'Our Free Library"

Neilson biography by Hugh Anderson & Les Blake

The Minimay Hall Committee is organising John Shaw Neilson commemorative events for the 19^th October. There will be poetry readings by school children and members of the John Shaw Neilson Society, and an official dinner in the Soldiers Memorial Hall, with the unveiling of a Neilson portrait by Ron Penrose.
John Shaw Neilson was born on 22 February 1872 at Penola, South Australia, eldest son of Scottish-born John Neilson bush-worker and selector, and his wife Margaret, née McKinnon. Known as Jock, he attended the local school for less than two years and as a small child worked as a farm labourer for his father.

The Neilson's cottage originally at Penola, now re-constructed at Nhill

In 1881 John Neilson senior and his half-brother Dave Shaw joined the South Australian farmers making the long trek by wagon over the border to take up selections under the Victorian Land Act and were each allotted 320 acres north of Lake Minimay.
In the first year on their Minimay selection, the Neilsons cleared 6 acres and ploughed, sowed and harvested by hand, but after deducting the money owed to the storekeeper found they had made £7 from the crop. Impoverished and bankrupt, they were forced to seek station work to exist, and only devoted their spare time to the selection where the family lived in a crude mud-plastered house for eight years. Neilson Senior asked for extensions to pay the annual rent year after year, until in 1888 the storekeeper foreclosed.

The John Shaw Neilson monument at Dow Well

By June 1889 they had shifted to Dow Well, a few miles west of Nhill. Although he did his share of clearing and working the land, Neilson found time to wander the swamps and woodlands as a keen observer of nature, gathering eggs and listening to birdsongs, foraging for mushrooms, and tracking wild bees, and for some months went to school at Dow Well/Tarranginnie East State School in 1885-86, leaving when he turned 14.
Neilson and his father generally worked as farm-hands, timber-cutters, or roadmaking workers for the Lowan Shire council, but were also staunch unionists when shearing. Both belonged to the local literary society, and both won prizes for verse in the Australian Natives' Association competitions in 1893. Neilson Senior was a published bush poet, who appears to have started writing verse when he was about 30, and contributed to local newspapers and Adelaide Punch. He won another prize for verse in 1897, but achieved his widest popularity in outback shearing sheds with a song, 'Waiting for the Rain'. Although he lacked 'the outstanding poetical genius of his son', he was a writer of some achievement in the face of a lifelong bitter struggle for existence and little schooling; his verse was issued in book form, The Men of the Fifties, in 1938.
John Shaw Neilson wrote the poem 'Our fee library' about the Nhill Library.
Frank Shann, editor of the Nhill Mail, printed verse by Neilson for some years. Most was conventional and undistinguished. The family moved into Nhill in mid-1893, still deep in poverty and existing on municipal contracts and farm work, but by May 1895 they were on the road again travelling north to take up a scrub-covered Mallee selection near Lake Tyrrell, which had to be rolled and burned and grubbed before ploughing and sowing.
With poor health from heavy labouring work and failing eyesight Neilson moved to Melbourne, where he was employed by the CRB (Country Roads Board) in 1928.
John Shaw Neilson died on 12^th May 1942 in Melbourne.

The Minimay Hall Committee is encouraging former school students to attend the celebrations. For more information and/or to book contact members: Geoff Carracher (53866261), Jenny Chenhall (0416264113) or Dick Smith (53866241).

Planes, Trains and Fuel Tanks

The Wimmera Branch of the National Trust is organising a special bus tour as part of the Australian Heritage Festival.

Serviceton Railway Station

Visit and tour the historic Serviceton Railway Station, the Nhill Airfield and Wolseley Fuel Tanks by coach from Horsham.

The Wimmera Branch will host a special coach trip leaving the Horsham Library car park to travel to Nhill, Wolseley, Mundulla and Serviceton. Representatives from each stop-over will meet and greet the visitors.

At the Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre. The Centre has a Avro Anson, Link Trainer and Tiger Moth, and is fundraising for a Wirraway. See the current restoration projects while partaking of a refreshing morning tea.

Water tower, Sericeton

Crossing the border into South Australia, view the Wolseley Fuel Tanks which were camouflaged as farm buildings. In WWII fuel storage depots were erected at various inland sites considered secure from attack by sea-borne aircraft. At Wolseley two standard 120,000 gallon storage tanks and one 40,000 gallon ethyl mixing tank were erected & camouflaged to look like farm buildings with broom bush and straw.

