Finally catching up on three bridges I did not have time to view in September of 2018. This is simply a wooden bridge over a flood opening near the Healesville - Kinglake Road. It has 5 openings, probably 10 foot (I did not measure them), and a longitudinal wooden deck. It simply serves to provide drainage access to any potential floodwaters from the Watts River, about 100 metres further down the line to the east.
Consisting of 15 openings, each of 11 foot, with a central 15 foot span, this bridge is 168 feet long, or 51.2 Metres. The bridge has steel spans with a transverse wooden deck. The bridge is in very good condition, and is easily visited, as it is only a short walk down the line from the road crossing on the Healesville - Kinglake Road. It is also possible to get to it, with a shorter path, from inside the Healesville Racecourse, being adjacent to the horse stables.
This is a small wooden bridge over a drain/creek, just to the west of the Healesville Racecourse. It is 5 spans, and is in good condition. Interesting, in that the 3 wooden bridges in the Healesville township all escaped the 'modernisation' that was inflicted on other bridges along the line.
Historical photos of Mount Evelyn in December of 1961 and January 1962, taken by Michael Brudar. These photos are used by permission of Michael, as I may appear in one or two from time to time. In point of fact, I was a bugger of a photo-bomber, popping up when not expected.
Michael and I haunted this station and surrounding districts, as we were not yet able to drive or ride a motorcycle. But we did very soon after. We used to ride the goods trains and travel up to Yarra Junction and Warburton with our bicycles in the Z van.
Michael had a very nice 35mm camera, used to take these shots. I did not have a camera at the time, so I used to amuse myself by getting in shots where I was not wanted.
If you would like to see more of Michaels photography, see his Flikr Page Sadly, Michael passed away a couple of years back. Knowing he only had a certain amount of time, Michael set about scanning his photo collection and putting it up on Flikr.
This bridge probably sets the standard for bridges on this line. The Lilydale to Warburton Railway was constructed in 1901, and, as such, is a relatively late addition to the Victorian Railways Network. The Lilydale to Healesville Railway had been opened in stages, with the first section to Yarra Glen opened in May of 1888.
There does not seem to be any evidence that I can find, of timber being used for bridge construction, with the sole exception being the road over rail bridge near Woori Yallock. But that bridge only carries a road, not the railway. Perhaps wherever the rail line is carried over a bridge, the construction may have been brick or concrete piers with steel spans from the outset.
I would be interested to know if anyone has knowledge of the bridges being replaced in later years. I rode this line when traveling to Powelltown via Yarra Junction in the early 60s but I don't recall taking much notice of the bridges at the time.
Bailey Road is un-made and the area is very dusty. To the east of the span over the road is Stringybark Creek. The bridge is quite tall, approximately 4 meters to the bottom of the steel span.
Similar in construction to all other bridges on this line, concrete piers with steel spans. At the time of taking the photo, the river was flowing quite full, with substantial rains in previous days.
This bridge differs from others I looked at on this line in that the piers are constructed of brick rather than poured concrete. Otherwise, it is an unremarkable bridge consisting of 9 brick piers with steel beams and the usual wooden deck used on rail trails. It is approximately 48 Metres long.
Built using the same recipe as all the other bridges along this line, this consists of four concrete piers and steel beams.
It is just short of the larger Woori Yallock Creek bridge.
A low bridge of steel beams over concrete piers, across the Woori Yallock Creek and it's large surrounding wetlands. It is very likely that this bridge is original, and simply re-decked to make it suitable for a rail trail. It is approximately 176 Metres long, with a second section of 55 Metres.
This bridge appears to be pretty original. It has steel I beam spans spans on wooden trestles and does not appear to have been 'gentrified' for the conversion of the ROW to a rail trail. It is protected from stock crossing at either end by cattle grids. On the other hand, it may have been modified from wooden spans to steel spans at an earlier time.
Finally out of lockdown and out on the trails again. This time being the first outing for the new bicycle. I had bought a folding mountain bike to ride the trails, but after my cardiac surgery, I found it stressful riding any distance. So I bought a conversion kit and converted the bike into an e-Bike.
I drove to the car park at the old Woori Yallock station, then rode back towards the west to access this bridge, and others along the Warburton Rail Trail.
This bridge is pretty unremarkable, being steel beams on concrete piers, with 3 openings. Pretty much all of the bridges on the old Lilydale to Warburton line are of similar construction. This bridge allows Kylie Lane to pass under the rail line. I called out to Kylie, but she did not answer, must have been off enjoying the lovely Spring weather :-)
Hooray, finally able to break out of the COVID restrictions, and get on the road again. It has been so long, I forgot how to perform some of the trickier drone maneuvers and also the editing of this blog.
But finally able to go out with the express purpose of investigating this very interesting bridge. I found this bridge originally using Google Earth, by speculating that there should be a bridge at this location, even though the aerial view did not clearly show one there. The fact that there was a creek here pointed to the possibility of a bridge, but it could not be seen.
By using Google Earth instead of the normal Google Maps view, there is a history tool that allows you to rewind the date of the aerial views, and when I wound it back, lo and behold, there was the bridge. As it turns out, a long held friend of mine, John, moved to Pyalong earlier this year, and I was able to get him to affirm the presence of the bridge.
The bridge is quite substantial, it is an estimated 85 Metres long with 19 openings, and is actually in better condition than the better-known bridge over Mollison's Creek, in town. The date on the timbers at the north end suggest that the last maintenance work was carried out in 1949. Like all abandoned wooden bridges, the deck timbers have rotted through in a about 3 places (at time of examination) and there are prominent signs posted warning people not to walk under the structure, plus wire barriers at the abutments to try and keep people off the deck. Otherwise, the bridge is more or less intact.
The people on the adjacent property on the west side claim that they lease the land that the bridge is on, and are a bit sensitive about people wandering onto the site. We found a convenient parking spot on the highway within about 100 Metres of the bridge, just next to an 'Overtaking Lane 400M' sign.
The following photos are taken at the north end of the bridge on the west side, looking back towards Heathcote Junction.
