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 Train passenger services have stopped and been replaced by V-Line buses.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 Passenger services were withdrawn in 1993, and Freight Australia use the station building, as Murtoa is still an important grain and freight stop.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.

A Wimmera Christmas

With Christmas approaching, cards and advertising showcase a jolly red fellow and snowy scenes, here it is worthwhile celebrating that Christmas and the Summer Break in the Wimmera, is time outdoors in the sun.

Merry Christmas from Wimmera...way back when

The farming year

As 2012 draws to a conclusion, we can look back on the 'National Year of Reading', and the 'Australian Year of the Farmer'.

The Year of the Farmer was a year-long celebration of the vital role that farmers play in feeding, clothing and providing building materials to house us all.

From small family farms handed down over generations, to our largest agribusinesses, farming is inherent to the Australian way of life.

McCormick-Deering W-6 tractor

Australian Year of the Farmer served to remind us all, from both rural and urban centres, of the critical role of farming in Australia. Agriculture has made and continues to make a significant contribution to our economy and prosperity.

Bullock team carting a load of wool bales

Farms and farmers are vitally import to our rural communities, indeed to our national economy and social fabric. There are approximately 134,000 farm businesses in Australia, 99% are family owned and operated. Each Australian farmer produces enough food to feed 600 people.

And as the grain harvest ramps up it is worth reflecting on some the technological innovations and changes seen on the rural landscape, and how important it is to record and document the local history of the land.

McCormick International 403 combine harvester

So keep those shoe-boxes of old photos, add any information concerning who, where & when on the back, visit an agricultural museum, check out old sheds and barns, and listen to & record the stories & tales of old farmers - all before it's too late.

Railways - Bolangum line

Approaching Bolangum station from the west, with Mt Bolangum on the horizon

The Bolangum branch line officially closed in October 1983, passengers services ended earlier.

Lubeck station building (from VR.net)

 Lubeck was the junction of the main Melbourne to Adelaide line, and the Bolangum branch line. The birth of the town was closely associated with the arrival of the railway. The main line was extended from Stawell to Murtoa through Lubeck in 1878, and the railway station opened in February 1879. The station site was created with earth excavated from the Lubeck dam. Initially the station served as the Post Office.

Lubeck today, with the platform mound in front of the silos

Jackson is no longer a station, and is clearly a disused grain receival site too. To reach Jackson I had to pass five B-double trucks carting grain from surrounding paddocks to other locations!

Jackson, with the platform mound in the shadow of the silo

The dilapidated Rupanyup building (V.R.S. photo)

The line to Rupanyup opened in June 1887. The red brick station building is now privately owned.

Rupanyup, looking east towards Bolangum, 1959 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Rupanyup again, after the line closure (V.R.S. photo)

Burrum 

Burrum, looking east along the line to Banyena

Banyena

Harvest activity at the Banyena silos

The rail-line crossed the Richardson River east the Banyena silos and curved south towards Marnoo.

Remains of the Banyena trestle bridge over the Richardson River

 

Work on the line to Marnoo started in September 1908 and it became the terminus of the line in June 1909. Part of the line was washed away in a flood in August 1909. The silos first opened for the 1940-41 wheat harvest.
A daily passenger and goods service for many years, it decreased on a once-a-week timetable, before ceasing altogether. 
The two platforms remain at Marnoo, and the silos are still active, however the water tank (left) has not been utilised for many years.

Passengers looking towards the Marnoo township in 1968 (from "C.R.S.V.")

Bolangum bound goods train at Marnoo, 1961 (from "C.R.S.V.")

The Marnoo passenger platform looking to the highway intersection (V.R.S. photo)

Below - Remains of the Bolangum line crossing the Marnoo-Kanya/Bolangum Inn Road. A gravel road runs down the railway reserve beside the old line. The Bolangum silo is just visible in the centre of the photograph on the left of the native pines.

The line finally reached its final terminus at Bolangum in July 1927, existing for only 56 years.The silos and grain shed are no longer used.

Bolangum's silos and platform mound (V.R.S. photo)

Bolangum rusting away

 Further information and photographs at

 VictorianRailway 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.