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

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. It is from Melbourne, and 65 m (212 ft)

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero 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 variet ...

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 Heritage railway, tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a section of a formerly disused branch line on the Bellarin ...

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 M ...

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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

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 combustion, fire. The term is a diminutive der ...

farm equipment Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the farm implements that they tow or operate. M ...

and

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

, while outwards goods were

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

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 Grit is a material eaten by birds to aid in their diets and digestion. Wild birds find grit naturally while foraging, and farmers can purchase grit for their domestic fowl. There are two forms: soluble grit, which dissolves in a bird's digestive sy ...

(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, Victoria, South Geelong to Queenscliff, Victoria, Queenscliff branch line. ...

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

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drysdale Railway Station Victoria (state) tourist railway stations Bellarine Peninsula Railway stations in Australia closed in 1976 Railway stations in Australia opened in 1879 Railway stations in Australia opened in 1980