Train Journey from Melbourne to Lancefield via Romsey circa 1885
From Braybrook junction to Lancefield the trunk line passes over a succession of treeless plains as dreary in their character as the Roman
Campagna. But when Digger’s Rest is reached, the landscape falls into curving lines, which are generally graceful and occasionally salient.
This is more especially, the case near Sunbury, where
some of the swelling hills are mantled with vineyards, and the artificial lake and pleasure grounds of Rupertswood, the country residence of Sir W. J. Clarke, arrest attention.
Arrival at Romsey 
Through the deep glen, Jackson’s Creek winds its way with a broad expanse of table-land stretching to the westward, while Mounts
Holden and Aitken dominate the landscaper in that direction, and more distant ranges fill in the background.
Thenceforward the country is lightly timbered as far as Lancefield junction ( Clarkefield station ), where a branch line diverges to the little mining town of
Lancefield, a distance of fourteen miles, the train halting at Romsey, situated in the heart of an agricultural district, and on the banks of Five Mile Creek.
Three churches, two school-houses, a
mechanics’ institute and a free library, three banks and four hotels, with a post and telegraph office, denote that Romsey is a prosperous and progressive place; and as it is situated nearly
sixteen hundred feet above the sea-level, it enjoys advantages of climate which are evidenced by the healthy countenances of its population.
Lancefield
Leaving the somewhat remarkable elevation known as Melbourne Hill upon the left, the train in another quarter of an hour reaches its
destination at Lancefield, the centre of a busy and flourishing population.
The place is surrounded by a large area of agricultural land occupying a plateau one thousand five hundred and sixty feet
above the level of the sea, watered by numerous creeks taking their rise in the lofty ranges to the north and west, and producing in favourable seasons heavy crops of grain, pulse, potatoes and
chicory.
It is as well provided with churches, banks, educational institutions and hotels as the neighbouring town of Romsey; and local enterprise has manifested itself in the establishment of a
malthouse, a brewery, flour and chicory mills. Moreover, it has its own racecourse, a courthouse and a well kept recreation reserve.
The Coach Ride
A pleasant coach ride, or a journey on horseback, through a country of broken hills, presents a succession of romantic landscapes, of which
Brock’s Monument, the Hanging Rock, and the outlying bastions of the Great Dividing Range, such as Alexander’s Head and Mount Diogenes, are the most conspicuous features that flank the
road on the east.
Note: The Lancefield line was opened in 1881.
Last Lancefield line train ran 11.08.1956
Photograph of Romsey Railway Station circa 1900
View Railway Map 1910.
Historical data exrtacted from: "Picturesque Atlas of Australasia" a three-volume geographic encyclopaedia of Australia and New Zealand compiled and published in 1886.
Descriptive Sketch of Victoria
Photographic source: When Memory Turns the Key The Shire of Romsey History Book Committee
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Read : Letters from First Settlers in Victoria.
