Now this may not sound very exciting, but it could be the start of something big.

I’ll go back a few years. We were in our 1948 Plymouth, on a vintage car tour.

We stayed at Healesville and toured all of that outer urban countryside that became famous with the Marysville bushfires.

Trolley rides on the long-closed Healesville railway line were advertised.

It was July. I was quite unprepared for the bracing winds that swept through our railway trolley, but I will never forget the enthusiasm of the crew that was trying to revive the line.

Trolley rides became such a tourist success that 16km of the line towards Yarra Glen is now fully restored. Buses with tourist groups, and families in their cars, flocked to the Yarra Valley Railway.

Revenue plus a $3.5million grant from the Federal Government has allowed this venture to grow into a major tourist magnet.

Go to www.yvr.com.au and note that this group now operates rail motors on this line.

“We had 140 passengers last Sunday, but that was a poor day,” my contact Alan Alletson said.

Victoria has 19 different railway organisations if you include attractions such as the Bendigo trams and the Victorian Goldfields Railway which runs steam trains from Maldon to Castlemaine.

We have ridden on the quirky Kerrisdale Mountain Railway between Seymour and Yea. Coaches unload passengers at this truly unique two-foot gauge railway which climbs up the hills to “Summit Station”.

So what does all of this have to do with the Ladysmith Tourist Railway?

Ladysmith Station and yards have been restored to their former glory. Last May saw a ceremony to commemorate 100 years since the first train pulled into Ladysmith on its way to Humula.

Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire unveiled the plaque. Advertising what was to come, Mr Maguire rode up to the ceremony on a railway fettlers’ trolley.

This is the next step. Railway trolley rides will soon be open to the public. If you don’t see the tourist potential in this venture you haven’t looked at how coach tour operators gauge the interests of their passengers.

“Something different” is always an attraction. Before this can become a reality, authorities have demanded that every sixth sleeper be renewed! To me this is bureaucracy gone mad, but I suppose in our litigation-conscious society every “i” must be dotted.

“Sleepers” are the timber spacers that support the rails. They are heavy, very heavy.

Worse, once in the ground for 100 years, they don’t want to move! Enter the “sleeper-inserting machine”, which mechanically lifts the track, pulls the old sleeper out, and “inserts” the new one. The job will be done very quickly.

Sadly this machine came from the liquidation sale of the now-defunct Canberra Railway Museum. Big local income lost with no more steam train trips to Bungendore!

The machine will help the Ladysmith crew make rapid progress. Once the sleepers are replaced, the public will be invited to travel the length of the yard and beyond. This venture will provide an entertaining break for walkers and riders on the rail trail.

If the idea captures everyone’s imagination, then the Ladysmith Tourist Railway will grow to become a major Wagga-area tourism success story!