Opened on 17th March 1880, it was the only intermediate station between Trentham and Daylesford and as such had 5 sidings and at an elevation of 2452 ft above sea level, the highest station in Victoria. At the time of opening facilities were sparse with a report in September 1880 stating that at Bullarto there was a goods platform with small shed and that a shelter shed and closets (toilets) for passengers are badly wanted as it was the busiest station on the line other than Daylesford.

By May 1881 a shelter had been provided for passengers and in 1882 a 30 x 20 foot good shed had been erected.

At this time there was agitation for a proposed line to Ballarat to junction at Bullarto in place of Daylesford. This caused much heated criticism from those in Daylesford with public meetings and rallies held. Even though the local member for the area, James Wheeler, had a timber tramway at Bullarto Station to transship his loads from his mill, he advocated for the Daylesford option which eventually won out with the line opening in 1887.

In that same year a contract was issued for the construction of a third class station building at Bullarto of a standard design adopted in 1886 which had a general waiting room, station masters office and ladies waiting, the latter two with a fireplace. The station masters office also doubling as the postal and telegraph office for the district.

This reflected the importance of the station and in 1890 it was the third busiest station on the line for passengers with over 11,000 and the second for goods with over 18,000t being dispatched. This would turn out to be the height of the station.

The economic depression of the 1890s saw a downturn in the demand for timber, the main export for the station, and with the closing of the sawmills in the area (James Wheeler shut his in 1892) a corresponding drop in passenger numbers. In 1893 the spare closet was relocated to the station at Birchip and by 1900 passenger numbers had fallen to just over 7,000 and outwards goods tonnage 13,000, mainly now consisting of potatoes and other root crops.

Because of this increase in produce, a 10t Fairbanks cart weighbridge was moved from Rocky Lead on the Ballarat line to Bullarto at the request of local farmers in 1889.

The station remained unchanged through the first decades of 1900s, however by 1920 traffic had dropped to 4,500 passenger and just 2,000t of goods which reflected the population change due to the Great War and the impact of motor vehicles. As such in 1926 the station master was removed and it was reduced to caretaker status, meaning the wife of the Ganger in charge of the maintenance team based there would look after the station when required.

Like that of the 1890s, the depression of the 1930s severely impacted the line and by 1940 passenger and goods had dropped to just over 1,000. As part of wartime economy drives, major alterations occurred in 1941 alone the entire Daylesford line. At Bullarto this saw the removal of sidings 3 and 4, the carriage dock and most significantly a major alteration to the station building by demolishing the general and ladies waiting room and converting the station office by the provision of a small booking and waiting area.

In 1956 No 2 road was removed, and the station remained unchanged until 1967 when a major rationalisation occurred along the entire line in an attempt to save costs. With passenger numbers now in the hundreds, all facilities at Bullarto were removed and a 3 sided corrugated iron shed (commonly known as a ‘Mallee Shed’) provided for passengers and the station became a no one in charge location.

In 1972 the goods shed and platform were removed and by 1975 just 64 passengers used the station and it remained unchanged until it closed along with the line on 3 July 1978.

Everything you see at Bullarto today has been rebuilt using original plans and photos by Daylesford Railway to accurately recreate Bullarto in 1930.