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