The Wagga Wagga to Tumbarumba railway line played a significant role in the everyday life of residents from the Riverina through to the Snowy Valleys. It allowed them to travel to and from Wagga Wagga for the day and was critical in stock movements up and down to the high country.

For many it was their first experience of riding a train and their first trip outside of Tumbarumba. Plenty of residents fondly remember the ‘tin hares’, as the rail cars were named, with great affection!   

1884 - Residents advocated for a rail line that would connect the region and improve the economy through increased trade  

November 1911 - Wagga Wagga to Tumbarumba Railway Act passed through parliament.

April 1912 - Ground broken, otherwise known as Turning the Sod, in a ceremony commemorating the first day of construction. 

July 1915 - Line completed to Humula however the official handover was delayed until 1917. 

July 1915 - Work on the Humula-Tumbarumba section commenced. This generated employment for the local community with as many as 50 men employed to prepare the railway yard at Glenroy. 

August, 1915 - A day return train travelled from Humula to Wagga Wagga show. This was the first trip completed on a section of the railway. 

April, 1917 - Albury Banner and Wodonga Express reported that the railway works were now with a ‘coo-ee’ of Tumbarumba! 

August, 1917 - Work suspended due to a lack of funding.  

May, 1918 - At Humula, Minister for Works and Railway, Mr Ball, was presented with a collection of fruit and vegetables to signify that there was no market for the produce while the railway remained incomplete. The Minster assured the group that as soon as the funds were available, the railway would be finished. . 

January, 1919 - Following the end of WWI, work resumed after a  £1,471 grant was approved by the NSW Treasury. This grant was part of a policy to fund public works that provided employment opportunities for unemployed and returning servicemen. Men camped in the vicinity of the railway were given first preference for the jobs. 

June 1919 - Stewart’s Bridge, the bridge on the Humula Road crossing, was completed. The bridge was named after Stewart Logan, a returning serviceman who was warmly welcomed home by his local community and was the first to cross the newly-built bridge. Unfortunately Stewart’s Bridge no longer exists today.   

March 1921 - Wagga Wagga -Tumbarumba railway officially opened! A special train from Wagga Wagga was packed with passengers for Tumbarumba in order to participate in the official opening ceremony of the railway line and attend the Tumbarumba show. At every stop more passengers came aboard making the carriages uncomfortably crowded upon reaching the final destination! . 

1954 - More than 30 trains transported school children from across the region to Wagga Wagga for Queen Elizabath’s first ever visit to Australia. One of the children was expecting to see a princess in a crown but instead ‘all there was a nice lady in a blue dress who waved as she drove by’.

Mid-September, 1974 - Passenger trains ceased operation in 1974 after significant flooding saw much of the line abandoned.

April, 2020 - The Snowy Valleys Rail Trail, a disused 22km section of the Tumbarumba–Rosewood section of the original track, was officially opened. The trail is now enjoyed by walkers, joggers and cyclists from across the country .

Information kindly supplied by the Tumbarumba Historical Society, courtesy of Ron Frew