CMRT #2 Busted Buffers Traditional Cache

The Golburn River High Country Rail Trail has many bridges but this is one of the highest and longest refurbished for use as part of the trail. This is just a small cache in a great spot on the rail trail. You do not need to climb under the bridge. 

Busted Buffers:

The mid-1970s saw state parliament accept recommendations for the closure of numerous branch lines, the setting up of Regional Freight Centres at certain main line stations with forwarding of goods by road and the introduction of buses for passengers.

'The Tallarook - Yea - Mansfield/Alexandra railway featured high on the list for elimination. As a consequence, train operations began to wind down with the cessation of the railmotor service on Saturday 28 May 1977.

'In the following February, the Seymour Freight Centre was established and regular goods trains were cancelled on the branch line, with locos and crews being transferred to Seymour. Wednesday 1 February and Friday 3 February 1978 were the dates of the running of the last goods trains to Alexandra and Mansfield respectively. The weekend 4 and 5 February 1978 was the first in 93 years on which an engine had not been stabled in the Yea loco area.

'For the following nine months, trains ran on the line on an 'as required' basis, operated from Seymour. On 2 August 1978, loco Y131 departed Cathkin at 8.45 am with the last revenue train to Alexandra. It left on the return journey with a guard's van and one truck. Two months later, on 23 October 1978, Y166 hauled steam loco J5l2 to be preserved on track at Alexandra as a static exhibit. The diesel returned light engine and the line had seen its last movement beyond Cathkin to Alexandra.

'Trains ran spasmodically to Mansfield for another fortnight, until finally on Monday 6 November 1978 loco Y158 trundled westward out of Mansfield into history with its small train, which after leaving Yea had only eight vehicles. Thus came to an end the working of the Mansfield line.

'The Railway Obituary printed in the Mansfield Courier on 9 November 1978 described the occasion as follows:

"Mansfield railway station was deserted on Monday soon after the last goods train pulled out at lunchtime. This train heralded the end of 86-1/2 years of rail service to Mansfield. Mansfield's ganger Ken Close and his cat were the only ones to see the last train disappear up the line.

"In a press release from VicRail it was announced that the Tallarook to Mansfield and Alexandra lines would formally close on Wednesday 8 November. It was on 28 May last year that the last passenger train left Mansfield for Melbourne. It took 2-3/4 hours to reach Yea because the track had deteriorated.

"Support for railway services had been falling for some years prior to the closure. Minimal maintenance was done to the line and it deteriorated until the speed of trains was curtailed to 20 mph in some sections of track. Recently this was reduced to 15 mph.

"The departure of the last passenger train last year and the last goods train on Monday was in marked contrast to the official opening of the track and arrival of the first passenger train on 6 October 1891".'

Sources:
[1] This entire text is an extract from Sid Brown, 'Mansfield Railway Centenary', in Newsrail, Sept. 1991, pp 268-277.