Support for railway extension

State shadow minister for tourism Sam Groth and Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham have added their weight to calls for funding to enable the Walhalla Goldfields Railway to be extended to Erica.
Their visit to the historic town follows an earlier visit by Member of Eastern Victoria Melina Bath, who also threw her support behind the project.
Mr Groth and Mr Farnham inspected the work already being done by the railway's volunteers and chatted with them over lunch at the Shed Cafe.
Both the Opposition MPs agreed extending the popular railway from Thomson to Erica would be a "terrific economic boost" for the Walhalla/Mountain Rivers tourist district.
Mr Groth even took to the controls of one of the rail trolleys on a short trip on the line to Bridge 6 where the volunteers are replacing 67 old sleepers with recycled plastic ones.
Then it was on to Walhalla to inspect progress on another major railways project, restoration of a large DH locomotive that will provide the pulling power necessary for the 14-kilometre trip to Erica when the line extension is completed.