the Whitfield railway line was the first of four narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways. Unlike the other three narrow gauge lines, it was built through mostly flat, open, agricultural country, following the King River. The 30.5-mile (49 km) line was built as a narrow gauge one because it was thought that it might be extended into the mountainous country to the south, although that never happened. One of the proposed extensions was to Tolmie.[2]
The line was opened in March 1899, and was the first of the narrow gauge lines to close, in October 1953. It relied mostly on local agricultural traffic, and opened with a daily mixed train. By the 1930s, that had been reduced to a weekly goods service, and stayed at that level until the railway closed. There was only one lineside industry, a dairy at Moyhu, and the majority of stations were nameboards at road crossings.
In the 2000s, a Whitfield to Wangaratta Rail Heritage Trail was proposed, which would have followed some of the former railway route, but it never developed beyond an on-road trail which roughly paralleled the route.[3]
