By July 1960 for the Beech Forest railway outwards traffic was down to 12,730 tonnes per year, and from Ferguson under 1,000 tonnes per year. One wagon was all that was needed in July to reach Beech Forest The line kilometre proportion of $26,320 was sufficient in itself to justify the withdrawal of the rail service, without the fact that reconditioning the two Garratt locomotives and rendering serviceable the ancient wagons would make the costs prohibitive. As a result the whole line closed in June 1962.Colour. 144mm x 279mm. G42 locomotive with Weeaproinah goods in a loaded NQR wagon and NC guard's van, between Beech Forest and Ferguson in July 1960.ferguson: beech forest; railways;

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.

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;

Gradient diagram. Colac to Beech Forest to Crowes. 2'6" gauge.colac; tulloh; coram; barongarook; water tanks; birnam; karwarren; hitt's siding; lovat; gellibrand; banool; wimba; mcdevitt; dinmont; devitt bros' siding; ditchley; beech forest; buchanan; ferguson; weeaproinah; pettitt bros' siding; j & m knott siding; kincaid siding; wyelangta; pettitt's siding; stalker; macknott; laver's hill; crowes; gradient;

On the Colac-Beech Forest-Crowes railway line the section from Ferguson to Crowes was closed in December 1954, but reopened as far as Weeaproinah in January 1955. The section to Crowes, left to its own devices, was rapidly covered with vegetation which had to be cleared when rail recovery trains later ran. The track to Crowes was pulled up in 1961. Crowes track being dismantled at the ashpit ready for loading into NQR wagons. colac; beech forest; crowes: railway;

J.D. (Jack) Skinner of Chapple Vale was the founder of the Otway Tennis Association. He became President and was later awarded Life Membership of the Association. He recognised the need for an award for junior tennis and instituted this trophy to be awarded from 1962.J.D. Skinner Tennis Trophy, Otway Junior Association. Pitcher-shaped EPNS on top, bakelite bottom, seven shields inscribed with names of winning teams 1962-1988.1962-63 Wyelangta 1963-64 Ferguson 1964-65 Wyelangta 1965-66 Wyelangta 1971-72 Carlisle River 1972-73 Beech Forest 1973-74 Beech Forest 1974-75 Wyelangta 1975-76 Wyelangta 1976-77 Lavers Hill 1977-78 Carlisle River 1979-80 Lavers Hill 1980-81 Lavers Hill 1981-82 Carlisle River 1982-83 Wyelangta 1983-84 Ferguson 1984-85 Wyelangta 1985-86 Wyelangta 1986-87 Johanna White 1987-88 Fergusonj.d. skinner; tennis; trophy; otway junior association;

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;

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;

Because of the vast quantity of piles for harbour works Pettit Bros. of Geelong arranged for an addition siding to be installed at Ferguson on the north side of the station in 1913. They then laid a tramway in a northerly direction along the original alignment of Charley's Creek road to the top of Powneys Cutting, 1.8 km from Ferguson, where a log winch was sited. This powerful winch hauled carefully selected piles from the north-west. Jim Facey and Jim, Ted and Tom Cashin formed a partnership to log an area along the Charley's Creek Road six kilometres from Ferguson, operating full-time from 1934. After leasing three Crown sites and cutting them out the partners shifted logging operations to Powneys farm, which they had purchased, and laid a log trail into the farm. The old road reserve was also purchased, and the log tram continued along the road reserve for one kilometre to Powneys Cutting. Logs were winched up to the tramline and despatched to the mill along the falling grade of the road.B/W. 201mm x 268mm. Powneys Cutting being excavated by four men, two men on either side of the slope, and a horse at the end of the line, in c.1902.ferguson; powneys cutting; tramways; powneys farm; pettit; jim facey; jim cashin; ted cashin; tom cashin; charley's creek road;