Re: (Vic)Mildura passenger service plan

[Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com>]

> The railway and the road that became the Western Highway serviced the
major
> population centres, and was the route walked by diggers on their way
to the
> Ballarat Goldfields. The highway has now been deviated to avoid most
of
> these towns, but the railway still follows the original alignment.

Yes, but theres no longer any service to any of these smaller towns, so
theres no reason the line needs to continue to go through them.

> From Bungaree it followed the easier route in Ballarat by swinging
south of
> Mt Warrenheip and following a watercourse into Ballarat, thus
avoiding the
> steep descents experienced on the highway.

Yes, thats what I thought.
When they built the Bendigo line and came to a hill they just went
through it, because that one was built at the height of the gold rush
and they could spare no expense

By the time the Ballarat line was built, they went around hills
instead, because then it was more important to avoid steep grades than
it was to avoid tight curves.

Now, of course, hills are less of a problem than curves. And
straghtening the curves also shortens the distance you need to cover.

Vaughan


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