Rail Geelong

Birregurra Station

• Location Events
• Photos
• Sources

In 1870 the Western Railway Extension League requested to support of the Winchelsea Shire Council for the construction of a railway to Hamilton via Colac. By 1874 the railway was being planned and the sitting of Winchelsea and Birregurra stations begun. The line opened to Winchelsea in 1876, and the extension to Birregurra was opened on November 1, 1877. The line was extended to Colac opening later the same year.

Birregurra was once the junction of the line towards Forrest. The junction was located at the Geelong end of the yard, and faced Colac. Construction begun in 1889 and was completed at a cost of 96,000 pounds. It was opened to Deans Marsh on December 19, 1889 and to Forrest on June 5, 1891. The line was used by tourists bound for the coastal resorts of Lorne and Apollo Bay.

It was about this time that the brick station building and wooden signal box was provided. The 1929 track chart of the line showed the platform on the southern (down) side of the line, opposite a four road yard and goods platform. Number two and four roads had dead end extensions to the down end, with number four road also having a dead end extension at the up end. A 53 foot turntable was located beside the station building, and a scissors crossover lead from the main line and number two road to the Geelong and Forrest lines. The goods shed was of corrugated iron with a curved roof, and was accompanied by a four-tonne gantry crane, and a stockyard at the Colac end.

When number two road was extended in 1968, the signal box at the station was closed and later removed. By the 1970s freight traffic to the station died off, with few reports of wagons being sighted in the yard. The gantry crane was taken out of use in 1977, but both it and the goods shed were still standing four years later. The station staff was withdrawn in November 1978 due to declining patronage, but passenger trains continued to stop at the station. Freight traffic was sent via road to Colac. The Lonie Report of 1980 recommended the Geelong - Warrnambool service be closed, which was not undertaken, but it was proposed for Birregurra to lose a number of rail services when moves were made to speed up the service. A local community group successfully put pressure on VicRail to maintain the services.

Today all sidings have been removed, with the original station building remaining alongside the main line, as well as a iron water tower behind the building.

Events

Line Opened

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Photos

9 of 15 images found displayed. These will open in a new window

Signal levers at Birregurra	Remains of the goods yard	Up end of the station
Whytcross Lane level crossing towards Armytage	Whytcross Lane level crossing towards Armytage	Historical signage
Aireys' Reserve Road level crossing, near Warncoort	Water tank behind the station	Gaps where levers exited the former signal box

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Sources

• Andrew Waugh - http://www.vrhistory.com/
• Birregurra by the Barwon
• Newsrail - October 2005, page 302. 'Birregurra: Change for Forrest', Rod Milne