Leaving Point Cook airbase conducting a low visibility cross-country flight at 11.05 am on 12 April 1942 an A25 Airspeed Oxford crashed 5 kilometres from Beech Forest. The pilot, Sergeant T.W. Penn, and two pupils, LAC R.E. Johnston and LAC J.R. Black, were killed. The airframe and engine were extensively damaged.Two pieces of crumbled aluminium metal and one piece of solid black rubber recovered from an Airspeed Oxford aeroplane.beech forest; plane crash; airspeed oxford; world war 2;

By 1960/61 all the factors operating against a narrow gauge railway were in place for the Colac-Beech Forest line. As well as using a 2-6-2 Tank engine over 60 years old, 14A, the train by this stage only had a louvre van, two NQ trucks and a guard's van to bring to Colac. It was very near the end.Locomotive 14A and a mixed goods trucks taking water at 10 mile tank in c.1960=61. The driver controlling the water is W. Brady while the fireman, Les Ogden, peers into the smoke box. B/W.colac; beech forest; ten mile creek; locomotive 14a; w. brady; l. ogden; railway;

On the 24th January 1933 Certificate No.12002, a Special Certificate for Regular Attendance, is issued to Helen Young who had been a pupil at School No.3235 Beech Forest from 24th March 1928 to 12 December 1932 for attendance at every school meeting during that period. It was signed by the Minister of Public Instruction, Mr. J.W. Pennington, and the Acting Director, Mr. J. McRae.Special Certificate for Regular Attendance, Education Department, Victoria. A4 printed and filled in by hand.education department; victoria; beech forest; helen young; certificate; attendance;

Cliff Young was a sixty-one-year-old potato farmer from Beech Forest in the Otway Ranges, a couple of hundred kilometres south-west of Melbourne. With his distinctive shuffle, friendly wave and innocent grin, he beat a field of professional runners to take out the inaugural Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultra-marathon starting on April 27 and finishing May 2 in 1983.Cliffy: the Cliff Young story. Julietta Jameson. 1st ed. Melbourne (Vic); The Text Publishing Company; 2013. vi, 218 p.; illus. ISBN 978 1922 0798 6 2 Soft covercliff young; beech forest; sydney; melbourne; ultra-marathon; otways;

In February 1959 eight NBH carriages were tranfered from storage at Newport to Colac in time for the first tentatively organized trip over the Colac-Beech Forest railway line. Eventually seventeen excursion trains ran, with carriages and an NC guard's van, usually hauled by G41 or G42, but occasionally 14A locomotive. The train run by 14A ran soon after the carriages were delivered.B/W. At McDevitt station locomotive 14A passes through on a rare NA-hauled eight excursion carriage and NC guard's van train. The front of the engine is labelled "The Ridge; 21 M(arch) 1959; ARHS", the Australian Railways Historical Society.colac; beech forest; railways; mcdevitt;

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;

With the approval of the railways, in February1959 a special tourist train was organized by the Australian Railways Historical Society in conjunction with the "Kanyana: Festival Committee of Colac, Victoria, to run from Colac to Beech Forest. Eight NBH carriages, in store at Newport, were transferred to Colac. The train proved to be so popular that additional trains were later run over the next two years until the temporarily disused Puffing Billy needed the NBH carriages returned.Locomotive G42, labelled "A.R.H.S., Special Excursion, Kanyana", with a guard's van, eight NBH excursion carriages and an additonal guard's van attached, stands at Gellibrand Station with a large group of passengers milling outside the train. Note on the left a group of domestic railway dwellings, and, on the right side, two empty wagons. B/W.beech forest; colac; railways; a.r.h.s.; kanyana festival committee;

Drivers were highly skilled enginemen. Taking a train from Beech Forest to down to Gellibrand required the train to be controlled at 10 mph (16 km) without running out of air. When a brake application was made the brakes on the locomotive were applied harder than the train brakes. The brakes locked up and the engine would just slide along. Drivers used a retention valve on the loco, then released the loco brakes so as not to wear out the brake shoes. So the train pulled into Gellibrand ready to pull out again after refilling the loco with water.At Gellibrand, a Down goods train is about to depart the station on 14 December 1955. The train consists of the locomotive G42, a louvre van NO, two NQ wagons and a guard's or brake van NC. B/W.gellibrand; colac; beech forest; railway;

In 1898 a recommendation for a railway of 2 ft 6 in gauge was handed down by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, to cost $138,000. Construction of the Colac-Beech Forest railway line began in 1900. About 100 men were employed in laying and ballasting the track while others formed the earthworks and the building of culverts and bridges. The earthworks of gravel ballast 150 mm deep were formed by horse and scoop or by shovel. Once the bed had been laid surveyors went along to check the layout, particularly all check rail curves and all 100 metre curves which the surveyors in the picture are doing.B/W. Three men surveying the construction of a curved bed on which track will be laid, near Barongarook, Victoria.colac; beech forest; barongarook; railways;

