RAILNUTTERNEWS

Railway Museum, North Williamstown
(Railways of Australia Part 2: Melbourne Rail Sites)


All aboard Issue 6 of RailNutterNews! In Part 2 of the rails of Australia we focus on a fabulous museum about half an hour outside Melbourne.
One of the most off-the-beaten-track rail sites in the Melbourne region is the Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) Railway Museum in North Williamstown. On a small rectangle of land, a few kilometers from the picturesque seaside sailing port of Willamstown across the harbor from Melbourne, the museum displays dozens of magnificently restored steam and diesel Locomotives, carriages, a signal box house, a stationhouse and more.

To get there by train from the centre of Melbourne, you may plan your trip using the Bayside trains schedule and map at: http://www.baysidetrains.com.au/index.htm(at that website: click WILLIAMSTOWN on the pulldown menu on the left, click GO, then check for the schedule and map to NORTH Williamstown) Keep in mind that the museum is open only on Saturdays and Sundays and some holidays.

The museum website is http://home.vicnet.net.au/~arhsvic/museum/

Phone: (03) 9397-7412

Inside the stationhouse, where you pay your entry fee, is a small gift shop with many wonderful treasures!



RAIL RHYMES

Dusk Aboard The Ghan Again

Green Gum trees refreshed from the day
amidst blue bushes and red earth clay
Misted exudence of desert dust blown
Skies burnt brick and cerulean tone
Train rushing west downhill of Lithgow
Railroad silver and sky aglow
Tin-shack farms amidst the trees
sheltered there from the evening breeze
Frieght trains piled with wheat and loads
Past eucalyptus and gums and earthen roads
Faint whispers beyond of didgeridoos strange
As the train rolls on through the Flinders Range
Dusk aboard the Ghan again
Views of Oz as seen from the train