Colour. Locomotive G42, an NC guard's van and eight NBH excursion carriages packed with children round a bend near Tulloh at March, 1961. Two people stand watching.tulloh; railway; colac;

B/W/ "NA" class locomotive, NQR wagons and NC guard's van hauling timber near Gardner's property in Beech Forest in 1912. Note the workmen clustered on the engine and wagons.beech forest; railway;

B/W. At Beech Forest in heavy snow in 1908, locomotive 7A, four NQ filled wagons, an NM livestock wagon, and an NBDBD combined passenger-brakevan. The guard, driver and another person are on the engine, while a group of passengers are outside the passenger car.beech forest; railway; snow;

B/W. "G" class locomotive and goods carriages crossing from No.1 road to No.2 road after leaving the balloon reversing loop at Beech Forest station. In the background are stacks of timber awaiting collection, and further in the background, the edges of the tennis courts.beech forest; railways; reversing loop;

Ferguson proved to be a busy station with timber and potatoes being loaded. This meant men, and for many of them, their wives and offspring who lived with them. The passenger shelters in this case are occupied by two women awaiting a train.B/W. Two female passengers outside the waiting shelter at Ferguson station awaiting collection. Note that the shelter does not have a picket fence and gate which were installed much later.ferguson: railways;

Colour. Locomotive G42 traversing the scissors or delta crossover during shunting operations at Beech Forest on 9 August 1961. A man operates the points. To the right the Beech Forest Hall and Otway Shire offices, and the Water Tank for the use of locomotives. On the left, the remains of a timber extraction system.beech forest; railways; delta crossing; scissors crossing;

B/W, 122mm x 226mm. Transfer Shed and livestock wagon.colac; railways;

B/W. The Weeaproinah passenger shelter with boy looking out, 3 March 1962. The remains of a picket fence and gate across the entrance to the shelter with an aged corrugated shed and failing overhead name plate...weeaproinah; railways;

The last goods train ran from Beech Forest and Weeaproinah on Wednesday, 27th June 1962, laden with NQR wagons full of timber and a guard's van. The crew was driver Clarrie Kenyan and fireman John Spence.B/W. 195mm x 267mm. Locomotive G42 bearing the inscription " 27th June 1962, Last train from Weeaproinah" traverses the point, the crew, driver Clarrie Kenyan and fireman John Spence looking at the camera.colac; beech forest; weeaproinah; railways;

B/W. 281mm x 177mm. Tom Woosnan on a trolley at Weeaproinah in about 1941.weeaproinah; railways;

A massive tree stump at the end of the Crowes yard served as a buffer stop for trains. In 1941 it was put to use when locomotive G41 spectacularly collided with it. On a particularly foggy night the driver became disoriented, passing unawares through Crowes station and smashing into the stump. The Garrett came to an ungainly halt, and it was three days before the work gang had the stranded locomotive re-railed. It became known locally as 'Over the Black Stump'.B/W. Locomotive G41 derailed at Crowes in 1941. A man stands where the engine is articulated.crowes; railways; locomotive g41;

On 8 March 1962, after the line from Crowes to Weeaproinah was shut down. Beginning at Crowes, groups of gangers started removing the tracks, loading them into NQR open wagons pushed by locomotive G42.B/W. Four empty NQR open wagons with a group of gangers tearing up the lines.crowes; beech forest; weeaproinah; railways;

B/W. A train from Crowes laden with timber passes the twin home signals on its way into Beech Forest. Two men are in the foreground. Otway Shire offices (now defunct) and the Shire Secretary's house are in the background.beech forest; railways;

The 1919 bushfire was the worst the area suffered. The fire struck on Saturday afternoon on the 15th February. It destroyed the station at Lavers Hill and Crowes, departmental residences at Lavers Hill and Weeaproinah, the overhead bridges at Beech Forest and Wimba, and damaged the track at various points along the line so that two locomotives became temporarily marooned at Beech Forest.. By the following Tuesday a daily fire relief train had begun operation. By the following Sunday a special train loaded with army tents travelled through to Lavers Hill and deposited most of its consignment there because little remained of this sizeable settlement. An outsider would have had difficulty in picking the place. The letters of the Lavers Hill station nameboard had been burnt although the metal letters survived, and one of the local wags had rearranged them to read "LIARS HELL". By the 1920s water trains were being used to help fight fires, a simple NQR open wagon loaded with the standard 1500 litre square iron water tank.B/W. Crowes station sign, the remains of a chimney, galvanised iron sheet and a water tank, and two men gazing at the camera. Note in the background the clear felling of the timber.crowes; lavers hill; beech forest; weeaproinah; wimba; railways; bushfire;

B/W. Poison trolley NG No.1 on the Gang Shed siding at Beech Forest on 8 January 1958. The Gang Shed is shown. In the right background the Otway Shire Secretary's house.beech forest; railways;

Colour. On 26 April 1964, the site of Crowes yard looking towards the end of the line after the tracks have been removed. A car standing beside a man are shown left centre.crowes; railway;

Pile Siding was opened in December 1915 because of the Pettit Brothers sawmill and pile extraction operation. The siding was a spur with points facing Beech Forest with a timber tramway feeding the siding. During 1916/17 Pettit's sent away 5,000 tonnes of timber before moving to another site, after which loading dropped to insignificant proportions. Pettit's again occupied the site from 1924 and traffic rose to major levels again.B/W. A six horse-drawn timber tram at Pile Siding station in c.1920. Two timber workers are seated at the centre. Stacks of timber are awaiting collection. Note the bare tree trunks in the background. pile siding; weeaproinah; railways; tramways;

