Written by Sandy Powell – Advocate Newspaper.
An essential and historic piece of infrastructure at Ulverstone’s Camp Clayton has been updated for the modern era. Cooper’s Crossing, named for camp Stalwarts Gwen and Geoff Cooper, has been rebuilt and opened anew with contributions from TasRail and the Tasmania Community Fund. Camp Clayton CEO Mell Zwerver said that the $50,000 project was essential to the camp’s progress. ”It made it possible for us to make our site safer for every person and maintain access to our much beloved beach front, bush chapel and flying fox.
“The railway upgrade project was designed to proved increased safety and access through our site for everyone. Since its establishment the crossing has already proven its worth by preventing near-misses and keeping children safely out of the rail way corridor.”
Camp Clayton was opened in the 1950s and trains have passed between it and the beach since its inception. “in the early days the passenger train would drop campers off at the Camp Clayton siding and in more recent times the Cargo Trains have honked their horns and waved at the kids as they rolled through the property,” Mr Zwerver said.
The opening of the crossing this week also coincided with TasRail celebrating 150 years of operation. The camp is located on Clayton Road at Ulverstone.