Bairnsdale to Orbost

Rail lines were built to Gippsland in the 1870s and initially played a crucial role in developing agricultural industries in Gippsland as well as tourism. It also played a crucial role in the development of coal mining in the Latrobe Valley in the 1920s. At its peak, the railway travelled as far east as Orbost and there are still frequent services to many of the towns. Some of the disused rail lines have been turned into tourist railways and/or rail trails.

The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company opened a line from Princes Bridge railway station to Punt Road (Richmond) and South Yarra in 1859, Prahran in 1859 and Windsor in 1860, connecting with the St Kilda and Brighton Railway Company line. This line was extended to Dandenong, Pakenham, Warragul, Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, Sale, Stratford and Bairnsdale between 1877 and 1879. It was extended to Orbost in 1916. The line east of Sale was closed in 1994, but was reopened to Bairnsdale in 2004.

The railway to Orbost opened in 1916 and operated until 1987, principally carrying timber and farming produce. In the early days of the railway's operation dedicated passenger trains ran but these ceased by the 1930s. The track infrastructure was dismantled in 1994. The line traversed a mixture of farmland, hills and heavily forested country. It included numerous bridges, including the Stoney Creek Trestle Bridge, the largest of its kind in Victoria.

This representation of the Bairnsdale to Orbost line is based upon when my father Gavin Anderson was a fireman working from Bairnsdale, which equates to the late 70's and early 80's. It has been built on DEM data so the hills and slopes should be fairly accurate. A number of custom items have been built for the route thanks to 'Jerker' (Garry Jenkinson) including the infamous Stony Creek Trestle Bridge. A big thanks to Garry as well for providing the DEM.  

Gavin and I hope you enjoy using this route as much as we have putting it together, a project which has been through at least 5 versions of Trainz and taken over 10 years to complete from start to finish.