This bit of wood is a piece of the Port Melbourne railway line, the first steam passenger railway ever built in Australia (when Port Phillip began, steam railways were only newly invented). I loved the railway — straight to Melbourne, a six minute trip with a wonderful approach to the city over the broad, iron Sandridge bridge. And it ran right past my door.

A motley group of us ranging in age from 18 months to 84 years picketed the line in 1987 when they wanted to close it. We lobbied desperately to save it, along with many others from Melbourne.

We lost, of course. In October the last train ran, and for weeks we suffered night construction on the line — spotlights beamed into our bedrooms and the noise of machinery through the early hours.

One night Harry chained himself by the neck to an engine on the line; I have a vivid memory of the sparks flying from the boltcutters as they cut him loose.

After the line had gone, I salvaged this bit of sleeper — my souvenir of Australia’s first railway.
Pat Grainger — Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

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