On our way to our next park activation, we noticed quite a crowd of people gathered alongside of the railway line at the Muckleford Railway Station. We decided to have a look. After speaking with some of those in attendance, we discovered that the Victorian Goldfields Railway tourist train was about to come through.

This authentic heritage railway links the historic gold mining towns of Castlemaine and Maldon.

The Muckleford Railway Station is situated on the Maldon branch line that runs off the main Echuca, Swan Hill lines. The station was opened on the 16th day of June 1884 and was closed to passenger services on the 6th day of January 1941. It was used for goods service until its closure on the 3rd day of December 1976. The line opened for tourist services in 1996 following the restoration of the line between Muckleford and Maldon. (Wikipedia 2024)

We waited around for about 10 minutes before the train came through.

We then stopped to have a look at one of the historic trestle bridges on the Goldfields railway line.

We travelled along Prison Farm Road which followed the Goldfields railway line.

A Prison Farm once operated in the area, and a search on Trove revealed numerous escapes from the institution.

Above:- Article from The Sun, Thu 8 Jan 1948. Image c/o Trove.

The Muckleford I136 Bushland Reserve comprises two sections, on either side of the Goldfields Railway line.

Above:- An aerial view of the Muckleford I136 Bushland Reserve. Image c/o Google Earth.

The reserve is about 83 hectares in size and was established on the 24th day of August 1982. (CAPAD 2022)

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5LA
2. VK5KAW
3. VK3CLD
4. VK2YK/p (Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary VKFF-1880)
5. VK2IO/p (Rouse Hill Regional Park VKFF-2784)
6. VK7XX
7. VK4NH
8. VK4DXA

Marija worked the following stations on 40m AM:-

1. VK5LA
2. VK5KAW

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5LA
2. VK5KAW
3. VK3CLD
4. VK2YK/p (Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary VKFF-1880)
5. VK2IO/p (Rouse Hill Regional Park VKFF-2784)
6. VK7XX
7. VK4NH
8. VK4DXA
9. VK3PF
10. VK3KAI

I worked the following stations on 40m AM:-

1. VK5LA
2. VK5KAW

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4NH
2. VK4DXA

References.

1. Dcceew.gov.au. (2023). Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) 2022 – DCCEEW. [online] Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad/2022 [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].‌
2. Wikipedia. (2023). Muckleford railway station. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckleford_railway_station [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].‌