RAIL Victoria's (and Australia's) first railway was the line built by the Hobson's Bay Company, between Melbourne and Sandridge, in 1854. The gold rushes stimulated population growth away from the major coastal cities, so in 1856 a railway from Melbourne to Geelong, the nearest port to the Ballaarat goldfield, was completed, and in 1858 contracts were let for an extension of that line to Ballaarat (and also Bendigo). The Ballaarat line was opened in April 1862 - Australia's first country railway. ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST REMAINING WOODEN TRESTLE BRIDGES (LOCATED NEAR BALLARAT) (PICTURE: RM)