A day on the Warburton Trail
- "Australia's best train journey without the train" -

Chingshang *

A leading columnist of the The Age said of the Warburton Trail. I have been thinking of riding on this trail for quite some time. But I just could not make it materialised for so many reasons until I did it on a fine day. I took a day off from my work. It was a fine Monday morning, I board the Lilydale bound train with my mountain bike and the trail sojourn begins.

I have gone through Melways, official map book of navigation for Melbourne and its suburbs, several times looking every details of the trail. As I read more and more of the trail, my curiosity of the trail also increases enormously. Initially I was pondering on what is this rail trails are all about. I did some Google around to clarify myself.

Now, from the available literatures and first hand experiences myself, I am very much aware that Rail trails are shared-use paths developed from abandoned railway lines or tracks. They can be used for walking, cycling and horse riding. In their previous avatar they were important railway lines used for the movement of men and materials. In due course of time these rail lines were abandoned due to lake of substantial patronage from the parties' concerned. Probably the railways had outlived their usefulness.

The trail sign

Everyone got motor cars and there is continual expansion of new road networks all around. Now the rail tracks have long been removed and paved with gravel or dirt since then giving a new lease of life for locals and tourists.

The Warburton Trail in its present form was developed in 1996 and it has been developing continually since then. The official closure of the then Warburton railway took place in 1965 and the subsequent dismantling of the rail track followed till 1970's.

Today the trail is well maintained by the combined efforts of local volunteers, particularly the Friends of the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail, as well the Local Council and State and Federal governments. The trail starts from Lilydale railway station and stretch to Warburton for about 40 kms. At the moment there is a gap in the trail continuity created by the busy Maroondah Highway in the Lilydale section.

In fact I was lost to find the trail entrance on the other side of Maroondah Highway in spite of the road sign being displayed Warburton Trail 500 meters ahead. I was walking up and down along the Highway for quite some time searching the trail entrance. Somehow I could not locate easily. Then I came across an elderly couple but still I didn't enquire them about the trail. They passed me few meters.

Then suddenly the elderly lady turned towards me, probably sensing something seeing my anxious face and came forward asking me whether I am looking for the Warburton Trail. I responded it with a huge yes. They were very kind enough to show me the trail entrance. Immediately I felt the significance and popularity of the trail among the locals. Once the overbridge being constructed across the Maroondah Highway is completed, riding on the trail from Lilydale Railway station to Warburton will be just one big smooth ride.

It is a gravel topped track suitable for all sorts of bike riding, horse riding or just enjoying a walk except the last three kms from Millgrove to Warburton which is comfortably sealed. The trail traverses through some of the most beautiful scenic spots in Yarra valley. In fact a sizeable part of trail snaked around the ever beautiful Yarra River.

There are about 13 wooden bridges along the trail built over some really captivating creeks. One can still notice the remnants of old rail paraphernalia all along the track despite the enormous changes that have been imposed on the trail. The historical past of the area is evident everywhere. These are much more strikingly being felt when one crosses over the old rail stations.

There are about 11 railway stations in between Lilydale and Warburton vis-a-vis Mount Evelyn, Wandin, Seville, Killara, Woori Yallock, Launching Place, Yarra Junction, Britannia, Wesburn and Millgrove. Some of the bigger stations like Mt Evelyn, Woori Yallock, Launching Place, Yarra Junction, Millgrove and Warburton are beautiful little quite historic towns today. In fact I saw a fully renovated train compartment in the middle of forest in Killara Station reminiscing of the golden era.

The trail continues.....

I came across so many bike riders, strolling couples, runners, joggers, walkers, horse riders sharing this very trail tendering a friendly smile all along. The trail seemed to generate a sense of community, togetherness, of connection between people and their towns, a profound feeling of enjoying past and present at one heartbeat. It is indeed a prime recreation space for so many people, young and old, fit and not so fit or for whatsoever.

The trail is very well secured providing emergency codes at different stages which the trail users can call for help in cases of any untoward eventualities. Riding in the midst of tall gum trees with refreshing smells is one of the main highlights of the trail. There are many beautiful paddocks, homesteads and farms with lots of lush green grasses all around when one enters the Yarra valley after crossing the densely forested areas around Wandin Station. I took almost three hours to reach Warburton.

In fact I spent lots of time on the way just enjoying the serene beauty of the surroundings. The ride on the last three kilometres from Millgrove to Warburton was very comfortable as the path was fully sealed and at the same time I was entering the narrow wedges of Warburton Town formed by the Yarra Ranges. It was so refreshing to see the cascading Yarra River in its pristine form. Warburton town is located in the immediate vicinity of Yarra River in the Upper Yarra Valley.

It is a small historic town known in the past for its timber, gold mining and of course the very well known Australian wheat biscuit brand, the Weetbix. Today it is largely a thriving tourist's town. Trains might have stopped coming to this town for a long time bringing tourists from cities. But it is the trail today bringing most of the tourists here. It is not uncommon to see many tourists' facilities in this small beautiful town.

It was surprising that my already exhausted, bone shackened and weary body on the trail was soon recovered after sitting on the bank of Yarra River for some time in Warburton. It was magical. I was longing for seeing the upper reaches of Yarra River since I wrote an article earlier on the same title. I fulfilled it myself by following the Warburton Trail today.

Back to Lilydale

But one funny thing which I didn't mention so far is that I could not stop thinking of places like Noney in Tamenglong District, Karong in Senapati District and Kangpokpi in Sadar Hills, of course many other places also, when I was sitting on the banks of Yarra River in Warburton. Many random thoughts crept on my mind which I just could not resist.

I have seen and was part of many internal schools or non school excursions in Manipur. What do we see in our state? For example Awang Sekmai students go to Moirang, Kakching, and Churachandpur so on and vice versa. Of late many go to Moreh also. How much do we know about our state? Have we ever tried to harness our domestic tourist's potential leave apart international tourists? Please answer just one question here.

How many of us have gone to see Molkon in Sailkul Division? There are so many no's and why's and so many it's because for everything in our state. We don't need so many things. We need to develop little creatively what Mother Nature has already given to us. For that what we need is involvement, cooperation, little planning and lots and lots of vision to perform.

Imagine each and every village in the district and district as a whole have decided to develop their canals, tanks, other water bodies, roads, parks on a war footing in a targeted dateline. We cannot afford to wait state's problems to end and then start the development work.

What about the development of inner and outer ring roads of Manipur? Each and every bit of the state possesses abundance of tourism potential. On top of that we have a very vibrant and flamboyant cultural heritage. We all know what we have and we don't. But what we have is much more than what we don't have.

Here, Melbourne in particular and Victoria in general each and every place is worth visiting and a potential tourism revenue earner. Why? It's simple. Each and every citizen, volunteers, environmental groups or societies, local councils, state and Federal Governments takes initiative and actively responsible for the efficient execution of any development work in a time bound manner.

Well, riding on Lilydale to Warburton Trail keeps my mind trailing on something else. Not bad. Ha ha ha...

I am enclosing herewith a YouTube link of this very write up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itFTrnHMbpw

Lot more interesting information's are available in the following links:
www.railtrail.com.au ,
www.bv.com.au and
www.upperyarramuseum.org.au



Check out the photo gallery on this report here.

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* Chingshang, a Graduate student at University of Melbourne, contributes regularly to e-pao.net. The writer can be contacted at rockm(at)rediffmail(dot)com . This article was webcasted on December 14 2010.

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