Wonthaggi railway line
| Wonthaggi railway | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | V/Line passenger service |
| Status | Closed |
| Operation | |
| Commenced | 1909 |
| Opened | 1910 |
| Closed | 1978 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 30 mi (48.3 km) |
The Wonthaggi railway line is a closed railway line located in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Its primary purpose was to serve the State Coal Mine but the line also provided passenger and general goods services. The line was opened in 1910 and closed in 1978.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Victorian Railways depended on black coal to fire its steam locomotives. Although black coal deposits around Korumburra in South Gippsland had been exploited since 1891, the seams were narrow, costs of production were relatively high, and in 1900 their production accounted for just a quarter of Victoria's consumption. It was cheaper for VR to purchase coal from Newcastle, New South Wales, however a protracted miners dispute in 1909 threatened supplies and led to an even stronger commitment by the Murray Government to securing local supplies. With the Korumburra mines unable to meet Victorian Railways' demand for 1000 tons of coal a day, a promising seam on the Powlett River which had been tested in 1908 was rapidly developed as a mine site and the government opened the mine for commercial purposes in 1909. While the first shipments were taken by sea from Inverloch, a railway was rapidly constructed to service the new mine.
Originally known as the "Powlett River railway", the Wonthaggi line was built extremely rapidly. A 15 1⁄2-mile (25 km) branch line from Nyora to Woolamai had already been approved, branching from the South Gippsland line (the Great Southern Railway) just east of Nyora railway station, but work had not started. In December 1909, a 14 1⁄2-mile (23 km) extension of the branch from Woolamai to the Powlett River coalfield was given parliamentary sanction.
...
Wikipedia