On return, stopped at Dimboola, just in time to see a Pacific National steel train depart. (All trains stop at Dimboola for a change of crew). Down in a siding rested G528 and XR558 coupled to a rack of VHGF grain hoppers.
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| PN steel train departing Dimboola |
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| G528 + XR558 |
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| Dimboola Station |
Onto Nhill. A nice wooden station building, surrounded by Grain Corps silo complex. At the Adelaide end of the yard is another Noske Brothers mill and silo: the large bin, the largest in Southern Australia.
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| Nhill Station |
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| Noske Bros mill complex |
Missed Kanvia, then stopped at Lillimur silo siding. Almost at the Victorian/SA border. Checked out the old post office again. Unfortunately the old gas lamp that stood on the road curb is gone: a V/Line bus stop in its place. The door was open, so sneaked a look inside. The post counter and fitting still in place.
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| Lillimur siding |
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| Post Office |
Was not planning to stop at Serviceton, but decided to. Luck would have, had a guided tour of the inside. The refreshment room and kitchen still almost original, except the huge cast iron cooking range was removed when V/Line closed the station. It use to operate 24 hours a day. Upstairs is the quarters for the chef cook. Much of the building was converted to crew quarters, though the caretaker guys are planning to remove the added partitions and try to return the building back to its former layout.
Unfortunately Serviceton Station is under serious threat from VicTrack, which just wants to demolish this historically important building. Remember, before Federation, this was the border. When a passenger arrived from Adelaide, their fare only took them to Serviceton. Here they disembarked, crossed the border, then purchased a ticket to Melbourne. All freight had to go through customs and duty had to be paid.
All engines changed here, with both railways having large loco depots here (now all gone), and this continued till through running was introduced by Australian National in the 1980's.
The reason for the building been under threat, as it needs underpinning on the none platform side. The west wall is slowly moving away from the building, which is pushing the platform up. No heritage funding from the Victorian Government this far away from Melbourne.
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| The SA end of the station |
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| Pacific National General freight passing through Serviceton. |
Just before leaving Serviceton, a Pacific National general freight past through. This is first time that I have seen RLPY vans for Sadlier. I was suggested to take the back road to Wolseley. Another piece of luck, as G&W were loading grain hoppers: a mix of AHGX and CGAY hoppers. Up front, a clean GWU006, GM33, and a dirty GWU005.
