Flashback Friday Number 20: On the 01 20 Korumburra Goods & the Tottenham Yard - Korumburra Goods. For those who have memories of trains running to South Gippsland, they could well remember hearing the sound of diesels echoing through the South East in the Strzelecki Rangers and rolling hills situated between Loch and Leongatha. In its later years of service, goods trains to Korumburra and South Gippsland were primarily hauled by lighter diesel locomotives due to the ruling gradients and sharp curves situated along the line. Since the conclusion of steam during the Victorian Railways era in the late 1960s when coal mining eventually declined in the South Gippsland region, superphosphate, fertiliser, sand and oil had become the major source of freight hauled by rail. The tonnage of these trains varied, however, were generally under 1000 tonnes in order to avoid stalled trains on the notorious gradients. In excess of 4 diesel locomotives could be at times spotted hauling these trains, suggesting that this job wasnt the most forgiving on some occasions. On most occasions, the superphosphate and oil trains were combined at Tottenham Yard near Footscray and the oil would continue onto Esso Mobil’s (now Exxon Mobil) Barry Beach Marine Terminal situated in Corner Inlet west of Welshpool. The towns of Korumburra, Buffalo and Fish Creek were well serviced by the superphosphate freight trains; however, smaller communities along the line also had access to the service. In the Newsrail August 1991 edition on pages 228 to 230, Gavin McLaughlan documents his experience of the Korumburra Goods Trains on Friday the 13th of February, 1987, only five and a half years before this service would cease in June 1992. Images of numerous Korumburra goods trains and a Leongatha Pass are included in this post from both the Newsrail April and August 1991 editions.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 05:44:55 +0000
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