The last stop

The first Wimmera regional Library bookmobile

The bookmobile was officially opened in Birchip and Donald on 22^nd June 1967 by the State Librarian Mr Kenneth A.R. Horn.

The Official Opening

The mobile started operation in July 1967, in the shires of Birchip, Donald and Karkarooc, covering an area of 3,331 square miles. It travelled up to stops at Patchewollock in Karkarooc, and Watchupga in Birchip Shire.

The class of 1968 at Donald Primary School

 In 1984, Birchip changed from a Mobile site to a joint-use branch library at the Birchip P-12 College, with Margaret Glen and Andrew Rossner working together.

The Mobile at Donald Primary

The vehicle was a Bedford TK KEL 3D. It carried 3,500 books. The first operator/driver was Mr Jack Klowss, he was on the road from Tuesday to Saturday, staying away 3 nights a week.

Jack Klowss on the mobile

Move forward 50 odd years, and the Mobile Library is making its final visit to Donald. After 3 new vehicles and even more operator/drivers, Paul will drive up Woods Street and park outside the Post Office for the last time tomorrow.

The Bedford parked outside the Donald Post Office site

Photos up north

The magnificent Catholic Church building at Watchem

The next 'Wimmera in Photographs' Collection Day is Thursday 18th December, in the morning, sessions will be held in the Birchip Library from 10am to 1pm, and during the afternoon at the Watchem Hall from 2:30 to 4:30.
This is a chance for people in the southern Mallee to bring in photos, slides or negatives which showcase the history of the district. It would be great to see images from localities like Kinnabulla, Watchupga, Jil Jil, or Curyo - old school and railway sites, etc.
Appointments are necessary, and can be made by calling in to the Birchip Library at the Birchip P-12 College or phoning 58492 2230.

Styling stations

This post grew from this comment -

"Can someone please elaborate on 'Bealiba style'? I was brought up in Bealiba and spent years hanging around the Bealiba Station but have never heard of the term. Thanks Brian H." on the earlier post ‘Railways - Mildura line’ and led to a little research at the State Library.

The 1870s was an era of railway building, that ended with the financial crash of the early 1890s, when railway lines were extended westward. During this period, the development of a succession of standard plans coincided with the patterns of railway construction, establishing groups of stations common to sections of line.

Bealiba in 1980 (Andrew Ward)

There developed a "line style", in which similarly-designed station buildings imparted their distinctive character along a particular line. The Bealiba station building was one in the “light line” style along one of the “main trunk” lines and gave its name to a prototype style which was an economic solution to the previously costly construction of railway station buildings.

According to Andrew Ward in a ‘Study of Historic Railway Buildings and Structures’ and 'Victoria's Railway Stations: An Architectural Survey', the Bealiba Style is an earlier sub-group of the Rosedale Style. He says the Rosedale style developed in response to the need to save on construction costs,and was the first design to be widely employed for all-timber type buildings. In all, 12 Rosedale style buildings were erected (Cope Cope was the only example in this district) and 6 in the earlier Bealiba Style of station building - Bealiba, Broadmeadows, Euroa, Kilmore East, Lubeck, Murtoa and Wallan.

Lubeck in 1981 (from VRnet)

Constructed in 1878, the Bealiba building is still substantially intact as an example of the style. Elements of the Bealiba Style are: An oblong single-storey plan timber construction with bisecting longitudinal corridor which terminated at a porch. The combined station and residence had a verandah to the platform formed by an extension from the main roof. Four rooms were residential (2 bedrooms, parlour& kitchen) and 2 for railway purposes – the Booking Office and the Ladies Waiting Room. The 4 corner rooms all had fireplaces. The lamp room & toilets were all in the station yard. Copying the diminutive Dooen Style, the barge boards were fringed with cast-iron lace-work, and ornamental brackets adorned the porches. The verandah post capitals, gable vents and finials all had decorative timber work. The interior walls & ceilings, and lamp room & toilets were lined with tongue & groove boards.

Plan of the Bealiba building (Andrew Ward)

The later Rosedale style omitted the cast-iron lace-work, the end porches and 2 fireplaces, but now included a General Waiting Room.

Other stations in the area awarded a “style” are:

·     The "St. Arnaud style" (1879) comprised an architectural symmetrical single-storey hip roofed brick station with cast-iron platform verandah and pavilions and a standard U shaped plan for the station building. It is the most intact example of the largest standard station building design erected on the early light lines.

