My backyard was once the Hawkesdale Railway station which closed down in the 1970’s. It is about 5 km north east of Hawkesdale township by road. We live in the former railway cottage which we have extended and renovated. My wife grew up in this house as her parents ran the station and maintained the local part of the railway line.
 The railway line now only has remnants of past railway existence left but the land has been kept for a proposed native corridor. From our place the line is covered in lush green grass and weed at present, with pockets of native trees mainly wattle and occasional big swamp or manna gum. A railway store shed and siding remain as proof of a former life.
There are rows of old radiated pine which were planted many years ago as wind breaks. Some pines have self seeded. Protecting the front of my property are huge old cypress pines which my children used to love climbing and building cubbies in when they were a bit younger.My family owns a goat, Walter, whose sole purpose in life is to assist with the grass mowing thus helping to prevent a fire hazard during the summer.
4 responses so far ↓
Let’s hope your volcano is extinct! Thank you for the lovely tour of your property. And I bet you have some amusing stories about Walter!
Lori
California
I work in downtown Seattle and alot of the tracks are still in use ( and go almost right up to my loading dock ) and some of the older unused rails are still above ground and others seem to go into walls and under walkways.
Very Spooky.
I also have a clear view of Mount Rainer and unlike your volcanos it’s dormant and very much ” alive”- keep your fingers crossed for me that it stays that way!
our local railway is separated from my house by a road and a field/orchard. After 17 years of living so close my nights are no longer punctuated by the sound of passing trains but on still day I can hear the sound of the road crossing barrier warnings. Far from hating the sound of trains, I think the sound of their passage is comforting
Our trains thunder right through town. Even though we live about a mile away, we can clearly hear them rumbling over the plains on their way into and out of town. I like the idea of your natural lawn mowers. They would be much less noisy than the sort with an engine!
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