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Tasmania

Anchor 1

Former Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Company locomotive No. 1 and train shortly after departing Queenstown on the West Coast Wilderness Railway, 28 December 2015.

Australian Railway Historical Society, Tasmanian Division

https://railtasmania.com/arhs/

The Australian Railway Historical Society, Tasmanian Division, holds entertainment meetings throughout the year. The Division also maintains an archive of historic photographs, mostly of Tasmanian railways.

 

Derwent Valley Railway

www.dvr.org.au

Derwent Valley Railway has a collection of locomotives and rolling stock. It is currently working towards operating services between New Norfolk and Mt Field National Park. The yard and workshop facilities at New Norfolk are open for guided tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays. New Norfolk is approximately 30 km north-west of Hobart.

 

Don River Railway

www.donriverrailway.com.au

Don River Railway has a collection of steam and diesel locomotives and heritage rolling stock. Exhibits include former Tasmanian Government Railways steam and diesel locomotives, and the museum is open daily, except Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day. Don River Railway operates train rides each hour from the depot at Don to Coles Beach. Trains run from Thursdays to Sundays, except Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day. Don is located near Devonport, approximately 290 km north of Hobart.

 

Ida Bay Train

www.idabaytrain.org

The Ida Bay Train operated along 7 km of 610 mm gauge railway line that was originally used for transporting limestone. It is not currently running but hopes to re-commence in the future. It is not currently running. Ida Bay is approximately 100 km south of Hobart.

 

Launceston and North East Railway

www.lner.com.aul

Launceston and North East Railway hopes to preserve rail heritage and re-establish a tourist rail service in north-east Tasmania. Plans include maintaining Tasmanian English Electric diesel locomotives in operational condition. Launceston is approximately 200 km north of Hobart.

 

Launceston Tramway Museum

www.launcestontramwaymuseum.org.au

Launceston Tramway Museum has a collection of trams that operated on the former Launceston tramway network, as well as historical exhibits from the tramway era. The museum and tram rides are available from Tuesday to Sunday. The museum is adjacent to the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery. Launceston is approximately 200 km north of Hobart.

 

Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery

www.qvmag.tas.gov.au

The Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery is housed within the former Inveresk Railway Workshops at Launceston. It has a range of science and art collections. Railway exhibits include several locomotives and items of rolling stock, as well as displays regarding the workshops and the history of railways in Tasmania. The museum and art gallery is open daily except Good Friday and Christmas Day. Launceston is approximately 200 km north of Hobart.

 

Railtrack Riders

www.railtrackriders.com.au

Railtrack Riders operate pedal-powered four-wheel vehicles along the railway line between Maydena and National Park. The line traverses tall forests and provides insights into the region’s local heritage and scenic beauty. Journeys of different time and duration are available. National Park station is located near the entrance to Mount Field National Park and is approximately 70 km north-west of Hobart, and Maydena is approximately 80 km north-west of Hobart.

 

Sheffield Steam and Heritage Centre       

www.sheffieldsteam.com.au

Sheffield Steam and Heritage Centre operates a 1 km section of 610mm gauge railway at Sheffield. On display at the site are the former Sheffield railway station and various items of machinery. Trains operate on the first weekend of each month using a former Commonwealth Carbide 0-4-0 well tank steam locomotive and heritage passenger carriages. Sheffield is the location for Steamfest on the first weekend of March each year, featuring displays of vintage machinery, traction engines, vintage cars and tractors, as well as other activities and entertainment. Sheffield is approximately 270 km north of Hobart.

 

Tasmanian Transport Museum

www.tasmaniantransportmuseum.com.au

The Tasmanian Transport Museum has a collection of steam and diesel locomotives, railcars, passenger and goods rolling stock, trams, buses and other historical items. Exhibits include former Tasmanian Government Railways steam locomotives, a Climax logging locomotive, and X1, the first mainline diesel locomotive to operate in Australia. Also at the site are the former Newtown railway station building and former Botanic Gardens signal box. The museum is open on Sundays and some public holidays. Train rides usually operate twice each month, using a rail motor on the first Sunday and a steam locomotive on the third Sunday. The museum is located at Glenorchy, a northern suburb of Hobart.

 

Wee Georgie Wood Steam Railway

www.weegeorgiewood.com.au

Wee Georgie Wood Steam Railway operates a 1924 0-4-0 well tank steam locomotive Wee Georgie Wood along 1.6 km of 610 mm gauge railway at Tullah in the west coast region of Tasmania. The railway also has two other steam locomotives, one of which is partly restored, a diesel-mechanical locomotive, and two heritage passenger carriages. Trains operate on selected Saturdays and Sundays of each month from October to April. Tullah is approximately 310 km north-west of Hobart.

