Railway Border

 

The old railway line that went to Cooma and further to Bombala can still be seen. A National Trust tour visited the site (below) on a wet day. A descendent from a local farming family, Hayden Sheehan, checks out the points.

How to get there?

Travel south on the Monaro Highway. On reaching the suburb of Chisholm, turn left off the highway at the sign indicating 'The Old Tuggeranong Road'. Please note the Old Tuggeranong Road is not open to general vehicle traffic. The walk along the road to the border will take about 40 minutes. Return the same way.

Why is this interesting?

This is a pleasant walk over gentle to medium terrain through mainly nature reserve. Views to the south reveal the Melrose Valley and Melrose Hill (764 metres). In the spring, flowering Telopeas can be seen. 

Surveyor Percy Sheaffe and his team, under the supervision of Charles Scrivener, marked this part of the border in 1913. 
While New South Wales surrendered land to form the ACT, the railway line was to remain on their side of the border. The Queanbeyan to Cooma railway line was finished in 1889 and the train made its last journey100 years later. The railway line can still be seen.

The Melrose Travelling Stock Reserve enabled livestock to be moved between local grazing properties and beyond, thanks to the Tuggeranong railway siding. The stock reserve is one of several in the ACT; nine have been heritage-listed for their evidence of the earlier rural period of the ACT and their remaining native vegetation.