The Forrest railway line is a former branch railway in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia. It branched off the
Warrnambool railway line
The Warrnambool railway line (also known as the South West line, formerly known as the Port Fairy railway line) is a railway serving the south west of Victoria, Australia. Running from the western Melbourne suburb of Newport through the citi ...
at
Birregurra, and ran through the foothills of the
Otway Ranges
The Great Otway National Park is a national park located in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately southwest of Melbourne, in the Otway Ranges, a low coastal mountain range. It conta ...
to the town of
Forrest.
It opened to
Deans Marsh on 19 December 1889, and to Forrest on 5 June 1891.
It had eight stations at opening: Whoorel, Deans Marsh, Arlett's Corner, Murroon, Dewing's Creek, Gerangamete, Barwon Downs, and Yaugher. On 21 September 1891, four stations were renamed: Arlett's Corner became Pennyroyal, Dewing's Creek became Barwon Downs, Barwon Downs became Yaugher, and Yaugher became Forrest. In the 1940 timetable, trains stopped at the same eight stations as in September 1891, with the train taking fifty minutes to get from Forrest to Birregurra. The line closed in March 1957.
The Forrest railway was a key means of transport for the Otway Ranges timber and coal industries.
Prior to the opening of the
Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated t ...
, the Forrest railway, with connecting coaches at
Deans Marsh, was also the primary means of reaching the coastal resort town of
Lorne.
An extension of the line from Forrest to
Barramunga was discussed from the 1890s until at least the 1910s. In 1904, it initially received the support of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways but, following an unfavourable report from an officer of the Railways Department, it did not proceed. Local campaigns for the extension continued for several years thereafter, but were unsuccessful.
The Birregurra-Forrest "Tiger"
Rail Trail is a walking and cycling track which follows a section of the alignment of the former Forrest line.
Line guide
References
{{Victorian Railway Lines, branch
Closed regional railway lines in Victoria (state)
Transport in Barwon South West (region)