After going to a Revision Court where the voters' rolls had been revised and certified correct every voter on the Shire of Otway register was listed with his or her surname, christian names, residence or post town, nature of calling or occupation, situation and description of property, the yearly value, and the number of votes to which the incumbent was entitled. It included both local residents and residents from other municipalities who owned allotments in the Shire of Otway entitled to vote in Shire of Otway elections.Typescript. Shire of Otway, Voters' Roll for the East (a), Central (b), West (c) and Apollo Bay [comprising a portion of the Parish of Krambruk] (d) Ridings, made in the year 1963. Certified for each riding that it "has been revised and is correct", signed by W.H. Tann, Chairman of Revision Court, 23rd July, 1963.Variously underlined, marked, and written on the verso.shire; otway; voter roll;

Typescript (3 pages). Draft. To the rate payers as addressed. 1. Delete paragraph 1: ". We suggest if you have any doubts, that you try and make a personel inspection of the engineers offices as some of us have done. 2. Modify p.2, para. 3. 3. p.3: Delete "committee"; insert "council".shire of otway; ratepayers;

Derryl Towers wrote to the editor of the Colac Herald about his concerns about the proposal for a loan to create a new municipal workshop and Shire Engineer's office in the Apollo Bay riding. He made several points: a lack of attendance at the poll could bring the matter back to the Council table again; the representative of the Regional Committee is exploring some downward adjustment in Shire contributions; 2/3 of the Shire is reserved for water catchment or timber purposes, in effect a national asset; that the Council Sub-committee's report was sound; all Councillor's agree that new buildings are a necessity; and if we spend money on the loan to renovate old buildings what happens to the proposal for new buildings? Derryl Towers, Letter to the editor. Handwritten, 4 pages, draft, quarto. shire of otway; ratepayers;

Victoria's narrow gauge railways were from Wangaratta to Whitfield (covering 30.5 miles/49 km) opening in 1899, Colac to Beech Forest (29 miles/46.7 km) opening in 1902 with an addition to Crowes (14.1 miles/22.7 km) opening in 1910, Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook (18.2 miles/29.3 km) opening in 1900, and Moe to Walhalla (26 miles/41.3 km) opening in 1910. From the outset these narrow gauge lines proved very uneconomical in operation and were plagued with continuing financial losses. The lines most difficult to work were those carrying the most business, and in particular the trains from Colac and Moe with their 1 in 30 grades and countless curves precluded having engines with large coupled driving wheels operating. Having examined the possible use of articulated locomotives to reduce operating costs on the narrow gauge lines the Victorian Railways decided upon the Beyer-Garratt type of locomotive in 1925 and an order was placed in England for two engines of the 2-6-0 plus 0-6-2 wheel arrangements. These arrived in April 1926. Assembly of the new Garratts was duly completed and steaming trials carried out at Newport, Victoria, the engines being classed as "G" and given the running numbers "41" and "42". G41 was taken to Colac where, on 5 June 1926, it was put to work on the Colac-Beech Forest-Crowes line. G42 soon followed and duly began work on the equally steep and tortuous but shorter Moe-Walhalla line. Following the closure of the Moe line in 1955 G42 was refurbished and went to Colac. G41 was overhauled, but not as thoroughly as G42, at then returned to Colac where both Garratts shared regular work on the line until its closure in 1962. From 1978 G42 continues its operation on the Upper Ferntree Gully-Gembrook line as part of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society.G42: Puffing Billy's Big Brother. Pictorial history of a Beyer-Garratt in Victoria, Australia. Phil A'Vard, Larry James, Ron Peach (concept). Puffing Billy Preservation Society; Belgrave (Vic); 1980. 64 p.; illus; map. Soft cover. ISBN 0 9598392 7 5victorian railways; narrow gauge; moe; walhalla; colac; beech forest; crowes; upper ferntree gully; gembrook; beyer-garratt;

Colac was the centre of a spidery rail network over which were carted anything and everything by Victorian Railways, the common carrier throughout the area. The main line through the region was the 35 km rail route from Birregurra (and thence to Geelong) though Colac to Pirron Yallock (and thence to Warrnambool and Port Fairy) from March, 1877, to July, 1883. The first branch line ran from Irrewarra to Beeac in 1889, which then extended in stages to Cressy and on the Ballarat. The second branch line was the 31 km long Birregurra to Forrest in 1891. The cost of building railways into mountainous terrain meant the third branch line was a narrow-gauge 2 foot 6 inch line, first of all to Beech Forest in 1902, and then to Crowes in 1911, for a total of 71 km. The final rail connection was the 16 km branch from Colac to Alvie to facilitate the transport of onions, opening in 1923. Each line had its own character and peculiarities derived from its foundation, geography and economic base. As a general rule, the loadings on the branch lines had greater output tonnage than inwards, the reverse of the main line. The lines traversed agricultural and timber areas where inputs like seed, grass, fertiliser and labour were minor, compared with the output, timber, wool, cream, butter, cheese fruit, potatoes, onion, grain and livestock.Rail Centre Colac. Rail stations in the Colac Otway Shire, 1877 to 2014. Norman Houghton. 1st ed. Norman Houghton; Geelong (Vic); 2014. vi, 262 p.; illus., maps, index. Soft cover.colac; cressy; forrest; beech forest; crowes

Otway Tennis Assn, B Section, tennis trophy. Cup-shaped EPNS with handles, bakelite base, with one rectangular plate and three shield plates with the names of winning teams from 1963 until 1991/92.;1963 Beech Forest 1964 Ferguson 1975 Beech Forest 1976 Beech Forest 1977 Beech Forest 1980 Carlisle River 1981 Carlisle River 1982 Lavers Hill 1982/83 Carlisle River 1983/84 Ferguson 1984/85 Lavers Hill 1985/86 Carlisle River 1986/87 Wyelangta 1987/88 Carlisle River 1990/91 Lavers Hill Green 1991/92 Weeaproinahtennis; trophy; otway tennis association;

Early pioneers arrived long before the railways, their battles with the environment, and getting supplies in and out of the Otways.Over the Otways. G.A. Facey. 1st ed. Anglesea (Vic); G.A. Facey; nd. ii, 26 p.; illus. Soft cover.(1) Signed by author. (2) "To Dad From allie" (3) "Belongs G. Bellchambers Beech Forest"otway ranges; g.a. facey; reminiscences;, otway ranges; g.a. facey; reminiscences;

Old film of Beechy Line shot from Train and from near the line.History of Narrow Gauge Lines in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s. They include the Colac and Beech Forest lines. Shot in the 1960s.beechy line

An information brochure on Marysville, the surrounding district and the natural attractions in the region published by Mystic Mountains Tourism.An information brochure on Marysville, the surrounding district and the natural attractions in the region published by Mystic Mountains Tourism.marysville, victoria, australia, information brochure, mystic mountains, mystic mountains tourism, cathedral range, lady talbot drive, cameron cascades, phantom falls, keppel falls, beech forest cascades, the beeches rainforest walk, the big tree, cumberland memorial scenic reserve, cambarville, cumberland falls, cora lynn falls, the big culvert, steavenson falls, lake mountain, marysville visitor information centre

An information brochure on where to see tall trees, Forest Giants, in Victoria, including Marysville, that was published in January, 1938.An information brochure on where to see tall trees, Forest Giants, in Victoria, including Marysville, that was published in January, 1938.Victorian Railways Print January, 1938 469-38 Stamp of Victorian/ Government Tourist Bureau/ 272 Collins Street/ Melbourne C.1victoria, australia, victorian government tourist bureau, betterment and publicity board, victorian railways, white mountain ash, red mountain ash, messmate, blue gum, mountain ash, cumberland valley, marysville, mount monda, healesville, acheron way, alpine highway, omeo, baw baws, strzelecki ranges, otway ranges, warburton, yarra junction, noojee, bulga and tarra valley park, yarram, turton's pass, otway forest, beech forest, apollo bay, information brochure, brochure

An information brochure on Marysville, the surrounding district and the natural attractions in the region published by Mystic Mountains Tourism.An information brochure on Marysville, the surrounding district and the natural attractions in the region published by Mystic Mountains Tourism.marysville, victoria, australia, information brochure, mystic mountains, mystic mountains tourism, cathedral range, lady talbot drive, cameron cascades, phantom falls, keppel falls, beech forest cascades, the beeches rainforest walk, the big tree, cumberland memorial scenic reserve, cambarville, cumberland falls, cora lynn falls, the big culvert, steavenson falls, lake mountain, marysville visitor information centre

