The story sounds like the plot from a great classic movie. Penniless immigrant entrepreneur builds industrial empire and plans grand railroad and huge factory to benefit the community. He meets design hurdles, construction delays, legislative challenges, he cheats the legislators, the banks take him on, he is thrown to the ravages of bankruptcy ! What will happen to this hero striving against the system ?

Well the truth is that the town named after him votes to change its name and the railroad is torn up. Mmmm, maybe not such a heroic ending.

However, this is the story of the Rosstown Rail Trail, a magnificent walking and bike path starting in the suburb of Elsternwick and finishing in leafy, not industrial at all, suburb of Oakleigh. It is also the story of William Murray Ross, our penniless immigrant who arrived from Liverpool England in 1852. He was a man with grand plans and less than 20 years later he was building a sugar beet mill and a servicing railroad in the self-named suburb of Rosstown. The mill never milled and the only carriage the railroad saw was the one that Ross borrowed to travel the line to substantiate use and beat the legislation regarding forfeiture.

This all sounds quite depressing but Ross has left a legacy to the community. His railroad is now the Rosstown Rail Trail. Comprising of a 8.5km trail with a 3.5km optional detour, this adventure travels along streets that were given birth to as the rails were pulled up and linear parks that now replace the tracks and sidings. The Trail can be walked in approximately 3.5hrs or cycled in about 1.5hrs. It commences in Elsterwick Railway Park, passes through Caulfield and Carnegie and ends at Oakleigh Junction. If you don’t fancy the walk or cycle back the train from Oakleigh will drop you back your starting point in Elsterwick.

Along the trail you will encounter evidence of the old railroad, including the site of the original Gardenvale Station in College Street, Elsterwick. Further along in Marara Road, Caulfield there is a linear park that follows the street and along with a section of Oakleigh Road, Carnegie is now some of the only remaining parts of the railroad that are now a community park. Families cycle or walk along this open park environment, smiles on their faces tell of the beauty of this piece of Melbourne and a connection with its history.

On the corner of Koornang Road and Neville Street you will find the site of the 7 storey sugar pulp mill that sat unused, empty and decaying for many years after Ross’s ultimate bankruptcy. It is now residential development, no sign of the testament to the folly of the self-made man remains. Continue following the trail until you arrive in Freda Street in Oakleigh, here you will find the plaque commemorating the Railroad that never saw a “legitimate” train. Quite empathetically the plaque refers to the “defunct railroad”. Defunct indeed, never used is the truth.

David Moir, a local historian and keen cyclist, talks enthusiastically of the Trail and the great opportunities for family days out. He is keen to point out that even the must mundane suburbs of Melbourne have history that can be experienced by the novice, if you just take the time to do some research. And he is right, as the City of Glen Eira have a great resources page on their website (http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Connect/Parks_and_recreation) that provide detailed information not only on the Rosstown Rail Trail but other local experiences.

Back to the real experience, does it sound all a bit too energetic ? Well there are literally hundreds of cafes and great lunch spots along the Rosstown Rail Trail. Take in a latte in at Spilt Milk in Carnegie and contemplate while you pour a spoonful of refined sugar into your coffee how the mighty can fall on the dream of a 7 storey monument to bad health. Or perhaps over lunch imagine William Ross crying into his English Breakfast Tea at the news that Rosstown was no longer and Carnegie had been birthed. Spilt Milk has by far the best coffee on the Rosstown Rail Trail so be sure not to miss it.

https://www.facebook.com/SpiltMilkCarnegie?fref=ts

David leaves me after a satisfying lunch with a final piece of advice. “Make sure you pop into the Rosstown Hotel (Cnr Koornang Road and Dandenong Road Carnegie) for a quick refreshment at the end of your trip and raise a glass to the memory of William Murray Ross. After all walking is more thirsty work than riding in a train!.”