Take in lunch at the historic 1884 Mundulla Hotel for their seasonal menu (at additional cost), or BYO picnic hamper in the park opposite the hotel.

Back in Victoria, tour the once-grand 1887 Serviceton Railway Station. Built on the border between Victoria and South Australia, Serviceton served as both the changeover point for the different railway gauges and Customs Control between states until Federation in 1901.

Serivceton Railway Station Yards, T. Payne

Serviceton, close to the Victoria-South Australia border, was the changeover point for locomotives and crews on the broad-gauge system until through-running was introduced between Melbourne and Adelaide. Thus a variety of motive-power and rolling stock from both state-systems could be expected there at any one time. In more recent years this line has been converted to standard-gauge; most of the facilities seen in this photograph are but a memory and trains no longer stop there.  Taken on 2 December 1967 by Ted Payne (from “Closed station - Lost Locations Victoria part 2” Train Hobby Publications).

This amazing photograph shows the station at a time of transformation - steam is still going strong, but there’s a rail-motor backed up to the water tower which has since been dismantled, and a diesel locomotive. Curious items are the 2 M.A.S.H.-looking ambulances and the caravan parked beside the grain shed. Things that have disappeared are, the water tower on the left, the All Saints Anglican Church and the cattle loading yards, and all the siding track.

Refreshment Room, Serviceton

Enjoy afternoon tea in the Station Refreshment Room before returning home.

This is a rare opportunity to see some special locations and learn from their stories.

Details: The tour is on Sunday 6^th May, 2018. Parking available in Library Carpark, where the bus departs from.

Arrive at the Library 8:15 for a 8:30am departure. The toilet-equipped bus will be returning at approximately 6:00pm.

Cost is $75:00 per person. Pre-booking is required, contact tintacarwimmera@outlook.com or by phoning 03 5382 0681.

Into the land of the Lowan

Its time for another 'Wimmera  in Photographs' Collection Day.
This time it will be held in the Hindmarsh Shire. The Shire covers the pre-amalgamation area covered by the Dimboola and Lowan Shires - in the south from the Wimmera River north to Lake Albacutya and west beyond Nhill - so a fertile area for historic photographs.

The abandoned Detpa Store, adjacent to the railway station

Some of the pastoral stations established in the region were: Albacutya in 1848, Horatio Cockburn Ellerman at Antwerp in 1847, Ballarook from 1847, Lake Hindmarsh (Pine Hills & Tullyvea) to Stieglitz in 1847, Lorquon in 1851, Mt Elgin and its subdivision Lawloit, Nhill in 1847, Upper Regions (Bonegar & Lochiel) in 1848, Woraigworm in 1849, and Yanac-A-Yanac in 1847...over 160 years of history.
As well there have been some significant events - the 1897 storm which nearly flattened Nhill; Big Lizzie's traverse from Outlet Creek along the west shore of Lake Hindmarsh and through the eastern Little Desert; the RAAF base at Nhill in World War 2 - all great photo opportunities, and hopeful there might be some prints or negatives show up during the Collection Day.

Interior of the Woorak West Methodist Church, built in 1886

The Collection Day is Friday 12th June at the Dimboola Library from 10am to 12:30pm then the Nhill Library from 2pm to 5pm.People with historic photos, negatives, and/or slides are encouraged to bring them for scanning. Appointments are necessary. To book, call in at Dimboola Library Phone: 5389 1734 or Nhill Library Phone: 5391 1684.

'Lost!' author

As the event leading up to the 150th anniversary of the 'Lost in the Bush' commemoration, the Library will be hosting three sessions with Lost! author Stephanie Owen Reeder.

Lost! tells the story of the three Duff children Isaac (9), Jane (7), and Frank (3½) who were lost in the Nurcoung scrub for 9 days and 8 eights in August 1864. The children were finally found by a large search party, with the help of Aboriginal trackers.

Stephanie published Lost! a true tale from the bush in 2009, and it was short-listed for the Eve Pownall Award for information books, in the Australian Book of the Year Awards in 2010.
She was inspired by William Strutt's Cooey, or, The Trackers of Glenferry - a version of the story and illustrated with beautiful watercolours and sketches, and her book features many of his illustrations. What makes Stephanie's retelling of the story different is that she has finished each chapter with an informative section on how children lived in the 1860s, much of it illustrated with works from the National Library's Picture Collection.
Stephanie will be in the area on Thursday 7th August, and is speaking at: 

Goroke Library (30 Main St, Ph 5386 1360) at 10:15am

Nhill Library (5 Clarence St, Ph 5391 1684) at 1:30pm

Horsham Library (Gateway Centre, Wilson St, Ph 5382 5707) at 7:30pm

There will be copies of Lost! and Stephanie's other titles available for sale. Bookings are essential for each session.

In the beginning - G.J. Coles

As the Coles supermarket chain celebrates its 100 years of operation, it is fitting to mention the Wimmera's links to the foundation of the dynasty.

George Coles (1833-1866) and his brother James emigrated to Victoria in the gold-rush year of 1853. George married Jane Clipsham the following year in 1854. They had four sons - George (born in Daylesford), James, Frank and Fred all born in St Arnaud.
George lived in Daylesford, St Arnaud and Stuart Mill before moving to Jung and marrying Elizabeth Scouler. They had 10 children before Elizabeth died giving birth to Gracie the eleventh in 1900.

Sir George James Coles (1885-1977) of G.J. Coles of retail fame, was born on 28 March 1885 at Jung, the second of the children and eldest son. 
The Coles family had a store, blacksmith and hotel at Diapur, and later a store at Nhill.
In May 1888 Mr George Coles (Senior & father of G.J.) built a general store in Miram (Allotment 11 Section 5), and with the assistance of Mr Castles carried on the business until 1892. The building later became the Post Office, proprietors office, and No. 2 Bulk Store. Thomas & Adelaide Butcher succeeded Mr Coles, and he held a wine & spirits licence. When the Butchers left the district in 1899, the store closed, and concerts, dances, and school (rented by the Education Department) were all held in the building.
In April 1903 Mr Phillip Wheaton purchased the building from Cordner Brothers (who had purchased it earlier in the year) and commenced business, Mr W.A. Brown joined the staff in 1913. and was a partner from 1924/6 to 1937.
The current building was built on the old site by the Mills family in 1929, and opened on 18th September 1929.

Wheaton's Pioneer Store in Miram

Under the ownership of generations of Wheatons the store grew, becoming a cornucopia - extending beyond groceries to drapery, footwear,  millinery, glassware, menswear, timber, hardware, iron, motor oils, wireless receivers... It provided an electricity supply for the town, a permanent water supply, eggs from their poultry farm, a Freisian dairy herd for fresh milk, cream & butter, and a meat supply from their beef herd. Equipped as a Post Office the store had a postal service and van delivery of goods.

Meanwhile G.J., in partnership with his brothers Jim and Sir Arthur, he opened a store in Smith Street, Collingwood. in April 1914.
Sir George died on 4 December 1977 at his Toorak home and was cremated. His estate was sworn for probate at $986,486. The family business continued to expand, forming a partnership in 1968 with an American company in the establishment of K-Mart (Aust.) Ltd. With the takeover of the Myer operation in 1985, Coles Myer Ltd became the largest private employer in Australia.

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

 

Community milestones

We have been researching local Community Milestones for the National Trust's Heritage Festival, and almost reached another.
It was in December 1963 that the Nhill Library opened in the Lowan Shire Offices. Unfortunately the building was recently gutted as part of the new Hindmarsh Shire office development, however there is still the photo evidence.

The library in residence in 1960s

Going - March 2013

Gone...just a shell - April 2013

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The Kaniva and Lowan Shires both joined the then Horsham and Dunmunkle Library in 1962. The Lowan Shire incorporated the library area into their new Shire offices, which opened on 20th December 1963.

The 606 square foot library had a bookstock of 2,500 volumes, and was open for 16 hours a week.

 The Library Assistant was Mrs Rita Oehm, at the loans desk above.

The shelving was mainly Tebrax with some wooden units. The vinyl flooring was in natural tonings with a black and blue pattern set into it. The chairs were a brown vinyl.

The childrens' section had stools of natural coloured vinyl and a wooden picture book unit with a padded seat.

The Library moved out of the Shire Offices into a shopfront location in Nelson Street.
Then in 1997, the Hindmarsh Shire purchased the old Manchester Unity Lodge Hall in Clarence Street, and the Library moved back into the building which had previously been home to the Nhill Free Library Reading Room.