 

West Coast Heritage Centre

www.wchczeehan.com.au

West Coast Heritage Centre has a range of displays regarding the history of Tasmania’s west coast. Railway exhibits include a former Tasmanian Government Railways 2-6-0 C Class steam locomotive and locomotives from private railways in the west coast region. The centre is open daily except Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Zeehan is approximately 300 km north-west of Hobart.

 

West Coast Wilderness Railway

www.wcwr.com.au

West Coast Wilderness Railway operates 35 km of railway between Queenstown and Regatta Point at Strahan in the west coast region of Tasmania. It is one of Australia’s most scenic train journeys. The line traverses rugged mountain terrain and includes an Abt rack and pinion section of track. Restored steam locomotives operate train services over the line. A museum displaying photographs and historical items is located at Queenstown station. The railway between Queenstown and Regatta Point operated from 1899 to 1963. A Federal Government grant enabled the line and locomotives to be restored, and it was officially re-opened in 2003. Various journeys are available on different days from Queenstown and Strahan to Dubbil Barril and return, or for travel over the whole line. Interpretive commentary is provided regarding the railway and history of the local area. Queenstown is approximately 260 km north-west of Hobart, while Strahan is approximately 300 km north-west of Hobart.

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Maryborough is a regional town in Victoria with a population of around 8000 people. It is located 224 km by railway north-east of Southern Cross station in Melbourne. Maryborough railway station has a vast building of a size that would usually be found in a major capital city, rather than a medium-sized regional town. There are several myths and inaccuracies about the station.

 

Railways Reach Maryborough

A railway from the east reached Maryborough on 7 July 1874 with the opening of the section from Castlemaine on the Bendigo line. No official ceremony was held to commemorate the opening, reportedly because the first station building had not been finished. From Maryborough the line was extended north to Dunolly three months later on 6 October. The following year Maryborough was connected from the south with the opening of the railway from Ballarat via Clunes on 2 February 1875. Another year brought a new railway when the line was opened from Maryborough westward to Avoca on 21 October 1876. It was now a location with railways extending away in four directions.

 

Maryborough’s first station was opened on 7 July 1874 with the first railway to reach the town. Although it contained waiting rooms, a dining room, lamp room and residence, it came to be seen as inadequate to service the growing railway traffic in Maryborough. The new station, which is the current station, was built on the site of the first station, which continued to operate as work progressed. Work commenced in 1890 and it was completed in 1891.

 

Maryborough Station

David Swanson was awarded the contract of nearly £21,983 for construction of Maryborough station. Its base is made from bluestone slabs, and most of the construction is made of red bricks. Cement rendering was used for decorative purposes. The building contains 25 rooms. A total of 511 square yards (427 square metres) of tiles were used for the floors in the booking hall, refreshment room, kitchen and toilets. The tessellated floor was done by Cawkwells of Malvern, who also tiled the floor of Parliament House in Melbourne. Around 66,000 slates were imported for the roof, and 18,000 square feet (1672 square metres) of glass was brought from Melbourne to use in the skylight. The entrance portico is supported by four marble columns, each 12 foot 4 inches (3.8 metres) in height, and has bluestone steps leading to it. Marble mantelpieces were used in the rest rooms. The booking hall has decorative timber work in its ceiling. The verandah of the station building features a hipped roof with a continuous louvred lantern along the ridge. Cast-iron columns also function as downpipes for storm water, which is stored in underground tanks. Maryborough’s platform is 328 metres in length, and the verandah extends for 101 metres. Although the station building had a clock tower from its opening, a clock was not installed until 1914.

 

Construction was scheduled to be finished on 1 April 1891, but was not actually completed until 30 August. Plans were in place for an official opening ceremony and reception, with Premier Duncan Gillies to unveil a foundation stone, on 7 November 1890. However, Gillies was overthrown as Premier on 5 November and the ceremony was cancelled. There is a story that a foundation stone acknowledging Gillies was laid with the inscription facing inwards. However, a search during renovation work during the 1980s was unable to find any evidence of an inscription on an inward facing stone.

 

It has been claimed that a banquet to commemorate the completion of the station building was held in its dining room on 28 August 1891, although work was not actually complete until two days later. However, a search of newspapers at the time reveals no reports of a banquet or any official opening for the building.

