Drysdale is a railway station on the Queenscliff branch line off the main Warrnambool line in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It is from Melbourne, and 65 m (212 ft) above sea level. The station lies next to

Lake Lorne Lake Lorne, a small freshwater lake on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, is located immediately south-west of the township of Drysdale. Location and features The lake is a popular birdwatching site and is well known for its varie ...

and was first opened on 21 May 1879. It operated until 6 November 1976 when it was closed. Subsequently, usage of the line was granted to the

Bellarine Peninsula Railway The Bellarine Railway, formerly the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, is a volunteer-operated steam-driven tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a 16 km section of a formerly disused branch line on the Bellarine Penins ...

which commenced tourist operations from Queenscliff in May 1979 to Laker's Siding, extending to Drysdale soon afterwards.

History

Drysdale Railway Station from Lake Lorne

Early years

The station opened on 21 May 1879 at a cost of £514. Facilities provided included a 60 m (200 ft) passenger platform, a 45 m (150 ft) loading platform, a "barrel roof" goods shed, a van goods shed, a 2-ton hand crane, an 18-ton cart weighbridge, a telegraph office and tea stall. The station hosted passenger services as well as goods until 1931 when the regular passenger service ceased. Only summer Sunday excursion trains were available for passengers after this date, although riding in the guards van of goods trains was permitted.

Second World War

The Second World War saw a huge increase in traffic on the line with troop specials (returning troops for R&R), and ordnance trains carrying

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

s manufactured at RAN Swan Island (Queenscliff). Typical inwards goods at Drysdale were

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and

briquette A briquette (; also spelled briquet) is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material (e.g. charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper) used for fuel and kindling to start a fire. The term derives from the French word ' ...

s, farm equipment and

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

, while outwards goods were

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

s, flax and market produce.

Postwar decline

After the war weekly goods services and summer excursion trains continued through Drysdale, though rail services declined until the line closed briefly in 1959, reopening late the same year largely to benefit one customer – a

shell grit Shell grit is coarsely ground or broken seashells. It is used, among other things, by birds as a source of calcium for egg shell production, and to aid digestion Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into small water-solu ...

(glass making) mining company at Laker's Siding near Queenscliff. Station facilities were gradually removed; the station master was withdrawn in 1953, and the nadir was reached in 1972 with the sale and removal of the station building. Upon closure of the line in 1976, the only facilities remaining were the van goods shed and about 12 m (40 ft) of platform.

Revival

Since reopening by the Bellarine Peninsula Railway in 1979, all objects and structures on the site have been constructed, or reconstructed, by volunteers. As of late 2009, the traffic pattern is of two services, three days each week, year-round, with additional charter and summer trips. The line carries more traffic than it has done previously. Drysdale Station has won several awards for the Bellarine Railway in the areas of heritage preservation, presentation and the recycling of materials. Drysdale Station also sees heavy use by patrons of the

Bellarine Rail Trail The Bellarine Rail Trail is a 32 km walking and cycling track on the Bellarine Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia, that follows the route of the former South Geelong to Queenscliff branch line. It runs from South Geelong to Queenscliff, pa ...

of which Drysdale is the mid (and highest) point.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drysdale Railway Station Victoria (state) tourist railway stations Bellarine Peninsula