Soon after reaching Huon, work was started on extending the line to Tallangatta (this was the old township of Tallangatta, not the new one created in the mid-1950s), with the new section of line being commissioned in 1891.
RAILWAYS OF NORTH-EAST VICTORIA
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WODONGA - CUDGEWA RAILWAY
The Wodonga - Cudgewa Railway ran through some of Victoria’s best scenery and operated, in one form or another, from 1887 to 1978.
The first passenger service on this line ran from Wodonga to Huon, a branch line that linked some small farming communities along the Upper Murray River, long before the days of Lake Hume.
Huon is now a lakeside village, and its train service dated back to 1887 when roads in the area were notoriously hard going at the best of times; impassable given a few millimetres of rain.
Soon after reaching Huon, work was started on extending the line to Tallangatta (this was the old township of Tallangatta, not the new one created in the mid-1950s), with the new section of line being commissioned in 1891.
This new section included an impressive trestle bridge over the Mitta Mitta River (now the Mitta Mitta inlet of Lake Hume) and the first trained rolled into Tallangatta on June 1st 1891.
There was now a hiatus in extending the line any further east, as there was some unfriendly topography in the way. However, work on the Cudgewa extension began in 1914, with Shelley Station completed in 1916, and Cudgewa in 1921.
Shelley Station had the honour of being the highest railway station in Australia, an impressive 780m. The locomotives were steam driven, and these held sway over the diesel-electric motor until the late 1960s.
Whilst the railway only ever carried small numbers of people (the biggest numbers were migrants to, and from, the Bonegilla Camp) it carried an enormous amount of freight when the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme got under way after World War II.
However, like many other railway systems in Australia, the Wodonga - Cudgewa Line fell victim to Australia’s rising prosperity and improved road building techniques. Passenger services ceased in the early 1960s, and the freight service was withdrawn in 1978.
The line serviced the communities of Bandiana, Bonegilla, Ebden, Huon, Bolga, Tatonga, Tallangatta, Bullioh, Darbyshire, Koetong, Shelley, Beetoomba, Wabba and Cudgewa; it was a major employer in the area, particularly during the Great Depression.
Several significant modifications were required to the line during its 80 year life span; for example, a new bridge over Sandy Creek was required when Lake Hume was built (mid 1930s), and several stations had to be re-sited for the same reason (notably Tallangatta).
The Sandy Creek Bridge was later modified, this time because the dam wall of Lake Hume was raised, and the Lake’s waters were lapping at the sleepers.
Whilst driving along the Murray Valley Highway, keep a lookout for the now dismantled Cudgewa Railway, there are many indications of its path clearly visible from the Highway, and if you venture off the beaten track a little there are many examples of railway engineering still to be seen, in particular, trestle bridges in the most unlikely locations.
Parts of the old railway have now been converted into the High Country Rail Trail, with the Wodonga to Sandy Creek (21km), and Sandy Creek to Old Tallangatta (17km) sections now in use.
Further extensions to the Rail Trail will see a full run from Wodonga to Cudgewa, just like the old locomotives used to do.
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