DAYLESFORD STATION

The section of line between Trentham and Daylesford opened on the 17th of March 1880 and temporary station on the outskirts of Daylesford where the Industrial Estate is now located.

The design for the permanent station on the Northwest side of East Street placed passenger, goods and engine accommodation on the south side of the line, a design that was strongly criticised by the local community and the local M.L.A., James H Wheeler, because they considered the space available for the goods platform was too short. They proposed that the passenger station be placed on the north side of the line, as this would allow 300 feet for a goods platform on the south side, which could include the passenger platform already constructed.

he foundations for a brick passenger station building were already laid on the south side of the line when instructions were given on September 23, 1881, to remove the foundations and transfer the bricks and other materials to the north side of the yard. Delays followed while new plans were prepared. The design chosen was originally intended for Creswick station, but after some modification it was erected in 1882 at Daylesford instead and remains today the only station building of its kind. The construction of the passenger station building in brick with slate roof clearly indicated that Daylesford was recognised as an important country town.

By the end of 1882 the basic essentials of a railway terminal station were completed and fully operational. In addition to the passenger station building, the main facilities included a small brick lamp room, a 20 ft. by 60 ft corrugated galvanised iron goods shed, an earth goods loading platform, and steam locomotive facilities including an engine shed.

The opening of the railway to Daylesford had an immediate beneficial effect on the social, commercial and political life of the surrounding communities and particularly the people of Daylesford. The combined effect of significantly cheaper transportation costs, reduced travelling times and improved comfort offered by the railway resulted in a sudden reduction in the perceived “physiological distance” between Daylesford and surrounding communities, a perception that encouraged people to travel greater distances not only for business but also for pleasure.

In 1884/5, as well as firewood and timber, outwards traffic from Daylesford consisted of 20,000 bags of chaff, 20,000 bags of potatoes, 3,000 bags of peas, 3,000 bags of oats and 1,500 bags of bran, plus 180 tons of hides, 80 tons of hay and 60 tons of fruit in addition to 50,000 passenger movements.

The completion of the Daylesford to North Creswick railway in 1887 provided Daylesford with a direct rail link to Ballarat and further increased the social and commercial importance of Daylesford. The connection to Ballarat also created a unique situation at the Daylesford railway station which became the only Victorian branch line station that operated as a terminus for two branch lines – one from North Creswick and one from Carlsruhe.

Normal train services that carried passengers did not operate from Carlsruhe direct through to North Creswick. Passengers travelling between Carlsruhe and North Creswick had to change trains at Daylesford. One unhappy traveller wrote in 1900 to the Daylesford Advocate complaining about an unpleasant three hour wait after arriving from Woodend and waiting for a train to take him to Ballarat.

In 1885 a Fairbanks 10 ton cart weighbridge was installed in the Daylesford yard behind the goods platform. The engine shed was extended in 1889 and in 1891 there were as many as 22 train movements a day at Daylesford.

In 1894, the Station Master was provide with a new Departmental Residence (house) located on the embankment overlooking the entrance to the goods yard,

By 1895 the Daylesford railway station was playing a major role in the local development of a fledgling tourist industry, based on the local natural attractions and particularly the mineral springs in the area, and the “affordable” special excursion trains to and from Daylesford to major population centres of the state, particularly the Melbourne metropolitan area.

An example is on Saturday, January 19, 1895, a cheap excursion train ran from Bendigo, Golden Square, Kangaroo Flat and Castlemaine to Trentham and Daylesford and return. About 350 people, the majority from Bendigo, travelled on the train, but only a small number returned on Saturday night, most of them stayed till Monday. Cheap excursion trains also ran from Melbourne to Daylesford and Daylesford to Melbourne. On January 26, 1895, about 200 visitors arrived at Daylesford “from the metropolis to enjoy our cool and exhilarating climate and the mineral waters, whilst between 60 and 70 availed themselves of the opportunity of journeying to Melbourne to enjoy its pleasures, or for business, as the case may be.” reported the Daylesford Advocate.

A major enlargement and re-structuring of the station was undertaken in 1899 to allow both lines from Woodend and Creswick to enter the Daylesford yard directly instead of first meeting at the junction about half a mile down the track from the yard.