 

Why such a large station?

A myth suggests that bureaucrats involved in the planning and design of the station building believed that it was to be constructed at Maryborough in Queensland, a much larger town at the time. However, Queensland and Victoria were separate colonies with their own railway systems. It is unlikely that such a mistake would have occurred. Additionally, station architecture in Queensland and Victoria at the time had distinctive differences.

 

The official reason given for construction of such a large station building is that the existing facilities at the time were inadequate. Part of the historical significance of the station is that it is an example of the lavish expenditure on railways at the time. The Railway Construction Act of 1884 led to the building of 59 new lines and other works. It is often referred to as the ‘Octopus Act’ because the new lines spread out like the tentacles of an octopus. Many lines were built for political reasons and were never profitable. Although the railways to Maryborough had been opened before this time, it was an era of massive railway expenditure. Maryborough was seen as an important hub of the state’s railway network and an elaborate station building was part of the facilities required.

 

Duncan Gillies, who was Premier of Victoria and Minister for Railways when the station design was approved, had previously represented Maryborough in the Legislative Assembly, and he retained business interests in the town. When Alfred Outtrim, the local Member of Parliament at the time, advocated the need for a new station at Maryborough, Gillies sent him to the planning office of Victorian Railways. Outtrim returned with a design that was approved by Gillies. The design had been an alternative for Spencer Street (now Southern Cross), one of the largest stations in Melbourne. Gillies’ connection with Maryborough may have had some influence in him approving the large station.

 

Mark Twain

It is often stated that American author Mark Twain described Maryborough as a station with a town attached. What he actually wrote was, “…you can put the whole population of Maryborough into it...”

 

Mark Twain visited Maryborough during his travels in October 1895. In his book Following the Equator he recalls a gentleman he met on the train on the way to Maryborough who described its station.

Don’t you overlook that Maryborough station, if you take an interest in governmental curiosities. Why, you can put the whole population of Maryborough into it, and give them a sofa apiece, and have room for more. You haven’t fifteen stations in America that are as big, and you probably haven’t five that are half as fine. Why, it’s perfectly elegant. And the clock! Everybody will show you the clock. There isn't a station in Europe that’s got such a clock. It doesn’t strike — and that’s one mercy. It hasn’t any bell; and as you’ll have cause to remember, if you keep your reason, all Australia is simply bedamned with bells. On every quarter-hour, night and day, they jingle a tiresome chime of half a dozen notes — all the clocks in town at once, all the clocks in Australasia at once, and all the very same notes.

 

Later History

Maryborough was one of the last areas in Victoria to see regular steam locomotive workings. Railway enthusiasts came to see and capture the sights and sounds before dieselisation took hold. By the end of 1967 steam operations in the area had ceased.

 

With the replacement of The Vinelander passenger train by road coaches in September 1993, Maryborough station was closed. Restoration work on the station commenced in 2006 and was completed in June 2008. Passenger services were re-introduced on 25 July 2010.

 

Today Maryborough station sees several services daily with VLocity trains operating between Ballarat and Maryborough. The building also features a café, bar and gallery.

 

References

‘A station with a town attached’, Victorian Collections, https://victoriancollections.net.au/stories/a-station-with-a-town-attached, accessed 6 October 2025.

Berry, M ‘A station with town attached’, Future Rail Newspost, August 2017, pp. 10–12.

‘Maryborough railway station, Victoria’, Heritage Council Victoria <https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/692>, accessed 6 October 2025.

‘Maryborough railway station, Victoria’, Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryborough_railway_station,_Victoria> accessed 6 October 2025.

Banger, C, ‘The Ballarat to Maryborough line and its branches – 1975–2010, Newsrail, vol. 39, no. 12, December 2011, pp. 359–71.

Turton, KW, ‘Maryborough as a railway centre’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 299, September 1962, pp. 133–140.

Turton, KW, ‘The centenary of the opening of the railways from Castlemaine to Dunolly and Ballarat to Maryborough’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 448, February 1975, pp. 25–52.

Twain, M, Following the equator: a journey around the world, American Publishing Company, Hartford, 1897.

Victorian Railways, Report of the Victorian Railways Commissioners for the year ending 30th June, 1891, Victorian Railways, Melbourne, 1891.

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Maryborough station building, 18 December 2017.

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Maryborough station with a VLocity train consisting of 1123, 1332, 1223 at the platform, 18 December 2017.

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