Originally Published 24 May 2019
Why doesn’t Hawthorn Rd go to Hawthorn? And why is there a Junction Hotel at Oakleigh?
The first remains a puzzle but the second makes sense. By 1895 Oakleigh was the junction of three railways: the Outer Circle, the Gippsland and the Rosstown.
The 1870s-1880s saw a sustained attempt to profitably combine land speculation and railway building: all you had to do, it seemed, was to ask a well-disposed politician and bingo! the relevant legislation was passed, often to both parties mutual satisfaction.
Of all the railways built in the era of Marvelous Melbourne, the Rosstown Line was the most enigmatic. Young Mr Ross, a well-connected Alpha personality, concocted a grand scheme to enrich himself, and selected friends, and ensure his place in history. All he needed was the grease of any successful entrepreneur: a ready supply of other people’s money.
Sugar beet: the path to fame and fortune! Locals around Caulfield and Murrumbeena would grow it and all was to be centred on a self-named township. As no self-respecting entrepreneur of Marvelous Melbourne would be seen dead without a railway, one was duly built between Oakleigh and Elsternwick…sort of.
Dodgy finances, a very poorly laid track, protracted fights with Victorian Railways: all conspired to delay firstly construction then improvements. Debate still occurs: did a train travel the line? Depends who you ask. Whatever: it was never used for its intended purpose.
A Marvelous Melbourne scale mill would handle the beet. Plans were drawn up and sent to newspapers-even now they look very impressive. A busy railway would convey the produce to receptive markets. A de rigueur mansion on an expansive estate was built nearby. Alas, the Fates conspired.
The giant mill was built (it dominated the local landscape) but rusted away: local farmers weren’t interested in, and actively resisted, growing beet. As Ross was launching the scheme, history was moving against him: Maffra was becoming sugar beet central. Suburbia was creeping outwards and soon Caulfield, Murrumbeena and Rosstown would be given over to housing.
This book is a valuable reference, the Official History as it were, of the Rosstown frolics. It is an entertaining, in depth look at a droll piece of railway history. Given the enigmatic nature of the Rosstown saga, the author has done an excellent job piecing together its history: the accompanying photos show the difference between dreams and reality. The never ending troubles of Ross, and his allies, sympathetically presented, make you disappointed that he couldn’t put his all his dreams into effect. He even had plans to link Rosstown to St Kilda by rail, but failed to get approval. However, I also got the distinct impression that Ross was a man whose dreams would always remain just that. The fact that the mill was built and a railway [of sorts] built for it came as a bit of a surprise. The outcome didn’t.
A series of magazine photos from 1909 show a very dilapidated scene of railway effects and mill. From what is written, it was ever thus.
He eventually had the indignity of having his self-named township renamed. Such was the lot of Mr Ross.
The line lingered until 1916. There were numerous calls for it to be reopened as suburbia came marching in, to no avail. It was simply too poorly built and didn’t serve a large enough market to warrant any expenditure. Cuttings were filled in, houses built over the right of way and the railway faded away.
This book describes the time when Marvelous Melbourne ruled supreme, when nothing was too grand, unachievable, inconceivable. Money flowed freely, backed by the seemingly endless supply of land. Ross, like so many, became enamoured by visions: like so many, the 1890s were disastrous for him.
A rail trail sort of follows the alignment through suburbia, a nice walk but, for a railway buff, very dull.
At least this can’t be said of the book.
Review by Michael Canavan
Borrow the book: https://library.pmi.net.au/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=10053