The Cauliflower Express

I have had some feed back from my mother regarding the history of the old Ballaarat railway line mentioned in my previous mail.

Traffic commenced on the rail link in September 1889. It continued to ferry passengers between Ballaarat and Buninyong until Nov 1930. It then remained in operation as a goods train hauling mainly farm produce, tanned hides, butter, beer and above all cauliflowers from the farms and factories of Buninyong back to Ballaarat for distribution and sale. It became known as, ``The Cauliflower Express´´. If a cauliflower weighed in at less than 20 pounds (9kg) it was considered undersized. It ceased operation forever in Feb 1947.

My mother tells me that a local farmer Jack Brusaski removed a lot of the old sleepers on his land as they harbored to many snakes. As a child, the remnants of the line always struck me as being so much older than that but there you go. Just a small update.