Oaklands is a town in the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

district of southern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The town is located 615 kilometres south west of the state capital,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and 105 kilometres north west of

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

. Oaklands is in the Federation Council

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

and at the , had a population of 304. Oaklands has a pub, bowls club, swimming pool, Kindergarten to Year 12 school, and day-care.

History

The earliest settlement in the district of Oaklands was by the Tyson brothers, James and William, in 1846. Oaklands Post Office opened on 16 June 1890. The major industry in the Oaklands region is agriculture, including the production of wheat and rice and is a major grain handling area. It is the home of the Oaklands Diuris, a threatened native orchid that is currently only found in the Oaklands region.

Rail

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

from the

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

Main South line at The Rock was extended from Lockhart to Oaklands in 1912. A

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

from 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 ...

North East line at

Benalla Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

was extended from

Yarrawonga Yarrawonga is a town in the Shire of Moira Local government in Australia, local government area in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. In the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Yarrawonga had a population of 8,661 people. ...

to Oaklands in 1938, creating a

break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally canno ...

until the New South Wales line was closed south of Boree Creek. There are several stations between Yarrawonga and Oaklands. With the conversion of the North East railway to

to standard gauge in 2008, the Oaklands branch railway was for a time a gauge orphan. After much lobbying, the branch was converted to . Oaklands is located 313 km from

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 ...

and 675 km from

Gallery

File:OaklandsPostOffice1.JPG, Former post office File:OaklandsFootballGround1.JPG, Australian rules football ground File:OaklandsButchery.JPG, Former butcher shop File:OaklandsNationalAustraliaBank.JPG, Former CBC bank

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales Federation Council, New South Wales