Yallourn railway line

Two different railway lines serviced Yallourn during its existence. Both were broad gauge branches from the main Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. The first was a line branching from a junction at Hernes Oak, situated between Moe and Morwell, which was in service from 1922-1955. The second Yallourn railway line junctioned at Moe, and was used between 1953 and 1986.

Operated by the Victorian Railways and successors, the lines served the Yallourn Power Station, the associated open cut brown coal mine, and a briquette factory complex, all operated by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV), as well as the adjacent company town of Yallourn. The alignment of the first branch line has been lost due to the expansion of the Yallourn mine. The second line is now part of the Moe to Yallourn Rail Trail.

The first branch was opened in January 1922 to transport briquettes from the briquette production operations at Yallourn to Melbourne, in addition to transporting supplies to the power station located beside the coal mine. It left the main line at Hernes Oak, initially with a staff locked set of points and a loop siding. When traffic increased, that was altered to include a crossing loop, siding, and signal box.

In later years, outward traffic from the briquette works increased, and an electrification program for the Gippsland line was put into place as part of Operation Phoenix. Further complications arose when expansion plans for the Yallourn open cut mine encroached on the alignment of the branch, and given the presence of 1:50 gradients on the line, it was decided to rebuild the line to Yallourn along a completely new alignment.

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