Rails of Gold

Having spent much of the past twenty years commuting to Melbourne on the Bendigo train line - firstly from Bendigo, later from Woodend - I was pleased to see the publication of a book devoted to its construction. In Rails of Gold, Paul Burke explores not only the formidable engineering achievement of driving the line through mountain ranges, swamps, and broad gorges, but also, and just as compellingly, the social, economic, and political challenges faced by the newly constituted colony of Victoria in the 1850s, and the consequences these had for the men who built the line and for their families.

Burke's research shows an assured command of the period's sources, with due regard for the agendas and political biases of the major newspapers, the Argus and the Age, as well as the vitally important local press. Rails of Gold is replete with illustrations, photos, charts, and maps, supported by comprehensive appendices that assist the reader's understanding.

Rails of Gold is an important contribution to our understanding of the dreams and ambitions of our forebears at a remarkable time of gold rushes and mass immigration. More than that, it changes the way that one sees the line itself. Sitting in comfort and looking outside the train window, I now imagine the rough men cutting through granite with pick and shovel, the stonemasons applying their craft to bridge pylons of locally quarried bluestone, and the often exploited workers living in tents, poorly paid, and in dangerous and miserable conditions for months and years on end - all of it regarded with a renewed sense of appreciation and awe.