The O'Keefe Rail Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

connecting

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

with Heathcote. The sandy gravel trail runs along a former branch line on the Melbourne-Sydney rail line. It previously ran from Bendigo to

Axedale Axedale is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the McIvor Highway, in the City of Greater Bendigo, east of Bendigo. It was surveyed and proclaimed in 1861. At the 2021 census, Axedale had a population of 984. The town is nestled a ...

but works completed in 2015 extended the route to HeathcoteO'Keefe Rail Trail – Trail Description
Rail Trails Australia The trail includes a number of bridges, including the $50,000

Axe Creek Axe Creek is a locality in the City of Greater Bendigo. The McIvor Highway McIvor Highway is a short Victoria (state), Victorian highway (44 km) linking Bendigo and Heathcote, Victoria, Heathcote. Together with Hume Freeway (until Wal ...

Suspension Bridge, which was built in 1993. In early 2014 a pedestrian/cycle bridge was built over the

Campaspe River The Campaspe River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The ...

. The trail also includes a tunnel that crosses under the

McIvor Highway McIvor Highway is a short Victoria (state), Victorian highway (44 km) linking Bendigo and Heathcote, Victoria, Heathcote. Together with Hume Freeway (until Wallan, Victoria, Wallan) and Northern Highway (Victoria), Northern Highway (until H ...

. This was constructed as part of the

crossing project in 2014. The trail is named after

Andrew O'Keefe Andrew Patrick O'Keefe AM is an Australian former television presenter and lawyer. He co-hosted the weekend edition of breakfast program ''Weekend Sunrise'' from 2005 until 2017 as well as the Australian versions of game shows ''Deal or No De ...

, an early railway pioneer.

History

The Heathcote to North Bendigo line was built by O'Keefe in 1888 after successfully tendering 88,409 pounds to build the of track and 50 bridges. It formed part of the Wandong to Bendigo line, and was commissioned as part of the

Railway Construction Act 821 The Victorian Government's Act No. 821, the Railway Construction Act 1884, authorised the construction of 59 new railway lines in the colony, plus additional infrastructure. Promoted by the Minister for Railways, Thomas Bent, and passed on 12 De ...

, which authorised large amounts of railway infrastructure to be built. At the time, Heathcote had a population of 1500, and was part of the supply chain for the gold rush. From 1888 for several decades, the railway was kept busy supplying timber for mine shafts, and as fuel. At its peak, two trainloads of timber was transported each day. However, by 1958, this had dwindled to less than a trainload of freight per week, and the service was suspended. The track was finally dismantled in the 1970s.

References

External links

Sources

O'Keefe Rail Trail – UpdatesO'Keefe Rail Trail
*"O'Keefe Rail Trail", City of Greater Bendigo, 2000.
Friends of the Bendigo-Kilmore Rail Trail
Rail trails in Victoria (state) {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub