by Gabriella Vukman
When passers by notice a white cross, next to the puffing billy line in Cockatoo, they are told that this is the grave of beloved community member ‘Jerry…’
-a stray dog who died 90 years ago.
On Monday 29 April, members of the Cockatoo History and Heritage Group and residents from the Cockatoo community held a memorial service for the 90th anniversary of Jerry the beloved railway dog’s death.
Cockatoo resident Ruth attended the ceremony and said, “It’s more of a nice celebration and this year we had it at the Cockatoo station. It poured with rain”
“We normally have it at Jerry’s gravesite but it is a little bit hard to get to and we thought with the weather it would be easier for everyone to walk down and attend.”
“There were probably around 30 people who attended the ceremony. It was the biggest turnout we’ve had,” Ruth said.
The tale goes that Jerry was a beloved member of the Cockatoo community. Running alongside and popping on and off Puffing Billy across the Ranges from Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook, Jerry would visit various locals along the way, receiving treats and a friendly pat.
Ruth said, “He was a stray and was adopted by Diccky Downs, the driver for puffing Billy and he used to run the whole length of the line from Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook, getting on and off the train and running to houses to get some milk.
“This happened for years. Everyone talks about how much of a character he was.” Ruth said.
Jerry’s train hopping came to an end when he was accidentally hit by Puffing Billy on 29 April 1994 after being blinded by steam.
“That day it wasn’t Diccky who was driving the train. It was a new driver who didn’t know about Jerry’s antics,” Ruth said.
“They didn’t realise until they came back that Jerry had been killed.”
They buried him where he was hit in Cockatoo and the grave has been there since 1934, but it has been lost for years in between,” Ruth said.
The current cross that marks Jerry’s grave is made of steel as the original wooden version was burned in the ash wednesday fires in the 80s.
“Patsy, who is very passionate about Jerry, always does the ceremony,” Ruth said.
“The ceremony is always a bit of fun. It’s not like a sad thing and we encourage people to bring their dogs along. There was cake as well”
“It’s just a remembrance of the dog,” Ruth said.
Over the years there have been multiple poems written about the Railway Dog and these were featured in Monday’s ceremony.
Ruth said, “It is a snippet of cockatoo’s history.”
“A lot of the people who go on puffing Billy are always quite interested and will ask the staff ‘what’s the grave about.’A lot of people still don’t know about Jerry and wonder why the grave is there. ”
“It’s just a way to bring the community together and keep our traditions and history alive,” Ruth said.
