A History of the Castlemaine to Maryborough Railway is a recently published book written by Ken James and David Langley.  

At 428 pages, it’s a doorstopper of a book that is painstakingly researched, well-illustrated and comprehensive in its scope. For railway tragics and history buffs, it’s a must-buy; and for others, it’s a cracking good read.

The railway line, which was in use from 1874 to 1977, was almost 54 miles or 86 kilometres long, and it was an important connection to the Avoca, Ballarat, Mildura and St Arnaud lines.  At one stage, passenger trains that ran between Melbourne and Mildura ran through Castlemaine.  

At first, there were only three stations opened between Castlemaine and Maryborough, but stations were opened later at Campbells Creek, Strangways, Joyce’s Creek and Moolort. As well as passengers, mail and parcels, all manner of goods and produce were shipped by rail – everything from crates of fruit from Campbells Creek, sheep from Newstead (3,000 in 26 trucks in 1903!) and bags of wheat from Carisbrook. Even coffins travelled on the trains.

Special trains were regularly laid on for various events. For instance, a special train for passengers and horses was run from Bendigo to the Carisbrook races back in 1913.  

Between Castlemaine and Maryborough there were 36 gates across 36 roads, with each gate being opened and shut by the gatekeeper who lived next door to the rail line in a gatekeeper’s house. The gatekeeping system didn’t always work; gates being smashed by trains due to inattentive gatekeepers appeared to be a common occurrence.

Occupational health and safety measures have obviously come a long way since the early railways days. There were many accidents recorded along the railway line –  a young miner in 1907 hopping off the train in Maryborough as it passed his house instead off waiting until the station (died), a child falling from the train in 1926 between Guildford and Strangways (safely rescued), gatekeepers run over by trains in 1885 and1892 (died), and many tragic shunting accidents.

Two of the saddest incidents: the infant son of the station master died when the Guildford railway station and residence burnt down in 1899. And in 1936, the gatekeeper’s 16-month-old child was killed at the Baringhup crossing near Joyce’s Creek. 

If you were a farmer with land adjoining the railway line, you were in for a hard time – in summer, fires caused by sparks from train engines were frequent. And floods often caused problems along the line. Derailments were common. And you’ll have to buy the book to read about the great Carisbrook crash of 1877!

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 16 December 2022.