To a dead end spur at Beech Forest station a locomotive depot was provided with a coal stage, ash pit and water tank as part of the original facilities of the station. Coal was transported from Colac by rail and hand-shovelled up onto the stage from an NQ truck positioned alongside. Twin water columns on the stage ends enabled two NA class or both ends of a Garratt locomotive to take water simultaneously. Beneath the trestle was the ash pit.B/W. 200mm x 271mm. An NA locomotive on trestles taking coal at Beech Forest. A child watches.beech forest; railways; coal stage; na locomotive;

B/W. In c.1950 in Beech Forest an NQR wagon load of wood is derailed while changing tracks behind an NA-class locomotive. People are watching. On the left are NQR wagons.beech forest; railways;

With the fireman coaling up at Beech Forest "The Otway Ranger", arranged by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society, on 31 March 1962, gets ready to continue its trek pulling eight NBH excursion carriages and an NC guard's van. The buffer beams on the G42 engine have been recently painted red. B/W. G42 locomotive being coaled up and watered at Beech Forest coal stage by the fireman.beech forest: railways; otway ranger;

Lavers Hill General Store, or more usually, Hampshire's Store, was owned initially for two years by Hampshire and Hutley, and then for 17 years by Mr and Mrs P. Hampshire (senior) who serviced the area including during the Depression. On their retirement their son, Percy, went into partnership with Leo Brauer for four years, and then ran it with his wife, Nea, for a further eight years until the store burnt down. The Store was a placed where the community congregated. It was a place where people met or waited for the train or the Cream Bus or the Mail Bus. Inside it was a place where you could buy groceries, fruit and vegetables, footwear, petrol, and so on. It was a place where children could buy a big stick of licorice for a halfpenny or 3d. worth of broken biscuits. Blackwood Gully Tea Rooms now stands in its place. B/W. Laver's Hill General Store, c.1945, with petrol bowser and sedan outside, and the level crossing to the right and the level crossing sign midfield.lavers hill; general store; railways; petrol bowser; hampshire; hutley; leo brauer;

Four examples of saw mills placed in station yards were seen on the Beech Forest line of which one was the War Service Homes Commission weatherboard planning mill at Gellibrand. It operated between 1920 until 1923 for both inwards and outwards cartage of timber. As an alternative to Colac Reginald Driver, the WSHC operator, chose Gellibrand in September, 1920 as the site for a mill fitted with the latest double-bladed planning machine. The rough cut boards were sent by train from Driver's mills at Ferguson, Wyelangta and Macknott, off loaded at Gellibrand, and later reloaded for the trip to Colac.B/W. War Service Homes Commission Saw Mill at Gellibrand station in 1920. Six men loading palings onto a NQR wagon.gellibrand; war service homes commission; planing mill; railways;, gellibrand; war service homes commission; planing mill; railways;

The Garratts were approaching 35 years of age and needed constant repairs to keep them in service, the other rolling stock was between 45 and 60 years old, the track was generally in poor condition, and the amount of traffic offering was only a faction of that carried previously and came from one station, Beech Forest. A further sign of decay was in the transfer of goods between the gauges. Where eight or nine men had worked full-time transferring between gauges only one man was seen by 1960, with several other men hired on the basis of '$2 a truck', assuming they could be found. In 1961 VR announced its intention to close the line which it did on 30 June 1962. Colour. On 9 August 1961 a G42 locomotive and goods train departing for Colac with the coal stage on the left, the saw mill and Gangers Shed on the right, and houses in the right background.. beech forest; railways;

B/W. A train for Beech Forest between Dinmont and Beech Forest in c.1915.beech forest; dinmont; railways;

Gellibrand station became the railhead for traffic to the Carlisle River and Lardners, as well as the centre of timber and fruit trade. Outward loading was substantial at the time the photograph was taken. Sawn and split timber, firewood, sleepers and piles were loaded in large quantities. The general expansion in traffic led in October 1923 to the laying of an additional loop siding and provision for a goods shed., B/W. In 1922, Gellibrand station with passengers and workmen on the station concourse, and NQR wagons aligned ready to move. Note the water tank on the left and the start of the Refreshment Room on the right.gellibrand; railways;

Wimba station is 37.3 km south of Colac. This station, originally called "Bunding", opened with the line in in March, 1902, as an unnamed stopping place. It was renamed "Wimba" on 17 November, 1902. A water tank for locomotive requirements was placed on the side of a hill about 100 metres south of the station. Wimba was not provided with a loop siding but had a passenger shelter until 1936 when the roads took over. A sheep race was provided near the passenger shelter. The station closed with the line.B/W. An UP goods train loaded with pulp wood on NQR wagons and two NC guard's vans taking water at Wimba tank on 8 January 1958. wimba; railways;

B/W. An NA class engine, a number of NQR open wagons, two NUU louvre vans and a NC guard's van climb between Gellibrand and Beech Forest. A man stands near the engine.beech forest; gellibrand; railways;

B/W. Two inspecting officers examining newly built lines near Wimba in 1902.wimba; railways; beech forest; colac;

A bite on the Beechy. Norman Houghton. Norman Houghton; Geelong (Vic); c.2011. 7 p.; refs. Paper.beech forest; colac; railways; gellibrand; wyelangta; lavers hill; crowes;

Wimba station opened with the line in March 1902 as an unnamed stopping place, and a water tank for locomotive requirements was placed on the side of a hill about 100 metres south of the station. Locos bound for Beech Forest stopped at the passenger shelter at the station, uncoupled, and moved forward to the water tank. Goods were loaded and unloaded during this pause. The station and the tank closed with the line.B/W. Engine 14A, an NUU louvre van and an NC guard's van at the Wimba Tank, with fireman L. Moore on the roof of the cabin running water into the engine's tank. The guard returns to his van.wimba; railways; water tank;