Author(s): NICK ANCHEN

Technology and Transport

The spectacular mountain railway from Wodonga to Cudgewa in north eastern Victoria was one of Australia's truly fascinating branch lines, and the most challenging to operate on the Victorian Railways. It was a railway of scenic splendour, famous for its towering wooden bridges, notoriously steep grades, Hereford cattle and K class steam locomotives. This lavishly illustrated publication includes over 100 colour and B&W photographs, and tells the story of the railway through the memories of Cudgewa railway enginemen, station masters, bridge gangers, cattle drovers and local residents. Crucial aspects of the line's history are also covered, including 'Tallangatta - The Town that Moved', the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre, the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, and harrowing accounts of the two 1964 runaway train wrecks.