FOX POINT RAILWAY

 

Fox’s  Point Scenic Railway.

There is always something new to discover up in the Dandenong Ranges, and when I say new, of course I mean old. For a while now on local history pages, I’ve seen promotional postcards and advertising of a scenic railway at a place known as Fox’s Point. The railway was privately owned and was on the Mt. Dandenong Tourist Road at the edge of Kalorama and ran 200 feet (61 metres) up the Northern side of the mountain to a lookout platform that gave amazing views, and had a kiosk and museum. According to an article in Melbourne Walker Magazine in 1956, it states that through an astronomical telescope at the lookout, it enabled you:  “…to see planes at Essendon airport…and…to tell time by the Lilydale clock five miles away”.

1961 Melbourne Walker

 Built in the early 1950s by Neil Foxcroft it began operation in 1953 as a tourist adventure after he constructed the rail as a way to transport building materials to site when he was building his house further up the mountain on the less truck friendly Scenic Avenue, where the house proper was. It was reported that visiting engineers to the site: “Expressed surprise and admiration at the enterprise and ingenuity of Mr. Foxcroft in designing and constructing the whole concern single handed.” This was faint praise as the railway was forced to close around 1960/61 as it had been declared unsafe for passenger use by authorities. The railway had already escaped damage from the 1958 bushfires but would not have survived the  infamous 1962 fires that devastated the area and destroyed Mr. Foxcroft’s house. In 1965 the tracks were removed, and the scenic railway faded into oblivion.

But as usual, I had to check it out for myself. There just may be some evidence left.

For a change, the original site was easy to find. Records show it was a mile (1.6 Km) past the Montrose township and was accessible on the Croydon to Mt. Dandenong bus. This was convenient as the bus stop and the bus route still exist today. In one of the early photos, the siding for the bus stop is visible. To make things even easier, when the road was realigned curbing was built and a driveway/crossover was conveniently placed where the railways entrance was.

An original film of the ride cica: late 1950s

Now, this sounds all  well and good for finding the site, but much has happened to that side of the road since then. Besides the entire railway being removed in 1965, bushfires also hit the area again in 1972,73,74,83 and 1997.  In addition, during the early 1970s landslides occurred, with the main road becoming blocked. Though repairs were made by the Government, further slippages required major restoration of the road, and additional drainage was built into the hillside to avoid slips reoccurring in the future.

The site now

The site 1960

It was believed that these landslides were the result of the land being cleared for the railway infrastructure and previous bushfires.

To complete the picture, the area from the road up to where the platform had been, was purchased and integrated as part of the Dandenong Ranges National Park in 1987.

After all that, I really wasn’t expecting to find a lot, but I am an optimist.

As usual, I brought my trusty assistant, Madelyn, because on a site as steep as this with questionable stability and hugging the side of the highway (not to mention it rained the night before) , my ambitions and ability are totally mismatched. I need Madelyn to remind me of this before I create a new gymnastic routine whilst stumbling down the mountain and breaking countless bones. And all this before I get hit by a passing car.

Arriving at my destination, I was excited to see that where the crossover was, there seemed to be a track leading up the hill. It quickly became apparent that this was from earlier excavating work from years earlier. Whether it was for a fire track or temporary parking for trucks during old works was unclear as it was covered in thick bush and quickly became part of the steep incline. As I looked back towards the road, I also could see it didn’t align with the road as earlier pictures indicated. The whole face of the hill had changed dramatically. Knowing that the rails and infrastructure were long gone and that the area where the platform once was, wasn’t accessible, I concentrated on the lower level where the ride entrance used to be.

Rummaging down near the road and a few metres up the hill and to the side I started to notice that some of the rocks were of a different colour and more square in appearance. It was then I realised it was weathered and dirty concrete. Either from the stairs from the base ride entrance or the platform above. With the landslides and excavation work, it was impossible to tell. But it was an artifact from the original scenic railway.

It was satisfying that the mountain still was willing to give up some of its past for today.

References:

 I can’t recommend highly enough the website https://bpadula.tripod.com/foxpoint/ which was an invaluable resource in this adventure.

Originally published in the BBCN November 2023 Issue 327