St Arnaud's water tower

Also the St Arnaud water tower was built as a standard 'Type B2' hemispherical design carried by a 'T' iron frame and installed onto a cement rendered brick column. It is the last remaining example of this construction, with other B2 type towers originally located at Cranbourne, Bealiba and some metropolitan locations.

Diapur station building in 1971 (from "VR stations & stopping places")

·     The “Kaniva Style” which in addition to Kaniva itself, included Diapur, Leeor (to Melton), Miram and Nhill. Small timber buildings with classical decoration & gables.

The ornate platform verandah, Minyip

·     The “Minyip Style” used for Minyip and Yarra Junction.

·     The “Rupanyup Style” used at Rupanyup and Bairnsdale

Past glories - the dilapidated Rupanyup building

A “Special Design” was used for Serviceton, Warracknabeal (1887) was built in the “Casterton Style” a Tudor/Late Victorian look, while Dimboola (1882) is in the “South Melbourne Style” the Italianate/Late Victorian style.

The same style - Donald & Birchip

 

Railways - Mildura line 2

I'm re-posting the Mildura line, as I've added some more information and photos of stops. This one does not replace the original post from November, but I've swapped some photos added new ones of current views.

Mildura/Yelta (Ballarat to Ouyen) Line The line was opened between Ballarat and Maryborough by 1875, and extended to St Arnaud in December 1878, Donald in February 1882, and Ouyen by 1903. 

Emu station in 1971 (from "VR stations & stopping places")

Local stations - Emu was named after the nearby Emu Creek, it is still an important crossing loop, and the basic facilities replaced a station in the same style as that of Bealiba and Cope Cope. 

Emu today

Carapooee a lone peppercorn tree marks the site of the station.

The railway reached St Arnaud in December 1878, while the station was built  in 1879, the building was reflecting the gold mining heritage. Made of brick with cast iron verandah supports, the station master’s residence was incorporated into the design. No passenger trains have called here since 1993, the yard still sees use for freight. It is on the register of heritage buildings, as well as the unusual  hemispherical water tower, the last of this design remaining.

The St Arnaud turntable with the water tank behind & station building behind that

Sutherland the silos are all that remain of Sutherland which also boasted a school and church. 

Trees stand behind the Sutherland platform mound

Swanwater

Swanwater silos

Cope Cope  opened in January 1882, when the line was extended from St Arnaud to Donald in April 1882. A large wooden station containing offices, and a station master’s residence was erected on the site of the original state school, railway engineers moved the building aside to lay the rails. The station and goods buildings were demolished some time after 1986. Now only a raised mound of earth marks the spot.
Talking with an ex-railwayman, he believes there was also a siding named Laen, south of Donald.
The line reached Donald in February1882, during the summer drought of 1881-82, so the railway was needed to cart water to the town (nearly 2 million gallons of water were delivered to the town before the drought broke). The line opened for passengers and mail in April 1882.

Chute of the Cope Cope silo looking across the platform mound to a railway house

Donald Freezing Company Siding this complex deserves its own post. On the outskirts of the Donald township, straddling its own track, are the rusting remains of the Donald Inland Freezing Company's buildings. Covering 10 acres most of the buildings are abandoned or converted to other uses. The freezing section was turned into a yabby (freshwater crayfish) production plant 'Oz Crays' during the 1980s (now derelict), and the north-most section is home to 'Kooka's Country Cookies' (established in 1990s). Only the portion of the rail-line to the grain silos is utilised.

Freezer works on the left of the line, and the slaughterhouse on the right

Donald was the line’s terminus, until 1893 when the tracks pushed northwards. A 50' turntable was constructed. In 1914 the 4 locomotive engine shed was destroyed by fire, volunteers manually pulled a large DD engine from the shed while the other 3 could not be reached. A million bushel silo was erected in 1963. Passenger services ceased in 1993, and the Queen Anne style brick station building and passenger platform are no longer in use, but the station remains an active freight centre with a sizable yard and the large corrugated iron goods shed. 

Donald station building, with the silos looming behind

Donald was a changeover point for drivers and a large crew of railway workers were based in the town, a large contingent lived in Donald, and it saw the construction of a Railways Institute in 1963, across from the station yard. The building and grounds are now derelict since the rationalisations of the 1970s and 80s saw most of the job positions disappear.

The V.R. institute & bowling green

Donald marks the southern boundary of the 'Mallee', and as the line proceeded northwards it traversed wide plains of marginal farming land. During droughts week-long dust storms caused sand drift to accumulate on the tracks, derailling some trains.
Buloke is only mentioned on some maps. The siding was on a crossing of the Sunraysia Highway near the southern shore of Lake Buloke.

