By Oliver Winn
An exploration of the historical railways that shaped Warburton’s history has been shortlisted for the 2024 Victorian Premier’s History Award.
Nick Anchen’s 2023 book Whistles Through the Tall Timber tells the story of the Warburton, Powelltown and Noojee railways and the fascinating memoirs of railwaymen and timber workers who worked on them.
“I just got told last week I was on the shortlist, which is nice to know. I think there’s about 39 entries on the shortlist, which is very gratifying, of course,” Mr Anchen said.
“I’m looking forward to the award ceremony in a couple of weeks, where it’d be nice to take out the top prize.”
The Victorian Premier’s History Award offers the top prize out of the 11 categories a part of the 2024 Victorian Community Historian Awards, with the winner taking away $5000.
Mr Anchen is mainly interested in the social history of the first half of the 20th century – the way how railways and the forestry industry were the backbones which enabled the towns of the Upper Yarra to survive.
“The only reason that it was opened up throughout the Warburton Noojee area was almost completely [from timber]”, Mr Anchen said.
His book is a culmination of 15 years of research and around 150 interviews, which saw him network his way among the old-timers of Warburton, gathering stories and artefacts for his book.
But he also realised time is short – those who hold the stories are getting old, and the stories will die with them if they aren’t chronicled.
“One of the motivations to write the book so quickly is because they’re all dying out,” he said.
Mr Anchen grew fascinated with the social history of railways from a young age, where a family friend who used to run the Warburton train line told him stories of the past.
“So it was just a given, my earliest memories are seeing trains, hearing trains and being told stories about railways,” Mr Anchen said.
“The actual trains themselves aren’t really of great interest, I’m more interested in the social aspect of the social history aspect of it quite frankly, the way the railways were such a big part of their lives.”
The introduction of better roads and trucks, chainsaws and a growing preference of diesel over steam meant railways needed less workers, which saw the gradual decline of the railway network.
The book’s title comes from the sound of steam train whistles and steam winches in the bush used to haul timber onto tramways to be taken to a saw mill.
The winners will be announced at the Victorian Community History Awards ceremony on 24 March.