These alterations included replacing the single line timber bridge over East Street with a wider, double track iron bridge on brick abutments; extension of the running tracks within the yard over East Street on the new bridge; interlocking of the top end of the yard and the provision of a new signal box with a 20 lever frame between the station platform and the bridge. The new bridge opened for traffic on 11-12-1899 and the signal box on 15-1-1900.

By 1899 the Daylesford railway station was an essential element in the full commercial exploitation of the mineral springs in the district, not only as a gateway for tourists travelling to the springs but also for the transportation of the famous spa water for sale elsewhere, particularly in Melbourne and by 1906 four locomotive crews and an engine cleaner were stationed at Daylesford, two for Woodend running and two for Ballarat running.

In 1908 a major internal modification to the station building was made by removing the centre chimney, expanding the station office due to the number of parcels being handled, moving the booking office window into central breeze way and the provision of a galvanised iron van goods shed next to the lamp room.

In 1924 the old cattle yards were closed and new yards opened within the station yard on the opposite side of the East Street bridge. At the same time the passenger platform was extend, additional male and female toilets provided which required the main entrance moved to the town end of the platform.

Until Easter 1924, all steam locomotives operating at Daylesford were short enough to fit on the existing turntable. For ten days during Easter, 1924, two “K” class locomotives ran daily from Melbourne to Daylesford, and in order to turn these longer locomotives on the Daylesford turntable, each had to be separated into two halves and each half turned separately. Recommendations were made for a larger 70 ft turntable to be installed but it was not until 1934 that the 50 ft turntable was replaced by a 70 ft ex Seymour.

By the latter half of the 1930’s the importance of the Daylesford railway station to the local community was in decline. With the onset of the depression the Ballarat trains had been reduced to a “Mondays Only’ service due to increasingly successful competition from road transportation. However, during the Second World War the station again assumed an almost exclusive role in the transport of goods in and out of Daylesford and the surrounding district, due to the shortage of petrol for road transportation.

The sudden upsurge in the transportation of goods by rail resulted in the Daylesford station staff working excessive overtime to the detriment of their health. When the working conditions at

Daylesford were brought to the attention of the Railway Commissioners in 1943, a special officer was sent to the station with instructions to spend several days if necessary, studying the situation and to make recommendations. As a result alterations to the staffing arrangements were made that eliminated excessive overtime for station staff.

In an effort to reduce costs and meet the challenge posed by road traffic post war, a railmotor service was introduced between Woodend and Daylesford in October 1948, when a new 153hp Walker railmotor replaced the mixed train. In 1950 the new 280hp Walker railcars were introduced and ran the full distance between Melbourne and Daylesford thus ending the need to change at Woodend.

In 1952 the Ballarat serviced has been reduced to an ‘As Required’ basis and in July 1953 the section of line between Daylesford and Newlyn was closed, marking the beginning of the decline of Daylesford station.

In 1957 the signal box signals for the junction were removed and the foot warmer plant relocated to Woodend. The stock races were removed in 1962, and the passenger platform was reduced from 620 feet to 477 feet in 1965. At this time steam ceased on the goods services so all locomotive facilities were removed, the engine shed having burnt down in the late 1920s and not replaced. In 1968 the two passenger storage sidings behind the passenger station were removed along with the van goods shed.

Major modifications were undertaken to the station building at this time, with the male toilets demolished and incorporated into the female ones by erecting a new wall and converting 2 stalls. The Ladies Waiting room was converted into the general one by blocking up the old door to the Ladies toilets and providing a new door from the platform.

The general waiting room was then converted into overnight accommodation for the railmotor driver and guard with a brick extension built on the roadside of the building to house a kitchenet. The picket fences were replaced with cyclone wire ones and the lighting changed over to fluorescent tubes.

The 10 ton cart weighbridge was sold to the Daylesford and Glenlyon shire in 1969 and the station remined unchanged until the line closed on 3 July 1978.

After that many items were removed including the station masters house, platform lamps and the interior of the building gutting and generally run down. The station as you see it today is a result of the efforts of Daylesford Railway volunteers since we gained control of the building in 1985.