Yackandandah railway line

The Yackandandah railway line was a railway line in Victoria, Australia, constructed by the Victorian Railways. It was one of the earliest branch lines constructed in Victoria. The line served the major regional town of Beechworth, which had been active in campaigning for the main rail route into New South Wales to run via the town.

Yackandandah railway line
Overview
Status	converted to Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail
Termini	Everton Yackandandah
Continues from	Bright line
Stations	4
Operation
Opened	Everton-Beechworth: 30 September 1876 Beechworth-Yackandandah: 23 July 1891
Closed	Yackandandah-Beechworth: 2 July 1954 Beechworth-Everton: 30 December 1976
Owner	Victorian Railways
Operator(s)	Victorian Railways
Technical
Line length	37.1 kilometres
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map Bright line Everton Baarmutha Beechworth Woorragee Yackandandah Victorian broad gauge standard gauge narrow gauge

That was not to be and the line to Beechworth was built as a branch from the North East line at Bowser, opening on 30 September 1876. An extension opened to Yackandandah on 23 July 1891. The line was already running at a loss six months after it opened.[1] The extension to Yackandandah closed on 2 July 1954, and the section between Everton and Beechworth on 30 December 1976.[2] The section between Bowser and Everton, which was also part of the Bright line, remained open until 13 April 1987.[3][4]

In the 1990s, the route of line between Bowser and Beechworth became part of the Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail.[5] In September 2018, work commenced on a $6.2 million project to extend the rail trail to Yackandandah.[6]

References

1. "THE YACKANDANDAH RAILWAY LINE". Wodonga And Towong Sentinel (328). Victoria, Australia. 11 December 1891. p. 3. Retrieved 20 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
2. Yackandandah Line Vicsig
3. Bright Line Vicsig
4. Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 28. ISBN 0 909650 49 7.
5. Bright Rail Trail Tourisminternet
6. "Beechworth to Yackandandah Rail Trail". Indigo Shire Council. Retrieved 23 July 2020.