Historic Walhalla explores railway extension with community engagement
The project is co-designed with the community and with a strong focus on engagement. Image: Joanne Porter
Walhalla is known for its gold mining history and beautifully preserved buildings – remnants from half a century of prosperity from the deep underground operations there.
At its peak, the town was home to nearly 3,000 people, but now only around 20 permanent residents remain, with thousands of visitors travelling to the Gippsland hamlet for its beautiful natural landscape and heritage attractions.
The major attraction is the not-for-profit Walhalla Goldfields Railway, a journey that travels through Stringers Creek Gorge on a one-hour return journey to Thomson station. It is considered one of Australia's most picturesque routes.
Its popularity made the Walhalla Goldfields Railway Committee explore whether the existing route could be extended from Thomson to the township of Erica, adding another 17 kilometres to the journey.
The Goldfields Railway Committee received $200,000 from the Victorian Government's Enabling Tourism Fund to support the completion of a feasibility study looking at whether a long-closed section of line from Thomson Station to Erica could be revived. $50,000 is also being contributed to the project by the Goldfields Railway Committee.
The committee has engaged Federation University's Collaborative Evaluation and Research Centre (CERC) to undertake a feasibility study to determine how extending the trip could bring further social and economic benefits to the region.
CERC director Professor Joanne Porter says residents, community groups, and other key stakeholders will be vital in shaping the study's outcomes.
"Walhalla is a jewel in the Gippsland region and a time capsule of what it would have been like to have lived and worked there in the gold era. Its inclusion in the State Government's Victorian Government's Central Goldfields World Heritage bid could eventually deliver significant new international visitation to the area," Professor Porter said.
"The CERC team has been engaged to do this feasibility study in partnership with the Walhalla Goldfields Railway in a project that is very much co-designed with the community and with a strong focus on engagement. We are bringing the community and key stakeholders on board for the conversation.
"It is just the first step, but it will begin conversations about this project's potential for the Walhalla railway and the region. The State Government has identified Walhalla as a tourism destination with the potential to grow that industry."
Professor Porter says the CERC team will collect visitor, rail journey, economic and social data and review the available literature on comparable railway operations and other tourism elements in the region.
"In particular, comparing day visitor experiences to people who stay overnight in Walhalla, and incorporating the trip on the railway with the other attractions of Walhalla as a significant tourism destination," Professor Porter said.
"The second big part of this project is community engagement. We are working with the Walhalla and surrounding communities and the Baw Baw Shire to co-design and co-develop a picture of how the proposed extension could impact other nearby townships like Erica and Rawson because if the railway were to be extended, it would benefit communities beyond Walhalla."
Professor Porter says the project was another example of how CERC and the university contribute to communities working in partnership to build evaluation capacity, research and expertise using a participatory evaluation and co-design framework that puts communities at the heart of evaluation.
"We understand the importance of listening to and working with communities and can deliver timely, rigorous, and sustainable evaluations tailored to the needs of various organisations," Professor Porter said.
"With the project, there is a band of dedicated volunteers working to expand the railway's potential, enhancing its place as such an important part of the Gippsland region's history and heritage," Professor Porter said.
The project will take 12 months to complete, with the feasibility study and community engagement components finalised by December 2025.