Fogarty Avenue's video: Hiking The Abandoned South Gippsland Railway Line - PART 3

PART 1: https://youtu.be/u0MrHxkI1II PART 2: https://youtu.be/8nVBp6XsshM Sun, surf, sand, slurp juice, slime and sensual times at surfers paradise are all things that we avoided when schoolies time rolled around for us in 2016. What would outdoorsy nerds do instead of partying with lots o lovely lady's in Queensland, Byron bay or Bali? Hiking 176km for 2 weeks along a historic train line with a team of sweaty young men is what they would do. So join us as we embark on an unforgettable gunzal-sic-ular journey of a life time filled with nonsense, sleepers, stations, soups, sprouters, snakes, and smelly socks. This is the south Gippsland railway line. The opening of the first section of the south Gippsland railway line in 1888 from the then country town of Dandenong to the costal fishing village of Tooradin was a triumphant time for the previously isolated people of south Gippsland. But the mighty Victorian railways didn’t stop there. With octopus acts afoot, the line was extended and extended over the years with the eventual terminus becoming Woodside in 1923. Over the years various other lines we created that branched off from the main railway line. The line saw regular passenger services for over a century, linking the many bustling farming communities on its route to Melbourne. The line saw goods services of all kinds including oil trains servicing the Barry Beach Marine Terminal and sand trains from the Australian glass manufacturers quarry in Nyora. The line was also a critical tool in helping framers quickly get there fresh produce and dairy goods to the distant markets in Melbourne in just hours not days via horse and cart. In later years the railway also helped farmers by bringing them train loads worth of super phosphate to fertilize there crops. Every town along the expansive line received enormous growth upon the arrival of the line. This is still celebrated through the impressive architectural landmarks that stand reminding residences of the enchanting era of steam, iron, fire, and the once mighty VR. Just as fast as is rose it began to fall. In 1953 the section from Woodside to Yarram was permanently closed inadvertently foreshadowing the beginning of the slow decline of the railway as easily accessible road transport begun to rise to prominence around the world. Rail Services continued however with forever dwindling patronage. Just as the line was expanded and expanded it shrunk and shrunk. In 1981 passenger services to Yarram were withdrawn, which was notable in being the last mixed goods and passenger train of the Victorian railways. Freight continued to Yarram until 1987 when the section from Welshpool to Yarram was permanently closed. Welshpool to Leongatha was next closing in 1992 after traffic that supplied the Bass Strait oil fields dried up. Despite outcries on Saturday the 24th of July, 1993 the final ever V/Line passenger rail service to Leongatha ran ceasing 105 years of passenger services on railway line. A small section of the track from the then recently electrified suburban Cranbourne station to the AGM siding in Nyora was used for sand freight until movements ceased on the 15th of January 1998 thus closing a 110 year chapter of Victorian history. It was the end of the line. With many public calls and hollow government promises for reopening and the simultaneous rise and fall of the south Gippsland tourist railway, The tracks still lay dormant form Cranbourne onwards. Some sections have been revitalized and converted in to a rail trail and some just ripped up and forgotten. Laying at the outer licks of the once seemingly imposable never-ending south eastern sprawl, the rusted heat buckled tracks still lay silently as a reminder of our once great southern railway. FOGARTY AVENUE Merch: https://shop.spreadshirt.com.au/fogartyavenue Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FogartyAvenue Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/134435163@N06/ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/fogartyavenue/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fogartyavenue/ Graeme reid's channel: reidgck: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_hA... emdB67's channel https://www.youtube.com/user/emdB67 Floyd Bromley's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Cl... James' channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1zL... Fogarty Avenue takes only pictures and leaves only footprints and breaks nothing but silence. So should you!!! EGG-JOY!