wikipedia