Eureka Railway Line

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T367 shunting the oil company sidings at Eureka, taken from the site of the Free Trade Hotel, 25 August 1981. A section of the original line to Buninyong is just visible on the far side of the chain-mesh security fence between the locomotive and the caravan park. Photography: Ron Woods.
T367 shunting the oil company sidings at Eureka, taken from the site of the Free Trade Hotel 25 August 1981. A section of the original Buninyong line is out of frame, to the left of the fence. The line to the right (where the well-wagon stands) served an engineering works on the west side of Rodier Street. When this photo was taken, it was Miller Brothers, but in earlier days it was Cowley’s Iron Works, which built goods wagons for Victorian Railways. The site of the sidings and oil depots is now occupied by theMuseum of Australian Democracy at Eureka. Photography: Ron Woods.
T367 shunting the oil company sidings at Eureka, 25 August 1981, taken from the site of the Free Trade Hotel. The site of the sidings and oil depots is now occupied by theMuseum of Australian Democracy at Eureka. Photography: Ron Woods.
T367 passes under the Victoria Street bridges with the Eureka Pilot 25 August 1981. Photography: Ron Woods.


On 12 September 1889 the Ballarat East to Buninyong railway line opened. The 7.5 miles of single track railway cost £8,795 per mile with a total cost of £65,958. [1] On 21 November 1904, the year of the Eureka Stockade 50th Anniversary, the Eureka siding was renamed Eureka. [2] The Eureka to Buninyong line closed on 28 February 1947.[3] The final closure of the Ballarat East – Eureka section took place on 01 December 1986.


Trains that run short shunting trips from a station to a nearby siding and return are known as pilots. Depending on their destination, Ballarat had the following regular pilots:

Eureka Pilot – served the sidings at Eureka
Workshops Pilot – served the Ballarat North Workshops (may still run as required)
Cattleyards Pilot – served the saleyards at Delacombe
Redan Pilot – served the industrial sidings south of La Trobe Street at Delacombe. (VR called this area Redan for decades before it was officially named Delacombe.)[4]

Other Sites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buninyong_railway_line

References

  1. http://www.victorianrailways.net/grades/buninyong/buninyong.html, accessed 09 October 2013
  2. http://www.victorianrailways.net/grades/buninyong/buninyong.html, accessed 09 October 2013
  3. http://www.victorianrailways.net/grades/buninyong/buninyong.html, accessed 09 October 2013
  4. Email from Ron Woods to Clare Gervasoni, 08 October 2013.