Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
| Yarra Valley Railway | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | Tourist railway |
| Termini | Healesville Tarrawarra |
| Operation | |
| Completed | 1888 |
| Closed | 1983 |
The Yarra Valley Railway is a Heritage railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne, Australia.
The Lilydale-Melbourne railway was extended from Lilydale to Yarra Flats (now known as Yarra Glen) on the 15 May 1888 with intermediate stations at Coldstream and Yering. Part of the structure included a long timber viaduct with 502 openings near Yarra Glen, spanning the Yarra River and the adjacent flood plains. The extension of the line from Yarra Glen to Healesville required a 1 in 40 (2.5%) climb into a 154.4 metre tunnel with a corresponding descent at nearly the same grade. The Healesville Station opened on 1 March 1889 with an intermediate station at Tarrawarra.
Traffic on the line included timber, livestock, milk and dairy products. Early timetables included regular goods services specifically for transporting milk.
The last regular steam passenger service was hauled in August, 1964. From this time until closure of the line in 1980 passenger services were run using Rail Motors. After 9 December 1980 no services operated beyond Coldstream and the line was officially closed to all traffic on 10 March 1983. It was partially reopened as far as Yarra Glen for tourism purposes in 1986 following major bridgework. However, these services ceased by 1990.
The railway is currently running a Walker Railmotor RM22 from Healesville to the Tarrawarra Winery, crossing the Watts River, under the Donovan's Road overbridge and through the historic tunnel.
On the 17 July 2010 the official launch of the Walker Railmotor service occurred with the first passenger service to leave Healesville Railway Station in over 30 years. Future goals include reconstruction to Yarra Glen and Lilydale. During major bushfires in February 2009, the line suffered the loss of several large and small trestle bridges, both on the operating and non operating section.
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