About 8 hours and 10 stubbies from Melbourne.
A great spot to camp. There is absolutely nothing there other than a
magnificient railway line.
There is Matakana an hour or so on the right and if bright lights are your
go there is Ivanhoe an hour or so on the left. However about 20 km Nth of
Matakana there is the magnificient Royal Oak Hotel at Mt Hope, a disused
copper town with about ten residents. A sight for sore eyes for the weary
traveller. MT Hope incidentally is equi distant from Melbourne and Sydney.
It is obvious that Roto used to be a location of significance to people
other than rail fanatics. Last Melbourne Cup Day Matakana and Ivanhoe were
staff exchanges. Don't know right terminology.
I have walked around the abandoned Triangle at Roto. Which as another
person wrote is disconnected from the mainline but still in place.
That's all I know but would be very appreciative if someone could point me
towards any historical information about Matakana, Mt Hope, Roto, Conamble,
Trida or Ivanhoe.