- Stage One of the new two-storey Hindmarsh Shire Offices behind the old Lowan Shire Offices building. There will be an Open Day for the new offices on Monday 13th May from 10am to 4pm.

Nhill Aeradio Station

Here is the second of the Wimmera Culture Victoria stories – 'Nhill Aeradio Station: navigating safely'.

The Nhill Aeradio Station building

In the largely flat, expansive landscape surrounding the town of Nhill in the Wimmera,the Aeradio beacon tower was a prominent landmark.

The Nhill Aeradio Station was a part of a vital national network established in 1938 to provide critical communications and navigation support for an increasing amount of civil aircraft. Situated at the half-way point of a direct air-route between Adelaide and Melbourne, Nhill was an ideal location for an aeradio station and was one of seventeen such facilities originally built across Australia and New Guinea by Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd (AWA) under contract from the Commonwealth Government.

After the station became operational in 1938, planes flying between Adelaide and Melbourne were frequently diverted to land at Nhill in the event of bad weather at one of the capital city airports, and grounded aircraft also stopped for refueling immediately adjacent to the Aeradio Station.

The Station was equipped with state-of-the-art communications equipment, much of which was designed and built in Australia by AWA. Transmitters and receivers worked on the high-frequency range, and operators communicated with airline pilots via microphone or, when atmospheric conditions created high levels of interference,via morse-key. Nhill’s identification was “NH Nhill”.

The Nhill station had a separate Power House for its generators, designed and built to a standard specification.
The Lorenz Beacon was the centre-piece of the navigation system at the station. Originally, the beacon was mounted on top of a steel tower, but this created problems with electric static and the steel tower was soon replaced with a wooden structure.

The Lorenz RadioRange aural beacon was replaced in 1952 with a VAR Visual Aural Range beacon.
When a new VHF communication network at Mt William in the Grampians rendered it obsolete, the Nhill station was decommissioned.

The new radio navigation beacon from the station verandah

Today,the station building is the Nhill Apex Clubrooms on the western boundary of the Aerodrome. The adoption of the building by the Apex Club was critical in preventing its likely demolition after the closure of the Aeradio facility in 1971.

The building survives today in remarkably original condition, and current work is being undertaken by the Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre group to restore the Aeradio Building and interpret its story as part of a local aviation museum.

 See the full story, archival photographs, and video at the Culture Victoria site.

Railways - Melbourne to Adelaide line

The Melbourne to Adelaide or Western line runs through much of this region. It is the home of 'The Overland' passenger train. The line was extended from Ballarat to Stawell in 1876, Murtoa in 1878, Horsham in 1879, Dimboola in 1882 and linked with the South Australian Railways at the border station of Serviceton in 1887. The line was converted from broad to standard gauge in 1995.

Stawell station building at night (from "C.R.S.V.")

Seppelt's siding was a short distance on the Melbourne side of Great Western and served the Seppelt winery. The buildings shown are part of Seppelt's Great Western wine complex that was serviced by Seppelt's siding in 1981. The mountain in the background is Mt Langi Ghiran. (from VR.net)

Great Western passenger services ceased in August 1993 and this substantial brick station was demolished.

Great Western station, looking to Stawell, 1970 (from "VR stations & stopping places")

Stawell arrived in May 1876. Train passenger services have stopped and been replaced by V-Line buses. The station building is now an art gallery.

Melbourne bound steam passenger train at Stawell, 1968 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Signal boxes in the Stawell rail yards, 1984 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Deep Lead 

Deep Lead in 1970 (from "VR stations & stopping places")

'Water them geraniums' the neglect of Deep Lead (from VR.net)

Glenorchy 
Wal Wal

Wal Wal in 1981 shortly before the signals, building & platform were removed (from VR.net)

Lubeck was the junction for the Bolangum branch line.

Lubeck in 1981 (from VRnet)

Marmalake the Marmalake grain terminal (colloquially known as the Stick Shed) south of the town, is in the background of the photo below.

Murtoa in its heyday (from "C.R.S.V.")

Murtoa is on the main Western line, and at the junction for the branch line to Patchewollock. The railway arrived in December 1878. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1993, and Freight Australia use the station building, as Murtoa is still an important grain and freight stop.

The signal box and rail motor dock platform at Murtoa in 1978 (from "C.R.S.V.")

