Kerang–Koondrook Tramway



The Kerang–Koondrook Tramway was an Australian private railway of broad gauge, running from Kerang station, on the state-owned Victorian Railways Piangil railway line, to the Murray River town of Koondrook, with intermediate stations at Yeoburn, Hinksons, Teal Point and Gannawarra.

Construction of the 13.94 mi-long line was initiated by the Shire of Swan Hill in 1887, under the terms of the Tramways in Country Districts Act 1886, which allowed local governments in country areas to construct tramways, with financial assistance from the Victorian government, to a limit of £2,000 a mile. The tramway was opened in July 1889. On 31 December 1898, the area of the Shire of Swan Hill centred on Kerang became the Shire of Kerang. By 1920, the tramway's construction had cost £39,229.

In 1929, a four-wheel vertical boilered locomotive was imported to work the tramway, manufactured by the Sentinel Waggon Works in Shrewsbury. It was withdrawn in 1941 and scrapped in 1952. There is a description of a journey on the railway in 1938 in an article in the March 1971 edition of the Bulletin, published by the Australian Railway Historical Society.

On 1 February 1952, ownership of the tramway was transferred to the Victorian Railways. In its later years, passenger services on the line were run by a 102hp Walker railmotor, paid for by the Victorian Education Department, to convey school children. The service was withdrawn on 16 December 1976. A railfan farewell special on the line, with a train hauled by T356, ran on 20 November 1977. The line was officially closed on 3 March 1981.