Litchfield was a wooden portable building and platform at the wheat siding. By January 1990 the platform had been removed, now only the silos and a small goods platform remain.

The decaying platform at Litchfield

From the level-crossing at Massey

Massey
Watchem was opened in 1893 (it was goods only in 1892), when the line reached Birchip. A grain shed was erected in 1894, the concrete silos were built in 1939, with the steel bins added later. The Oat Growers Shed was erected in 1959. Bunkers were created in 1982. The stockyards were demolished in the late 1960s. The long demountable station building had an extra roof attached to the present roof, to form greater protection, and a verandah for passengers, prior to 1912. Passenger services ended in May 1990. The building was removed to High Street during 1991 to become a residence, only the long wide platform now remains.

Morton Plains was established in 1893 when the line was extending from Donald to Birchip. Passenger traffic peaked in 1923/4 then declined to the point it ceased in October 1966. Stock yards were erected in 1900. The silo opened in 1941.

Morton Plains, looking remarkably like a reverse of the Massey photo

A Bulldog goods train at Birchip in the late 1910s (V.R.S. photo)

Birchip was the line's terminus from March 1893 until September 1899, when the track extended to Woomelang. The  Queen Anne station building with terracotta roof is used by the local electrician, and the nearby silos for grain.

Birchip station, the same design as at Donald

Karyrie (station no. 204) alternate suggested names were 'Woodlands' and 'Towma', but Railway Commissioners stuck with local homestead 'Karyrie'. It boasted a gangers residence until 1953 when the passenger service ended. Stock facilities existed from 1907 till 1953. Wheat was only stacked at Karyrie in bags. The station closed in January 1954.

The line reached Kinnabulla (station no. 205) in 1899 and passengers, stock and grain used the station until 1973 when the buildings, platform and facilities were removed or demolished, and Kinnabulla remained solely for grain transportation. Talking with the daughter of one of the Kinnabulla gangers last week, she reminisced about her time when there were 3 ganger family houses and a stationmaster.

Sheepyards at Kinnabulla with the fences made from railway sleepers

Curyo, Curyo is the Aboriginal word for a kind of small kangaroo. It was the name chosen for Hugh Mann and James Falconer’s pastoral station north of Birchip, which was taken up in 1847. The Curyo railway station was a 24 hour manned small demountable structure, on an important loop which survives as a block point. A town and community grew around the railway, but in April 1976 the station was de-staffed and the residence demolished, the changeover loop dismantled in August 1988, and the platform leveled in July 1989.

Curyo weighbridge & silos

Watchupga was officially opened in September 1899. Passenger services and stock handling  finished in 1966. It was de-staffed in February 1970.

Woomelang remained a terminus from 1899 until 1903, when the line was finally put right through to Mildura. A large standard wooden building was erected with several large tanks, a pumping plant, turnable and engine sheds. The station closed in 1993, when passenger services were discontinued on the Mildura line. The boarded-over station building, two passenger platforms and a goods shed (loosing its roof) remain.

Entrance to the Woomelang Station

 Lascelles probably opened in 1911 as a staffed station.

Gama

Torpey's Siding There were 3 Torpey families amongst the original settlers to the area in 1901.

The railway crossing at Torpey's Rd

The rail-line was built through thick Mallee scrub from Woomelang to Nowingi in 1902-03. Turriff was named after the manager of the Corrong pastoral station - John Turriff.

Turriff

Speed had a typical Victorian Railway portable  station building, which like Watchem, had the added roof and verandah added to the original roof. In 1989 the structure was removed to the Speed field day site for use as their office. Only the the platform, grain siding and silos remain.

Steps to nowhere - the remains of the platform at Speed

At Tempy the rail-line is bordered by the silos on one side and a roadside park on the other, roughly where the station yard once was. In the park are a number of human-powered, non-mechanical playground toys (like the rocking horse opposite). They were originally at Monash in South Australia which had a large range of non-mechanical playground/fun-park equipment: spring-loaded see-saws, flying foxes, giant slides...Public liability forced the park to tame down the collection and remove the more 'dangerous' toys.

Further information and photographs at

 Victorian Railway Stations and When there were Stations and Neville Gee's "VR stations and stopping places" and John Sargent's "Country railway stations Victoria" series and Mark Bau's VR.net site.

Railways - Mildura line

Originally it was intended to write a single post on the local railway stations, but the amount of information changed the decision, giving each rail line a separate post.