The CD-Rom includes a range of electronic correspondence sent 'Big Cats Victoria and Simon Townsend and JohnTurner. Their website states: Big Cats Victoria Southern Australia, including south western West Australia, has a history of reports of ‘panther’ like predators dating back to the later half of the 19th century. The animals were usually described as being of black or tan colouration and with the proportions of a medium sized big-cat such as a Leopard or Puma. The records can be found in newspaper, radio and television archives, Government reports, a very few books and on the internet. The historical material is based on anecdotal reportage and has contributed to the mythification of the subject. Some Government agencies at both State and Local levels (in New South Wales), have collected records of sightings or investigated stock deaths purported to be associated with so called ‘panther’ kills. They remain understandably non committal due to the lack of a specimen of such a predator of undeniable authenticity. While other types of unknown predator have been reported in various parts of Australia they are not the concern of this website. For purposes of economy we, John Turner and Simon Townsend, confine our investigations to western Victoria and south eastern South Australia. (http://bigcatsvic.com.au/) A CD-ROM of multiple emails and image attachments relating to assorted sightings, footprints, killings, etc from big cats in the Otways of Victoria. The electronic mail was sent to 'Big Cats Victoria' Images include: This item is part of the Australian Animal Folklore Collectionaustralian animal folklore collection, ja sharp, simon townsend, neville bayley, st kilda, peter stefanis, toolangi, puma, tom daniel, footprint, pawprint, cryptozoology, rex gilroy, lancefield tiger, anglesea, berringa, matthew charles, jutin fitzclarence, harry carlin, patty smith, johannes beach, nerida, stirling ranges, daryl hardy, brook kelly, carl rose, ashley hall, jonathan smith, sally ballieu, lorraine balck, wayne bower, ian riordon, aleda turna, john turner, dave moyle, ben rayner, stewart leach, colin boord, sheryl mahoney, beech forest, otways, tooborac, geoff black, panther, brad blake, priscilla prescott, beau kapitiany, ramsay hosn, clare jones, darren guthrie, tallarook, josh fairway, linda wescon, lithgow, john turner, southern grampians

The Ridge. A brief historical guide to the West Otway Ridge. Norman Houghton. Soft cover. iv, 16 p.; illus, map. Artwork and layout: Desktop Dynamics.otway ranges; norman houghton; crowes; lavers hill; macknott; stalker; pettit's siding; wyelangta; the tanks; kincaid; pile siding; weeaproinah; ferguson; buchanan; beech forest; olangolah; turtons track.

"Drink up, Gents". A history of hotels in Colac and District, 1841 to 2011. Norman Houghton. ISBN 978-0-9593013-8-0. Soft cover. iv, 88 p.; illus, maps, diagrams."drink up, gents."; hotels in colac and district; colac; apollo bay; beech forest; lavers hill; birregurra; forrest; wye river; wine shanties; norman houghton;

The story of Norman Henriksen's life and his anecdotes.The Big Feller. G.M. Henriksen.1st ed. Geelong (Vic); Ken Jenkin Print; 1971(?). iii, 129 p.; illus. Soft cover.the big feller; g.m. henriksen; norman henriksen; otways; wyelangta; beech forest; apollo bay; casino; history; anecdotes;

Souvenir booklet of Back to Otway Football from 1907 until 1980, with an emphasis from 1921 onwards, intends to restore and preserve at least some of the history of Otway football.Otway football in review, 1907-1980. Mark Kempton (ed.). 1st ed. Colac (Vic); Herald Print; 1981. 48 p.; illus. Soft cover.otways; football; history; wyelangta; beech forest; carlisle; lavers hill; gellibrand; johanna;

Engineman and historian Norman De Pomeroy took photographs in first half of 1962 of the Garratt engine and its rolling stock running on the narrow gauge line between Colac and Weeaproinah until its closure on 30 June 1962.Steam in the Otways from the collection of Norman W. De Pomeroy. A photographic profile. Neville Gee (ed.); John Sargent (ed.). 2005; Train Hobby Publications; Studfield (Vic). ii, 48 p.; illus. Soft cover. ISBN 1 921122 02 1colac; beech forest; weeaproinah; norman w. de pomeroy; narrow gauge; victorian railways;

Condensing 100 years of Otway history the author tries to give an insight into the thoughts and ways of the settlers in opening the western Otway Ranges. It gives some indication of the mental pressure, hand-in-hand with the physical stress, as a settler cleared the land and made a living for his family. It covers how the rail link brought in the timber mills and their workers which made timber the main industry of that era, and covers the changes that took place in the 1930s as the mills closed down and the district raised crops, dairying and grazing.The Otways that I knew. Ronald Charles 'Corker' Brown. 1st ed. Corker Brown; np; 1993. 216 p.; illus; maps. Soft cover. ISBN 0 646 16798 7otway ranges; corker brown; otway lighthouse; aborigines; beech forest; farming; grazing; crops; railways; roads; timber;

Lavers Hill. UP goods shunting siding, 9 December 1954. Red Bedford truck in backgroung. Colour.colac; beech forest; crowes; lavers hill; railway; shunting;

Locomotive G41 on a trestle bridge at Colac Station with two enginemen. Another G class locomotive sits in the background. B/W.colac; beech forest; railway; locomotive g41;

Railway bridge over the Gellibrand River, 1902. Note the people on the roadway bridge in the top left corner. B/W.colac; beech forest; gellibrand; railway;