The Yallourn 900 mm railway was a
narrow gauge railway operated by the
State Electricity Commission of Victoria in the
Latrobe Valley
The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nes ...
of
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. The railway was built for the haulage of
brown coal
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...
and
overburden
In mining, overburden (also called waste or spoil) is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. Overburden is distinct from tai ...
between the
Yallourn open cut mine, briquette works, and power station. The Morwell Interconnecting Railway (ICR) was later constructed, linking the Yallourn mine complex with the
Hazelwood open cut, briquette works, and power station.
Operation
The network used
overhead-wire electrification, and track in the open-cut mine was frequently moved using special track shifters. Locomotives were supplied by
Henschel & Son
Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehic ...
,
Siemens, and
Hitachi.
Use of the electric locomotive declined in later years, with diesel locomotives used on the Interconnecting Railway in the 1990s.
The Yallourn railway commenced operation with the power station, being replaced by conveyor belts in 1984.
The Morwell Interconnecting Railway opened with the Hazelwood complex, and crossed the
main Gippsland railway by an overpass to the West of Morwell. The ICR was replaced by diesel locomotive haulage in 1993,
with railway operations ending in October 2000 and the track was lifted between September and December 2001. A number of wagons from the railway after closure were acquired by the
Walhalla Goldfields Railway
The Walhalla Goldfields Railway is a narrow gauge tourist railway located in the Thomson River and Stringers Creek valleys in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, near the former gold-mining town and tourist destination of Walhalla.
History
...
and regauged for their use. A locomotive and coal wagon from the line are preserved at the
North Williamstown railway museum.
Gallery
Image:Coal-dredge-and-train-yallourn.jpg, Trains being loaded by a coal dredge in the open cut.
Image:Overburden-wagons-dumping-to-spreader.jpg, Loaded wagons dumping overburden
In mining, overburden (also called waste or spoil) is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. Overburden is distinct from tai ...
Image:Track-shifter-dredge.jpg, Special wagon used for moving track in the mine
Image:Track-shifter-side-on-yallourn.jpg, Special wagon used for moving track in the mine
See also
*
Yallourn railway line
Two different railway lines serviced Yallourn during its existence. Both were broad gauge branches from the main Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. The first was a line branching from a junction at Hernes Oak, situated between Moe and Morwel ...
References
Further reading
*{{cite book
, last = Vines
, first = J.A.
, title = Train Systems – Yallourn and Morwell Open Cuts
, publisher = Generation Victoria
, year = 1994
External links
*Railpage Australia
Former Inter-connecting railway (SECV) Morwell*Ausloco mailing list
*Darren's Gunzel Gallery
Locomotive and rolling stock plans
Railway lines in Victoria (Australia)
900 mm gauge railways in Australia
Transport in Gippsland (region)
City of Latrobe