Mildura/Yelta (Ballarat to Ouyen) Line The line was opened between Ballarat and Maryborough by 1875, and extended to St Arnaud in December 1878, Donald in February 1882, and Ouyen by 1903. 

Emu station in 1971 (from "VR stations & stopping places")

Local stations - Emu was named after the nearby Emu Creek, it is still an important crossing loop, and the basic facilities replaced a station in the same style as that of Bealiba and Cope Cope.
Carapooee
St Arnaud station was built  in 1879, the building was reflecting the gold mining heritage. Made of brick with cast iron verandah supports, the station master’s residence was incorporated into the design. No passenger trains have called here since 1993, the yard still sees use for freight. It is on the register of heritage buildings, as well as the unusual  hemispherical water tower, the last of this design remaining.

St Arnaud

Sutherland
Swanwater
Cope Cope  opened in January 1882, when the line was extended from St Arnaud to Donald in April 1882. A large wooden station containing offices, and a station master’s residence was erected on the site of the original state school, railway engineers moved the building aside to lay the rails. The station and goods buildings were demolished some time after 1986. Now only a raised mound of earth marks the spot.
Donald Freezing Company Siding
Donald was the line’s terminus, until 1893 when the tracks pushed northwards.Passenger services ceased in 1993, and the Queen Anne style brick station building and passenger platform are no longer in use, but the station remains an active freight centre with a sizable yard and the large corrugated iron goods shed. 

The Donald station and yards in 1969 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Litchfield was a wooden portable building and platform at the wheat siding. By January 1990 the platform had been removed, now only the silos and a small goods platform remain.
Massey
Watchem was opened in 1893 (it was goods only in 1892), when the line reached Birchip. A grain shed was erected in 1894, the concrete silos were built in 1939, with the steel bins added later. The Oat Growers Shed was erected in 1959. Bunkers were created in 1982. The stockyards were demolished in the late 1960s. The long demountable station building had an extra roof attached to the present roof, to form greater protection, and a verandah for passengers, prior to 1912. Passenger services ended in May 1990. The building was removed to High Street during 1991 to become a residence, only the long wide platform now remains.

The Watchem silos

Morton Plains was established in 1893 when the line was extending from Donald to Birchip. Passenger traffic peaked in 1923/4 then declined to the point it ceased in October 1966. Stock yards were erected in 1900. The silo opened in 1941.

Passenger service at Birchip in 1964 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Birchip was the line's terminus from March 1893 until September 1899, when the track extended to Woomelang. The  Queen Anne station building with terracotta roof is used by the local electrician, and the nearby silos for grain.

Birchip station in 1964 (from "C.R.S.V.")

The slowly dilapidating Birchip station

Karyrie (station no. 204) boasted a gangers residence until 1953 when the passenger service ended. Stock facilities existed from 1907 till 1953. Wheat was only stacked at Karyrie in bags. The station closed in January 1954.
The line reached Kinnabulla (station no. 205) in 1899 and passengers, stock and grain used the station until 1973 when the buildings, platform and facilities were removed or demolished, and Kinnabulla remained solely for grain transportation.
Curyo, Curyo is the Aboriginal word for a kind of small kangaroo. It was the name chosen for Hugh Mann and James Falconer’s pastoral station north of Birchip, which was taken up in 1847. The Curyo railway station was a 24 hour manned small demountable structure, on an important loop which survives as a block point. A town and community grew around the railway, but in April 1976 the station was de-staffed and the residence demolished, the changeover loop dismantled in August 1988, and the platform leveled in July 1989.

The tiny Curyo station building (WTWS photo)

Watchupga was officially opened in September 1899. Passenger services and stock handling  finished in 1966. It was de-staffed in February 1970.
Woomelang remained a terminus from 1899 until 1903, when the line was finally put right through to Mildura. A large standard wooden building was erected with several large tanks, a pumping plant, turnable and engine sheds. The station closed in 1993, when passenger services were discontinued on the Mildura line. The boarded-over station building, two passenger platforms and a goods shed (loosing its roof) remain.
Lascelles probably opened in 1911 as a staffed station.
Gama
Torpey's Siding
Turriff
Speed had a typical Victorian Railway portable station building, with like Watchem, had the added roof and verandah added to the original roof. In 1989 the structure was removed to the Speed Field Day site for use as their office. Only the the platform, grain siding and silos remain.
Tempy.

Further information and photographs at

 Victorian Railway Stations and When there were Stations and Neville Gee's "VR stations and stopping places" and John Sargent's "Country railway stations Victoria" series