Daylesford Spa Country Railway

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Daylesford Spa Country Railway
Line details
Completed	1880
Closed	1978
Reopened	1990
Stations	Daylesford to Bullarto
Rail transport in Victoria
Closed railways

The Daylesford Spa Country Railway (which is operated by the Central Highlands Tourist Railway) is a volunteer-operated broad gauge tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a section of the formerly disused and dismantled Daylesford line. It presently operates between Daylesford and the hamlet of Bullarto.

1 History
2 Reopening as a Tourist Railway
3 Current Operations and Future Extension Plans
4 References
5 List of stations
6 External links

[edit] History

The original line was opened in two stages - from the mainline junction at Carlsruhe to the town of Trentham, on February 16, 1880. The remainder of the line was opened a month later on March 17. The line initially had significant goods and passenger traffic, with 50,000 passengers travelling the line in 1884 alone. However, over the next seventy years, both traffic and the quality of line gradually degraded, until the last passenger service was replaced with a road coach in 1978.

[edit] Reopening as a Tourist Railway

The Central Highlands Tourist Railway was founded two years later, and set about restoring the railway to operating condition. This proved to be a difficult task - while the right-of-way remained intact, the line had already been dismantled right through from Carlsruhe to Daylesford, with the exception of small yards at Daylesford and Trentham. However, they were able to use the historic Daylesford station as a base, which was largely intact, complete with outbuildings and yards.

After several years of restoration attempts, trolley services commenced to a temporary terminus located in the Wombat Forest in the latter half of the 1980s. On September 15, 1990, rail services commenced between Daylesford and the nearby hamlet of Musk. Another section of line was opened on March 17, 1997, allowing services to operate as far as Bullarto. As the station had been demolished, this required building a new platform and installing a portable station building, which remains as of 2004. In 2002, the organisation changed its trading name from the Central Highlands Tourist Railway to the Daylesford Spa Country Railway.

[edit] Current Operations and Future Extension Plans

Sunday market adjacent to Daylesford station

The railway operates most Sundays, with five services on its regular timetable - three that travel directly to Bullarto and bypass Musk, one that only goes as far as Musk, and one that travels express to Bullarto and then stops at Musk on the return journey. On the first Saturday evening of each month, the railway also operates the Silver Streak Champagne Train. The railway also operates a weekly Sunday market on land adjacent to the Daylesford station, which both provides revenue and assists to promote its services.

In 2004, DSCR confirmed that it was interested in reopening the Bullarto-Trentham section of line and issued a proposal to this effect. However, it is still in the planning stages, and numerous obstacles must still be faced before this can begin. While the reservation is still intact, many sections are now privately-leased from the crown, as are both stations on this stretch - Lyonville and Trentham.

[edit] References

Osborne, M., (1993?), Timber, Spuds and Spa, A descriptive history and lineside guide of the railways in the Daylesford district 1880-1993, Australian Railway Historical Society: Victoria Division, ISBN 0-85849-044-7