Railway Cutting and Bridge
Railway Cutting and Embankment
Work commenced on the Great Southern rail line in February, 1887 and was opened as far as Tooradin in September, 1888.
A cutting was dug just beyond Ballarto Road and the soil was used to build an embankment to get a permissible rising grade from the flat country around Tooradin. For the early trains it was a long climb from the flats to the top of the Clyde Watershed, rising nearly 100 ft. between Tooradin and Clyde stations.
Due to increased rail traffic on the line from about 1910 when the line reached Wonthaggi, where the coalmine had been operating since 1909, modifications were made at Clyde to speed the transport of coal. Re-grading of the Clyde Bank took place in 1914-15 when the cutting was deepened, and using soil from Lang Lang station yard the grade was reduced to 1 in 110.
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Railway Bridge at Ballarto Road
Originally Ballarto Road crossed the railway at a level crossing near the
start of Yallambee Road. When the line was re-graded in 1914-1915 a bridge was
built to replace the level crossing.
According to Heritage Victoria this "bridge is one of only two examples of structure that date from the original construction of the line".
Between 1888 and 1914 the gates at Ballarto Road were continually manned. At the level crossing, on the east side, a cottage was built on railway
land, as housing for the railway employee who manned the gates and closed the road for trains making slow progress up the Clyde Bank. The cottage was used by railway
employees until it was eventually removed in the 1970's.
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Matthew Sinnema, 26 June 2020 (Permission granted to use this photo)
Who was taking a walk around Clyde before picking up his boys from school.
Clyde Landscapes
More information is welcome on any land feature in the Clyde area.
*Listed on the Victorian Heritage Data Base or by State Library of Victoria.
https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/44256