__NOTOC__ Serviceton is a town in rural western Victoria, Australia. It is near the Victorian–South Australian border, north-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Named after

James Service James Service (27 November 1823 – 12 April 1899), an Australian colonial politician, was the 12th premier of Victoria, Australia. Biography Service was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of Robert Service. As a young man James ...

, who was

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...

in 1880 and from 1883 to 1886, it was established when the inter-colonial railway line between

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and

was completed in 1887. The railway station served as the change-over point for train crews and locomotives of the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

and

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian Natio ...

. The recorded a population in Serviceton and the surrounding area of 120; there were 77 dwellings. The town is the subject of a

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

song entitled "Town With No Cheer" from his album ''

Swordfishtrombones ''Swordfishtrombones'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits self-produced. Stylistically different from his previous albums, ''Swordfishtrombones ...

''. Serviceton Post Office opened in 1886; from 1908 to 1911 it was known as Serviceton Railway Station post office. A Serviceton South office was open in 1926–1927, and Serviceton North office, on the Western Highway, operated from 1911 until 1954. Golfers play at the course of the Serviceton Golf Club on the Western Highway.

Border dispute

The eastern border of South Australia was declared in 1834 to be the meridian of the 141st degree of east longitude. In 1847, however, owing to the limitations of technology used for the first survey, markers were placed in error. Subsequently, the border was understood by both colonies to be about west of the meridian.; Nevertheless, a border was not formalised and it was reported that "a number of bad characters resort to this neutral ground, knowing that the police cannot interfere with them until the question of jurisdiction is determined." Seventy-five years of

legal dispute Legal proceeding is an activity that seeks to invoke the power of a tribunal in order to enforce a law. Although the term may be defined more broadly or more narrowly as circumstances require, it has been noted that " e term ''legal proceedings'' ...

were only resolved in 1914, with the judgement of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

that the erroneously surveyed line was to be the legal border. Serviceton was thus placed within Victoria. Modern technology shows the border to be west of the 141st meridian and Serviceton west of the meridian.

Railway station

The railway station was completed in 1889 as the point at which the

Serviceton railway line The Ararat railway line (formerly known as the Serviceton and Western lines) is a railway line in Victoria, Australia. It links the state capital of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne to the cities of Ballarat and Ararat, Victoria, Ararat via the ...

of Victoria and the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

– together comprising the Inter-colonial Railway line – joined. The station building, for which the cost was shared between the two colonies, had 15 main rooms, including a large refreshment room and two customs offices and two booking offices for the separate systems. When Australia federated in 1901, inter-state customs collection ceased, but locomotives continued to be changed until the 1980s. As of the 2010s, the building was leased by

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates Regional rail, regional passenger rail and Intercity bus service, coach services in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five Commuter rail, ...

to the

Shire of West Wimmera The Shire of West Wimmera is a local government area in the western part of the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 3,862. It includes the to ...

and managed by a committee elected from the local community to voluntarily operate, maintain and preserve it. As of 2004, passenger trains, including ''

The Overland ''The Overland'' is an interstate passenger train service in Australia, travelling between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by Sout ...

Border dispute

Railway station

Climate

Notes

External links