South Gippsland Railway

The South Gippsland Railway was a tourist railway located in south Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It controled a section of the former South Gippsland line between Nyora and Leongatha, operated services from Leongatha to Nyora via Korumburra taking around 65 minutes.

History

Redhen railcar and goods rollingstock at Leongatha station

The South Gippsland line was opened from Dandenong to Cranbourne in 1888 and extended to Koo Wee Rup, Nyora and Loch in 1890, Korumburra and Leongatha in 1891. The section from Lang Lang to Leongatha was transferred to the South Gippsland Railway in 1994. Freight trains continued to use the line from Dandenong as far as Koala Siding near Nyora until 1998. There is a remaining option for another railway group to take over the assets and line lease of SGR this would be considered as part of the winding up provisions of the existing entity. ^[1]

Projects

Due to the closure of operations by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway Inc, all projects have been suspended until such time as the operation is either handed over to a new operator or the line and facilities are dismantled or sold.

Station works are in progress at both Nyora and Korumburra stations. Korumburra works include the establishment of works sheds and locomotive and rollingstock stabling sheds. The work commenced in February 2009, and was scheduled to be completed by 30 June.^[2]

Nyora works include the repairs to the station building, including repair of internal and external wall cladding, establishment of a new Safeworking Office and public space/meeting facilities in the main room of the station.

Rollingstock refurbishment projects include two ABU First/Second class corridor compartment carriages #32 and #40 being transferred to the railway,^[2] and cleaning up and repainting to original colours of various goods wagons.

On 15 June 2010 railmotor 61RM arrived. This unit is owned by Victorian Goldfields Railway and is on a long term loan to the South Gippsland Railway for use on its services. The 61RM was supplied with a motor unit that was well overdue for refurbishment. The motor unit was not suited to the gradients and hills on the South Gippsland Railway line, and has been since withdrawn from service pending a major reconditioning and mechanical overhaul.

Steam locomotive K 190 was on loan to the railway during the summer of 1995–1996, and repainted the engine and tender a more noticeable green. She was once again returned for service with the SGTR during the summer of 1996–1997. The locomotive was withdrawn by its owner, Steamrail Victoria, just prior to the permanent line closure between Nyora and Cranbourne. This section of rail has now been partially dismantled, and due to no maintenance is unable to carry rail vehicles without full repairs and in some areas complete replacement of rails and embankments. The SGR is now on a "landlocked" line, no longer able to connect with the Greater Melbourne network.

Future projects also include possibly restoring/reserving the line north of Nyora to Cranbourne, which is the current suburban limit for Metro trains. While the line between Cranbourne and Nyora is unused, obstacles to the development of the whole line include toilet blocks built over the line at the Koo Wee Rup Bus Interchange, and unstable bridges in some locations. After research into the viability of restoration, the line between Nyora and Lang Lang (15 km) is the easiest section to restore, and discussions continue with regard to this project concept and its associated costs.

On December 4 2015, it was announced that all operations had been suspended until further notice and the fate of the line is now unclear.^[3]

Rollingstock

South Gippsland Railway had a collection of ex Victorian and South Australian passenger rolling stock. With the closure of the railway, the re-distribution of the rollingstock will be determined in coming months, with all privately owned rail vehicles to be removed as a first priority. VicTrack will then redistribute the remainder to other rail groups, should a new operator for the South Gippsland Tourist line not be found.

·Y 135 Shunting/Branchline Diesel Locomotive (In Service)

·RM 55 Diesel Electric Rail Motor (Under Restoration, Completion 2015)

·RM 61 Diesel Electric Rail Motor (Engine Repairs, Transfer to Maldon 2015)

·RM 402 South Australian Rail Motor (In Service)

·RM 311 South Australian Rail Motor (In Service)

·17 CW Passenger Guards/Mail Van (In Service)

·63 ABW First/Second Class Passenger Car (In Service)

·32 ABU First/Second Class Passenger Car (Under Restoration, Completion 2015)

·40 ABU First/Second Class Passenger Car (Under Restoration, Completion 2015)

·34 BE Second Class Air Conditioned Pass Car (In Service)

·19 BE Second Class Air Conditioned Pass Car (Stored Pending Restoration)

·36 BE Second Class Passenger Car (Stored Pending Restoration)

·200 MT Railmotor Trailer (In Service)

·24 ZF Freight Guards Van (In Service)

·40 C Passenger Guards Van (Stored Pending Restoration) (Owned by GSRS)

·SGR also has a varied collection of freight rollingstock in service or awaiting restoration.

Regular train services

Regular Sunday train services were provided by three train types. These are:

• V.R. Y class locomotive 135, which can haul up to two or three passenger carriages and goods rolling stock.
• V.R. Railmotors RM55 and RM61.
• S.A.R. Rail Motor "Red Hen" as 1 or two car sets.
• S.G.R. also used to utilise GSRS owned V.R. T Class diesel locomotive number 342. It was leased out to the Australian freight operator El Zorro. T342 is currently stored at Seymour pending restoration by the GSRS.

Whilst during school holiday periods, services were operated on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Special trains and charters

South Gippsland Railways operate regular Sunday trains on the complete Lenogatha to Nyora section. In addition, a number of "special" trains are operated by the railway.

These include the Dinner Train, a service providing in-train hospitality, beverages and snacks, with a barbecue-style evening dinner at Korumburra Station. This services run approximately every two months.

Another special service is the Murder Mystery Train—by group booking only—where an entertainer/host and passengers, participate in character costume.

Closure

The last train Ran on the 29th of November 2015 to Leongatha. At the AGM on the 16th of January 2016, the membership decided to close the railway due to many factors including the low active volunteer members and lack of financing to repair aging rollingstock and infrastructure.

Stations

Carriage 19BE at Korumburra

Van 17CW at Korumburra

South Gippsland Railway
Legend Line to Dandenong, closed from Nyora to Cranbourne 90.507km Nyora former Wonthaggi line, closed 1978 95.041km Loch Jeetho 105.792km Bena Whitelaw 111.896km Korumburra former Outtrim line, last section closed 1953 116.339km Kardella 121.510km Ruby 126.735km Leongatha former line to Yarram and Barry Beach, last section closed 1992

See also

• Welcome to the South Gippsland Railway - Website
• Tourist and Heritage Railways Act

References

External links

• South Gippsland Railway - (official site)

Coordinates: 38°25′19″S 145°47′40″E / 38.42194°S 145.79444°E / -38.42194; 145.79444