__NOTOC__ Serviceton is a small town in rural western

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 near the Victorian–South Australian border, north-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Named after

James Service James Service (27 November 1823 – 12 April 1899), 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 wor ...

, who was

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assemb ...

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

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

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 statutory corporation 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 Aust ...

since neither could operate in the other colony. 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 the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

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

Swordfishtrombones ''Swordfishtrombones'' is the eighth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits produced himself. 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 A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either Civil law (common law), civil or criminal law. In most legal ca ...

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 Aug ...

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 Serviceton railway line (also known in Victoria, Australia as the Western line) is part of the Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor. It serves the west of Victoria, linking the state capital of Melbourne to the cities of Ballarat and Ararat. ...

and the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

– 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 passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...

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 Australian passenger train service 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 South Australians as the ''Melb ...

'' interstate service, did not stop at the station.

Notes

External links

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Serviceton Vic
Towns in Victoria (Australia) Wimmera {{GrampiansAU-geo-stub