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.

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

 

Border clash

Seems the debate is back - South Australia is apparently attempting to argue for the Disputed Territory again.

Back in the 1800s when map makers were drawing up the state boundary between Victoria and South Australia, they made a wee mistake in their maths.

The area became known as 'The Disputed Territory' until in 1914 when it was officially made part of Victoria.

The most outstanding feature of the Territory is Serviceton and its railway station. Serviceton is the only town located in the Territory, it's reason for its existence was as a border crossing on the main interstate rail line. When the railway line was built from Melbourne to Adelaide, the Serviceton station was  paid for equally by both governments to provide a place for the exchange of locomotives and crews. It was the customs post on the incorrect state border, now it is firmly in Victoria - but for how long? 

The South Australian end of the Serviceton station

A tv crew from Today Tonight are filming a segment on the dispute at Serviceton, to be telecast sometime afterwards.

The border line on the Western Highway

The “Disputed Country” was a thin sliver of land between Victoria and South Australia. It lies between the 141st east longitude (intended as the border line) and a surveyed line approximately 3 km to the west of that longitude.

Following the establishment of the colony of South Australia in 1835, a survey of the South Australian - Victorian border from 1847 to 1850, (the Port Phillip District was created as the separate colony of Victoria in 1850) was a three-year struggle of dogged persistence through flooded swamps, then the waterless Mallee scrub and the almost immediate destruction of the border markers by a devastating fire.

In 1839 Charles Tyers was transferred from the Royal Navy to the Colonial Service, to ascertain the 141st meridian (the eastern border of South Australia). At the mouth of the Glenelg River at Nelson, he formed a broad arrow with limestone rocks. This became known as Tyers' Mark and was used to determine the starting point for the border survey. Due to his inadequate equipment this was later determined to be 3.3 km in error.

No action was taken to extend Tyers’ work, but by 1845 there were disputes with South Australian pastoralists working their way east from the coast meeting pastoralists from the Wimmera region pushing their way westwards with flocks of sheep. In November 1846 the Colonial Secretary's Office directed surveyor Henry Wade to proceed to the disputed territory to define a "Boundary for Police Purposes".



Border plaque, Western Highway

In March 1847 Wade’s party of seven and equipment, at the mouth of the Glenelg River, was joined by assistant surveyor Edward Riggs White (appointed by the South Australian government to act as an observer on its behalf). The expedition collapsed at the 36^th Parallel in July, after nine months of swamp, sand dunes and broken equipment, deprivation and hardship due to drought, and reluctance by his men to continue with poor work conditions - still 250km short of the Murray River.

The two colonies agreed that White should complete the survey from “Wade’s Termination Point" is just north of the present day Bordertown, SA to the Murray. In August 1849 White and his party of five encountered the severe nature of the Big Desert. Where there was little water in 1847, but none two years later. Within two weeks his mutinous men had deserted White and two of his three horses died. On the verge of collapse, he managed to bleed the last horse and drink half a pint of its blood. Lost, he managed to stagger on for about two miles (3.2 km) to the riverbank at the border of three states and complete the survey.

Doubts as to the accuracy of the Wade-White line grew. Determining longitude back in the 1840s was imprecise owing to the lack of precision clocks. At the time, the assumed longitude for Sydney Observatory’s was in error by about 3 km. Since the Vic-SA border survey took the Sydney Observatory as its starting point, it too was in error.

The Sydney Observatory today

In April 1868 an expedition led by the NSW Government Astronomer George Smalley and Charles Todd the South Australian Superintendent of Telegraphs, led to the discovery that the proclaimed border on the ground was at least 3.6km to the west of the more accurate measurement of the 141st meridian.

However by 1849, 47% of the Disputed Territory had already been sold or leased out by the Victorian Government.

In February 1851 a gigantic firestorm (the bushfire as immortalised by William Strutt in his painting “Black Thursday 1851”) wiped out many of the timber border markers. Wade’s Line has been recovered with reasonable accuracy, but the location White’s Line has been lost ever since. Because the original survey books have been lost, and most of the original timber posts were lost to the fire, the location of the actual state border is not known, even today.



Strutt's epic 'Black Thursday 1851" at State Library of Victoria

Between 1883 and 1893 South Australia sought Victorian relinquishment or financial redress. At the peak of disagreement South Australia threatened to ‘invade’ Victoria and sub-divide the disputed country. But the Victorian government threatened to arrest any such invaders and the threat was not put into action.

South Australia finally abandoned all hope of settlement, due to Victoria's intransigence, and in 1911 it appealed to the High Court which dismissed the appeal. Eventually, in 1914, the Privy Council in London ruled in Victoria’s favour - that Wade & White’s line was the legal border, and £215,000 was awarded to South Australia as compensation for the forfeiture of 1,300 km² of territory lost. But since the border markers were wiped out by fire the location of this line has been lost for 160 years. Complicating the re-survey of Wade & White's line is the loss of their original field survey books. So there are no detailed notes as to its location, only a few scattered "fixes" from other surveyors who came later.

The position of today's border is 2.96-3.35km west of 141 east longitude.
Historical information from "The disputed country : Australia's lost border" by Bob Dunn and  John Deckert (of Nhill's Westprint Heritage Maps).

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.