Ready to rock: a railways repurposing project

VGR ganger Will Maylor (at front) and VGR workshop supervisor Mick Compagnoni on site at historic Muckleford station as thousands of tonnes of repurposed railway ballast was shifted there this week for the local tourist railway's use. Photo: Eve Lamb

Eve Lamb

A project repurposing old railway ballast from the Bendigo main railway line is set to save the Victorian Goldfields Railway hundreds of thousands of dollars.
V/Line is donating some 4000 tonnes of its old stone ballast to the local tourist railway as it replaces existing ballast as part of a main line works project at Elphinstone.
Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society president Steve Strangward says the ballast that’s being recycled for the local tourist railway’s use is from the old Elphinstone railway tunnel that’s getting new ballast as part of a wider renewal works project.
VGR railway ganger Will Maylor says the donation of the old ballast to the VGR represents a huge saving.
This week trucks have been busy carting the old rock ballast from the VicTrack-owned Elphinstone Railway Tunnel site to historic Muckleford Station alongside the VGR track. Read more in today’s Mail…

Eve Lamb
Journalist and photographer Eve Lamb has a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) degree from Deakin University and a Master of Arts (Professional Writing) from Deakin University. She has worked for many regional newspapers including the Hamilton Spectator and the Warrnambool Standard, and has also worked for metro daily, The Hobart Mercury, and The Sunday Tasmanian. Eve has also contributed to various magazines including Australian Cyclist.