The original intention was to take the line direct from Murtoa to Dimboola passing through Jerro, but Horsham could not be bypassed, so the line looped south-west.
Jerro was north of the line, so a new railhead town of Jung or Jung Jung was established in 1878.

Jung, looking towards Murtoa 1982 (from VR.net)

Dooen was almost demolished by a derailment in the late 70's requiring the front of the signalbox to be replaced and the platform to be drastically cut back. Dooen was closed to passengers in 1972.

Dooen, back in 1885 (Museum Victoria's collection)

Dooen nearly 100 years later, in 1982 (from VR.net)

Overlooking Horsham in 1957 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Horsham The railway reached town in February 1879. It was the junction for the Natimuk East and Carpolac branch lines. The 'Overland' passenger service passes through Horsham, which is also a major intra-state freight depot, though containers have recently moved from the Mill Street site to the new Dooen Freight Hub.

Horsham station and yard in 1975 (from "C.R.S.V.")

A quieter Horsham today - no signal box, & derelict flour mill in the distance

Dahlen Siding

Pimpinio the station buildings and goods shed have been removed, only the silos and platform mound remain.

Pimpinio station (from VR.net)

 Wail little remains of the Wail station, even most of the peppercorn trees have been removed.

Wail building, with the highway overpass in the background (from "C.R.S.V.")

Dimboola looking west to the border, 1962 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Dimboola farmers from the Dimboola Village Settlement (experimental closer settlement irrigation colony, between Wail and Dimboola) helped build the railway embankments. The railway reached Dimboola in July 1882. It was an important junction when the  Yaapeet branch line to Jeparit opened in 1894. It was and still is a driver/crew changeover stop.The large AWB Dimboola Grain Centre is just off the highway to the west of the town.

Station building & signal box in 1971 (from "C.R.S.V.")

The station building now

A diesel railcar passenger service ran from Serviceton to Dimboola and connected with the Melbourne passenger train. The service ended in December 1978. 
Gerang Gerung even the platform mound has been demolished at Gerang, with the silos the only evidence of the station.

Serviceton passenger service at Gerang in 1976(VRnet)

Kiata

Track gang near Kiata in 1968 (from "Patterns of steam")

The Salisbury silo in the foreground with the Kiata silo in the distance

Salisbury As trains got longer in the late 60's the existing crossing facilities were proving inadequate, so in 1970 the Salisbury loop was built as a pure crossing loop, having no goods sidings. It was equipped with 3 position signals, the points controlled by motors, not manually and a signal panel. It was able to be "switched out" in less busy times thus saving on manpower.

A goods train at Salisbury, 1986 (from VR.net)

 Nhill reached 1886, but the station building came later. New GEB silos were constructed in 1963.

Nhill station building

Locals petitioned for a siding at Tarranginnie in 1884, and the railway reached it in 1887. A permanent township was planned, but never eventuated, though a Post Office, store shed were constructed. The wheat silos were erected in 1939 allowing bulk handling.

The rusting rails of the Tarranginnie siding beside the main line

 

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

Diapur less relevance once CTC was introduced on the new standard gauge in 1995. Before weighbridges and bulk handling, each bag was individually weighed on a set of scales.

The weigh-bridge & water-tank at Diapur

Miram

The Miram West Rd crosses the tracks  approaching Miram

Kaniva

A boarded-up Kaniva station building

Dimboola-Serviceton goods train at Kaniva, 1967 (from "Patterns of steam")

Changes - the same view today

Lillimur

An already derelict looking Lillimur in 1971 (from "VR stations & stopping places")

The town of Serviceton (named after former Victorian Premier - Sir James Service) was gazetted on 1st January 1887, while the line was opened on 19th January 1887. It became a major border crossing and an important customs station for goods passing between the colonies of South Australia and Victoria.

Passenger train stopped at Serviceton, 1961 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Post-steam Serviceton in 1978 (from "C.R.S.V.")

A Late Victorian railway station was built in 1887 of red bricks transported from Horsham. The building opened in 1889. From the front, it had a central two storey symmetrical neo-Classical polychromatic brick station building. The ground floor level consisted of 15 main rooms, and accommodated toilets, waiting rooms, dining and sitting room, bar and kitchen, offices, lobby and customs office. The enormous 70-metre platform with cast iron posted verandah was the longest in the State, until a portion was removed in the late 1980s. The station was closed in 1986.

Serviceton now

Further information and photographs at Shane McCarthy's "Patterns of steam" 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.