He saw the light at the end of the tunnel

When William Bassett died, he was the last pioneer of Tunnel in Tasmania and the second oldest resident of the Lilydale district. At 87 years of age, he had lived in Tunnel for more than 60 years and had worked on the construction of the tunnel, for which the town was named, back in 1888.

With his wife Alice, they had been the first to experience the hardships of the area. There were no roads and his lot of land was covered in dense bush.

The tunnel at Tunnel. Source: Our Tasmania.

The tunnel at Tunnel was part of the north-eastern railway in Tasmania completed and opened in 1889. It was built through a mountain range in the area and the nearby station was called Tunnel, as was the locality when it had a name change from Cambanora.

By 1978, train travel closed down in Tasmania, suffering from the competition of cars which were much faster to arrive at destinations. Freight was all that would be carried on the Launceston-Scottsdale line, which Tunnel was a part of, until the last trip in 2004.

Today, there are plans for the tunnel to be part of the North East rail trail which starts at the old Scottsdale Railway Station in Ellenor Street.

Headstone for William and Alice Bassett. Courtesy: Findagrave

William must have been very loved as his funeral was one of the largest in the history of the district. He was eventually buried in Tunnel Methodist Cemetery. He left behind his wife, Alice and children, Elsie, May, Gwen, Hazel, Joyce, Bert, Dick, Tas, Merv, Sam and Bill.

References

• 'Obituary', Examiner, Tuesday 31 May, 1949, Page 2

• 'Funeral', North-Eastern Advertiser, Tuesday, 7 June, 1949, Page 2

• 'Tunnel, Tasmania', Wikipedia, accessed 14th August, 2024, Tunnel, Tasmania - Wikipedia

• 'Railways of Tasmania', Our Tasmania - Launceston and North East Tasmania, accessed 15th August, 2024, North East Railway (ourtasmania.com.au)

• 'Deaths - Bassett', Examiner, Tuesday 31 May, 1949, Page 5