Railways - Tramways

To conclude this series on local railways, is a final post devoted to the district tramways.

Grampians Tramway - a tramway was built from Stawell to carry Heatherlie quarried stone to the main railway line.

Embankment at Stawell West, where the line crossed the Wimmera Highway

Trolley at the Heatherlie Quarry

The Mt Difficult Heatherlie “Grampians freestone” sandstone quarry, was established in the early 1860s. The quarry employed between 100-150 men. The Heatherlie township was surveyed in in the 1880s, but most workers preferred to live in Stawell Large quantities of stone were taken from the quarry between 1880 and 1930, demand dropped with the Depression of the 1890s and the quarry closed in 1892/93. It operated spasmodically between 1900 and 1938, and closed again in 1938, due to lack of orders. It finally ceased major operations in 1941. Heatherlie stone was used for several local buildings in Stawell, including the Court House, the Town Hall, the Anglican Church and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church. The stone was also used on the construction of significant public sites in Melbourne – Parliament House, the State Library & Melbourne Town Hall.

Stawell, taken by Mark Bau standing on the Grampians Line in 1982

In 1881, a contract for construction of a government-financed Stawell to Heatherlie branch railway was signed. The tramway was 15 miles long and used 50lb rails, Victoria Railways constructed sidings at Fyans Creek in 1885, and at the quarry in 1886. The first train of stone from the quarry reached Stawell in February 1882. Stone was moved in blocks weighing up to 11 tons. The line was duplicated from the Grampians Junction to Stawell Station in 1889. There were also sidings for the Stawell Brickworks which was abolished in 1965, and a siding for the Stawell woollen mills, and a flour mill siding close to the Stawell station.

Line to the sidings - grain silo on left, woollen mill chimney (white), brickworks chimney (centre), Grampians line parallel to Melbourne line on the right.

For many years after its construction tourists and day-trippers also used the line. The railway line was officially closed in 1949 and dismantled in 1950s. There are a few remnants still visible - raised earth, some of the sleepers and a few rails still in place at the end of the line.

The Melbourne line, Grampians line & sidings line looking towards the Stawell station

A Rail Trail following the Grampians line starts at Stawell West, and heads west towards the Grampians the first 2.5km are on a path south of the original easement. The rest of the trail (about 9km) is along the old rail alignment, parallel to Mt Dryden Rd. and close to Lake Lonsdale. At Heatherlie, the trail can be walked for about 1.5km towards Stawell.

The Grampians tramway walking track at Heatherlie

Warranook (Wal Wal Ballast Pits Line) Tramway
The Warranook tramway was constructed to access the gravel pits providing railway ballast for the Murtoa-Warracknabeal section of the Patchewollock line. The tramway ran from Wal Wal station name changed from Warranook to Wal Wal in 1887) to Riachella just over 5 miles away. It was constructed in 1884-85, with a timber bridge over the Dunmunkle Creek. Gravel was extracted from a number of sites until 1906, later sections were utilised for timber gathering, and in 1920s for carrying wheat. The line was dismantled in 1936. The Riachella Tramline Road is now on the alignment of the tramline. 

Riachella

 McKenzie Creek Tramway

The Horsham Borough Council and the Shire of Wimmera operated the McKenzie Creek Tramway to a stone quarry which transported road making materials from McKenzie Creek (about 8kms south of Horsham) on second-hand railway trucks hauled by horses. One truck at a time was hauled up the hill from the quarry, then two horses together pulled the load to the depot at the showgrounds. The McKenzie Creek quarry was the nearest source of suitable stone for roadwork improvements. Firewood for the brick kilns near the Wimmera River bridge were also conveyed along the tramline.

A picnic group using the McKenzie Creek tram, 1920 from "Horsham in focus"

Construction of the line from the top of McPherson Street in Horsham began in 1884 and the horse tramway opened in 1885 and ceased operating in 1927. The tramway was dismantled as unemployment work during the Depression, and the rails sold for telephone poles. Special picnic trains operated from time to time conveying residents in open wagons for picnic parties at Bungalally.

McKenzie Creek Quarry site today

 Mt Zero Quarry Tramway
The Mt Zero Quarry provided beaching stone used in the construction of Taylors Lake (1919) and Pine Lake (1928) storages. The horse-drawn tramway was laid down from the quarry to Taylors Lake and later lifted and moved to Pine Lake. The formation is still visible in places.

Mt Zero from south of Taylors Lake

Sources: "A history of the Grampians Tramway" R.K. Whitehead, "Horsham in focus" Noelene Jenkinson & Marie Foley, "A story of Horsham" Brian Brooke & Alan Finch, Mark Bau's VR.net site.