Summary

This former timber tramway in open forest features a number of relics, including log landings and timber 'make-ups' last used close to a hundred years ago

Description

This is a relatively easy, but little known, walk on a former timber tramway in the heart of spa country. This, and other tramway walks, are lifted from a book, 'Explore Victoria's Tramways', which was never published.
Robert Henderson established a sawmill at Wombat Creek in 1879, and constructed a horse-drawn, timber railed tramways towards the town a few months later. The tramway was probably of 3 foot (0.91m) gauge. When the lease area was logged out, the tramway and sawmill, utilitarian as always, were abandoned, in 1891. But half a century later, there was a brief revival. The Orr brothers set up a sawmill on the same location in 1942 and rebuilt the tramway, but again, it only lasted a short time before the area was reserved for the Wombat Creek reservoir.
For the walker today, this walk starts a short distance north of the Wombat Creek picnic area. The track follows the course of the creek, but at a higher level. Of interest are several well-preserved log landings, and the cuttings visible either side of gullies on side creeks.
The tramway originally ran to the Daylesford - Creswick railway, opened in 1887, but locked gate bars access to private property a short distance south of Jubilee Lake, formed by the rail embankment and named for Queen Victoria's jubilee. Return to the start point is via the same route

6268 Views

Points of Interest

1. Wombat Creek reservoir

This reservoir is the water supply for Daylesford. The picnic area is on the former sawmill site. There are no toilets or drinking water

2. Tramway formation

The 4WD track visibly becomes a former tramway at about this point. The formation is dug into the steep hillside, which is unusual as such excavation was of course expensive

3. Gully tracks

The tramway followed a different path in some of the gullys to the modern track. At locations such as this, the former tramway can be seen clearly on both sides of the gully

4. Sweeping curves

Some of the gullys are impressive. The broad views give some idea of the scope of the enterprise (the name of one of the sawmills) of the men who lived an worked in these forests

5. end of the line

The former tramway formation is clear enough, but a securely locked gate bars the way.

Features

Picnic spot

Historical interest

Nature trail