Nestled on the banks of the Latrobe River in Victoria's Gippsland region is the small viggage of Noojee. A short trail through tall forests leads to the impressive restored trestle bridge. The terrain offers a gentle climb from Noojee and is well shaded and protected from wind. The trail is on the same former railway line as the Rokeby to Crossover Rail Trail, a branch line from Warragul.
A rail service was opened between Melbourne and Bairnsdale on 6th May 1888, bringing trains into the Gippsland area. After World war I, Victorian Railways decided to extend the railway network in the Gippsland area, and one of those extensions was a narrow gauge branchline from Warragul to Noojee and Nayook. The Noojee to Nayook section of the line to Warragul opened in 1919, enabling the Noojee Railway (which had opened as far as Neerim South in 1890-2) to be used for the transportation of timber and local farm produce from Noojee district to the main towns.
There was a terminus at Noojee, to which large amounts of timber were transported from mills scattered through the forest by means of a network of timber tramlines, heading to the west and to the north.
This bridge, known as No. 7, was constructed in 1919 on the Noojee-Warragul line, to the design of the Chief Engineer of Works, Edward Ballard, for the Victorian Railways. It is a eighteen-span, curved timber trestle bridge. It is the only one of seven trestle bridges remaining on this section of railway line. Of the other six bridges, three survived a 1939 bushfire, but were destroyed later by another fire. The bridge of the main Noojee - Warragul Road (formally Longmores Road) was dismantled.
Located 1.5 km south of Noojee, it is regarded as a fine example of the quality of work carried out by the Gippsland railways. The ironbark and grey box logs for the trestles were brought in by rail and a small amount of local timber was dragged out of the bush by teams of bullocks and horses to make the decking. The bridge was then built by railway employees. With a length of 102 metres and height of 20 metres, it is one of the largest of its type in the Southern Hemisphere.
The bridge was originally designed to carry the weight of N class steam locomotives, with the smaller engine classes J and K also using the line. It was rebuilt in 1939, after being burned down in the aforementioned bushfires of that year, which, for the second time in 13 years, had managed to burn most of Noojee to the ground. This bridge was subsequently taken out of service in 1954. The line was closed in 1958 and the bridge was sold to the local shire. The single railway track has since been removed.
The bridge can be reached by road from Noojee or via the Noojee Trestle Bridge Rail Trail, a 5 km round trip from Noojee along the path of the former railway line and surrounded by tall forest. The terrain offers a gentle climb from Noojee and is well shaded and protected from wind. The trail is a shared cycling, horse and pedestrian path, with horses using the verges of the trail.
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