Mollisons Creek Bridge at Pyalong - Heathcote Junction to Bendigo Line.

Quite an impressive bridge over Mollisons Creek, and one I have wanted to visit for a long time. I had looked at photos of it on Google Earth, but it is much more impressive in real life.

It is a sort of tourist attraction for the township of Pyalong, they keep the park around it in good condition, but unfortunately do not do any repairs or remedial work on the bridge itself. The road under the bridge, appropriately named Bridge Street, is now closed at either end of the bridge and large warning signs erected at each end.

On the day of my visit, I was pleasantly surprised to find Philip Dunn had seen a posting of mine mentioning I was going up there, so he travelled across from home to meet up with me.

I had taken the still shots and was getting ready to fly the drone to get some aerial views, a little concerned at all the trees very close to the bridge, but nevertheless got a good bit of footage from the air and Philip got to see a demonstration of the drone. Unfortunately however, I left the memory card for the drone at home, so nothing at all was recorded. I will go back in a few weeks time and re-shoot the aerials.

It was not really possible to do any measurements of the bridge, given its poor condition, but it is quite large, with 26 openings of 15 feet, plus 1 of 20 feet, total length of 320 feet and a height of 13.8 Metres.

It is located south of the former Pyalong station site, which has been built over.

Bridge at Lancefield - Clarkefield to Lancefield Line

. This bridge is located close to the Lancefield station precinct. According to reliable opinion, this bridge was at the down end of the station area, and would have been maintained up until the closure of the line, as it was part of the headshunt.

It is relatively small, only five openings, over a small creek that carries little water, the deck is missing entirely, only the piles remain, however given the age of this bridge and it's long period out of use, this is not surprising. 

Thanks to Philip Dunn for showing me the location of this and the other small bridges in the area.

Small Wooden Bridge - Clarkefield to Lancefield Line on Fernside Road

. All that remains of a small wooden bridge on Fernside Road. The deck is gone and the only remains are the piles.

Small Brick Culvert - Clarkefield to Lancefield Line on Fernside Road

Just a little itsy-bitsy one, this culvert was typical of those place on many VR lines. It is beside Fernside Road, near the intersection with Barnes Lane and Sheehan's Road.

Bolinda Creek Bridge - Clarkefield to Lancefield Line

I have had this bridge in mind to do for some time, having noticed its deterioration from the nearby Lancefield Road for some time. It looks rather sad, sitting out there in the middle of a bare landscape.

I have also been lusting after a drone to do aerial footage of these bridges, and finally the opportunity came to do both together. The drone arrived and I spent some time practising with it, and as soon as I felt I could fly it sufficiently, off to Bolinda Creek I went.

I identified the nearby Bolinda Vale homestead as being the probable owner of the property, so I paid a visit and was given permission to use a gate onto the old ROW to drive right up to the northern abutment of the bridge.

It was, unfortunately, a dull, drizzly and windy day, so I managed to get a couple of still shots done, but not get the drone in the air. So I sat in the car for over an hour, waiting for the drizzle to stop. Eventually it eased and I was able to get a couple of flights in, the result of which you can see below. These aerial views will become a feature of future coverages.

The bridge was built with the Lancefield line in 1881, and is 64 metres long with 14 openings. It was the stated reason for the line being closed in 1956, due to heavy repair work being necessary while the line was not seeing much use. This likely means that the bridge has not had any repair work on it for over 60 years. Sadly this shows, the fourth trestle from the northern end has taken a decided lean to the east, and this appears to have happened only in the last couple of years. No-one seems to have any interest in repairing the bridge, so it may come down all by itself in the not too distant future.

View Across the bridge deck from the northern end.

North-east view.

Slightly more easterly view.

North-Westerly view.

Video Clip

Please view in full screen and High Definition for best results.