The Casterton Line was a branch line running north-west from the Portland Main Line near the town of Branxholme, to the town of Casterton. Opening in 1884, the line was 59 kilometres long and completely single track apart from at stations. Since closure in 1977, the track has been completely removed and reserve rights mostly sold as well, with very little trace of railway left.[1]
History
The branch line was initially opened on 15 February 1884 from Branxholme to Henty, with the rest of the line to Casterton opening later that year. When the line opened, it allowed for the efficient transport of passengers and local produce in the area to the larger town of Hamilton, as well as the port of Portland. Throughout the early-twentieth-century, traffic on the line grew to the extent that there was a daily goods train to and from Hamilton. Eventually though, declines in both passenger and freight traffic following the Second World War, to the extent that the line was eventually closed completely on 12 September 1977 along with a number of other lines in the south-west of Victoria.
