The Don River Railway is a heritage railway and museum in
Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
* Don, Benin, a town in Benin
* Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...
,
Devonport, Tasmania
Devonport ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Limilinaturi'') is a port city situated at the mouth of the Mersey River (Australia), Mersey River on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Positi ...
. It operates a service from Don to Coles Beach (operationally known as Don Junction). The current line follows a reconstructed section of the former Melrose line that ran between Don Junction and
Paloona.
The Don River Railway is open seven days a week, closing only for
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
,
Good Friday
Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
, and
Anzac Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...
. Train services operate from Thursday to Sunday, using either either a
Tasmanian Government Railways DP class
The Tasmanian Government Railways DP class was a class of diesel railcars operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways.
History
The DP class diesel railcars comprised eight different batches of vehicles. The early members were originally petr ...
rail car, or a heritage carriage set hauled by either a steam locomotive or a vintage diesel locomotive.
History
The heritage operations consist of the northernmost stretch of the Melrose line that ran from Don Junction (commonly called Coles Beach) to
Melrose Melrose may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
* Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland
** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery
** Melrose RFC, rugby club
Australia
* Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...
and
Paloona. In the 1920s, the line was extended to
Barrington, but this closed in 1928. Occasional trains ran on the closed section on Devonport Cup and Show days, but this ceased in 1935. The Melrose-Paloona section closed around this time, and following the 1948 closure of
BHP
BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.
As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...
's limestone facilities at Melrose, which had been the mainstay of operations on the line ever since it opened, the line was largely redundant. In October 1963, the railway was closed and later lifted.
The Van Dieman Light Rail Society was formed in December 1971. In 1973, it began pushing to restore heritage operation, which it did three years later operated, under the trading name Don River Railway.
In May 1987, it began operating main line services to
Burnie
Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...
. On 14 December 1991, the line was officially opened by the
Governor of Tasmania
The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the governor is Gov ...
,
Phillip Bennett
General Sir Phillip Harvey Bennett, (27 December 1928 – 1 August 2023) was a senior officer of the Australian Army who served as Chief of the Australian Defence Force from 1984 to 1987, and later as Governor of Tasmania from 1987 to 1995.
...
. Services originally ran into the main line Devonport station on the
Western line before services were curtailed to operate between Don and Coles Beach.
On 4 April 2023, a fire destroyed a carriage shed and some carriages.
Fire destroys parts of heritage Don River Railway
''Pulse Tasmania
Pulse Tasmania is a digital news publisher owned by Pulse Media Group Pty Ltd based in Hobart, Australia.
Pulse publishes freely accessible local Tasmanian news content on digital platforms, including itwebsiteand social media pages (like X ...
'' 4 April 2023
Steam locomotives
Fowler no.5268 is Don River Rail's sole operating steam locomotive as of December 2024, seeing occasional use both on timetabled services and for functions.
Former Tasmanian Government Railways M4 is currently receiving mechanical overhall. CCS25 was reactivated in January 2023, but awaits approval to return to revenue operations.
Diesel locomotives
References
Further reading
*
* Cooper, Greg (2002) The History of the Don River Railway's Locomotives, Railcars & Carriages, published by the Don River Railway,
* McKillop, Robert (2010) Australian Railway Heritage Guide, 2010 Edition ''Australian Railway Historical Society
The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) has been a railway organisation concerned with history and preservation of railway heritage at a national level.
It has had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, althou ...
''
External links
{{commons category-inline
Devonport, Tasmania
Railway museums in Tasmania
Tourist railways in Tasmania
1971 establishments in Australia
3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia