The Murchison - Rushworth rail trail is currently not fully complete. Currently the finished section rail trail is a 8-kilometre section from the Murchison Township to the rail bridge at Channel Inlet Road. The rest of the rail trail to Rushworth is set to be completed by March 2024 with funding from the local council.
The railway line started at the Murchison East station was originally constructed to the gold mining town of Rushworth in 1890 and extended to Colbinabbin in 1914 for the transport of grain. Rushworth became a junction when a line was constructed to Girgarre in 1917. A diversion of the line was necessary when the Waranga Basin was constructed. The lines were all closed by 1987.
The town of Rushworth was established during the Victorian gold rush in 1953. It is known as ' the gold and ironbark town'. Rushworth state forest is a 33,000 reserve south of rushworth. The town was named by poet and later local Goldfields commissioner Richard Henry Horne in 1954. The goldfeilds became no longer viable due to the decreased undergound water table and were closed during the gold rush. Today Rushworths service center was once a thriving and bustling gold mining town. The main street retains its original charm and is surounded by many smaller gold rush towns.
A remarkable amount of former rail infrastructure exists at Rushworth despite the rail line closing in the late 1980s. The Rushworth line was a short branch line used predominantly for grain traffic from Colbinabbin, which branched off the Goulbourn Valley Line at Murchison East with trains having to reverse when travelling from Melbourne to Colbinabbin. There were also two silos present on the south side of the railway tracks where the CFA station now stands. If you look east you can see the goods shed and platform and west is the former station site towards the main street where the white fencing for the former railway crossing still remains.
You are looking for a micro sized cache.
Watch out for creepy crawlies and wriggly sticks.
BYO pen please.
** Congratulations to Harrowang for FTF (and thanks for the pathtag)**