I love these pictures you're posting of the old stations and their beautiful old fashioned look. I love that they're repurposed by their local communities in some cases, but I can't help but think it's a shame that some of those train lines were closed to commuters, and a little short sighted. Like Hamilton, a town of over 10,000 people, where the station was closed in the early 80s. Surely a fully operational train service would be useful. Or Heathcote, where they pulled up the railway line and now it couldn't be operated even if they wanted to. I guess I just like trains and would love to use them to get to more places!
♥️ thank you peeler!
I agree with most of what you said. I'm not sure Hamilton would be a very viable service, but Mildura, Koo Wee Rup, and Horsham I think would all be very useful services that should be brought back. Portland I'm on the fence about, I think an extension from the Warrnambool/Port fairy line would be more useful and better utilised than the Ararat to Portland, but if Ararat-Portland reopened then Hamilton would make sense to reopen with the line.
But yeah it is a shame that all of them were closed. I find it especially a shame that the buildings are rarely ever kept, and even more rarely kept in decent nick. I only really post the ones I've visited that still have stuff, but I've been to most of the stations in the west that were on the '47 VR map, and it's generally lucky if there's even a mound left. Most of the ones in the west still have silos, but that's about it
Hamilton is still in good nick!
Morkalla less so...
@Baku@PeelerSheila Koo Wee Rup is a no-brainer. There's now continuous housing estates all the way out to Pakenham (which is just north of there), as well as our past Cranbourne and Casey Fields as far as Clyde.
Unfortunately, I think it's just a matter of time before Koo Wee Rup is considered an outer suburb of Melbourne. I wouldn't at all be surprised if forward-thinking developers and speculators have begun snapping up the farmland around that town.
Portland is a natural deep-water port, which is why the aluminium smelter was built there. It was also an important container port for grain. I think a reasonable case could be made to reopen the line to Ararat for freight, with some limited passenger services.
Ideally, the Warrnambool line should also be extended to Portland, via Port Fairy.
I have family up there, we used to chase the old lines as kids every drive up to see the rellies
I love these pictures you're posting of the old stations and their beautiful old fashioned look. I love that they're repurposed by their local communities in some cases, but I can't help but think it's a shame that some of those train lines were closed to commuters, and a little short sighted. Like Hamilton, a town of over 10,000 people, where the station was closed in the early 80s. Surely a fully operational train service would be useful. Or Heathcote, where they pulled up the railway line and now it couldn't be operated even if they wanted to. I guess I just like trains and would love to use them to get to more places!
♥️ thank you peeler!
I agree with most of what you said. I'm not sure Hamilton would be a very viable service, but Mildura, Koo Wee Rup, and Horsham I think would all be very useful services that should be brought back. Portland I'm on the fence about, I think an extension from the Warrnambool/Port fairy line would be more useful and better utilised than the Ararat to Portland, but if Ararat-Portland reopened then Hamilton would make sense to reopen with the line.
But yeah it is a shame that all of them were closed. I find it especially a shame that the buildings are rarely ever kept, and even more rarely kept in decent nick. I only really post the ones I've visited that still have stuff, but I've been to most of the stations in the west that were on the '47 VR map, and it's generally lucky if there's even a mound left. Most of the ones in the west still have silos, but that's about it
Hamilton is still in good nick!
Morkalla less so...
@Baku @PeelerSheila Koo Wee Rup is a no-brainer. There's now continuous housing estates all the way out to Pakenham (which is just north of there), as well as our past Cranbourne and Casey Fields as far as Clyde.
Unfortunately, I think it's just a matter of time before Koo Wee Rup is considered an outer suburb of Melbourne. I wouldn't at all be surprised if forward-thinking developers and speculators have begun snapping up the farmland around that town.
Portland is a natural deep-water port, which is why the aluminium smelter was built there. It was also an important container port for grain. I think a reasonable case could be made to reopen the line to Ararat for freight, with some limited passenger services.
Ideally, the Warrnambool line should also be extended to Portland, via Port Fairy.