One of two posters made for community sales for the 150th anniversary of the Geelong to Ballarat railway 10th April 2012. Community groups were each given one set, and YHG purchased a second set.Large heary-weight-paper poster. At the top is a 1862 photo of Moorabool Viaduct, and underneath is written information.geelong ballarat railway, railway 150th anniversary, moorabool viaduct

This photograph is from the Max Harris Collection held by the Ballaraat Mechanics' Institute. Please contact BMI for all print and usage inquiries.ballarat, train, moorabool, 1862

Part of the contents of a souvenir gift bag given to those who rode on the re-enactment train for the 150th anniversary of the Geelong to Ballarat railway on 10 April 2012.A4 sized cardboard covered book, 50 pages. Cover orange with a white 5mm border. The bottom half of the front cover is an early photo of the Moorabool Viaduct.geelong ballarat railway, railway 150th anniversary, michael guiney

The Melton Viaduct, opened in 1886, is one of Australia’s largest early metal bridges. When opened it was the second longest Australian metal truss bridge, after the 1862 Moorabool railway viaduct (396 metres).The Melton Viaduct is a trestle bridge over the Werribee River (now Melton Reservoir)transport

Pages 9 and 10 of the Centenary issue of the Ballarat Courier, 8/3/1938 p9 - Article - "Prisoners aide in Municipal Work" - rifle range at Victoria Park, photo of "first train" Geelong Ballarat crossing Moorabool viaduct, Advertisements for Sherry stores, Berger Paints - S.E. Hobson and Harry Davies & Co. Department Store. p10 - article on Ballarat Banking, (see also archive item No. 200) - large ad from "The Bank of Australasia" - illustration of Ballarat in 1856 from Bath's Hotel - towards the Australasia Bank. Record reviewed and images of three pages added 7-9-2013.trams, tramways, ballarat, centenaries, banking, victoria park, rifle range

Nimons Bridge was built in 1890, as part of the then Ballarat-Linton railway. The bridge is 17 spans with tall timber piers of four driven piles each, with triple sets of diagonal cross-bracing and walers and a single row of longitudinal horizontal bracing between piers. The spans are of a uniform twenty feet (6.1 metres), originally supported by four 21-inch x 9-inch (535 mm x 230 mm) Kauri timber beams per span, following the standard V.R. design of the period. When the superstructure was rebuilt after the 1953 fire, the timber beams were replaced with two 24-inch (610mm) deep rolled-steel-joists on each span. These are marked 'Lancashire Steel Co., Scotland' and are believed to have been second-hand. The deck of transverse-timber planks is 103.6 metres in length. Overall the bridge has an impressive appearance with its exceptionally tall triple-cross-braced piers creating a 'three-tiered' effect, with the deck 19.2 metres above the Woady Yaloak River. The Ballarat-Skipton line closed in 1985. Nimons Bridge has been recently restored, as part of the Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail. How is it significant? Nimons Bridge is significant for technical, historic and aesthetic reasons at a State level. Why is it significant? Nimons Bridge is technically significant as Victoria's fourth-tallest timber trestle bridge when built, and as the third-tallest surviving example. It is also the second-largest composite bridge combining traditional timber piers with RSJ spans and a timber deck and falls within a select group of fewer than ten timber railway bridges with horizontal longitudinal bracing between the piers and three sets of double cross-bracing on its tallest piers, creating a visually striking 'three tiered' effect that enhances its viaduct form. Nimons Bridge is historically significant as having served initially the mining community at Linton, then the Western District agricultural area and in later years a kaolin quarry at Pittong. Nimons Bridge is historically significant as a representative of the 'light' branch line methodology that stimulated the explosion of railway construction in Victoria during the 1880s, and provides an interesting contrast with the more solid and vastly more expensive railway viaducts built in similar terrain on Victorian main lines, at Moorabool and Taradale, in the late 1850s. Approached by a deep cutting and high embankment at either end, the bridge represents a very cost-effective late 19th century engineering solution to the characteristic physiography of western Victoria with flat basalt plains intersected by deep wide valleys occasionally subject to severe flooding. Nimons Bridge is aesthetically significant for its visually impressive viaduct form, crossing a deep and steep-sided valley that is part of a rich cultural landscape. Within close proximity of the bridge are mullock dumps, tailings, shaft sites and other relics of the deep-lead alluvial mining era. The bridge is the most visually spectacular timber-trestle rail bridge in Western Victoria and is among the most spectacular timber-trestle rail bridges surviving anywhere in Victoria. It is part of the Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail. Classified by the National Trust :02/10/2000 (http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/67986)Colour photograph of a log bridge known as Nimon's Bridge.ballarat-linton, nimons bridge, nimon's bridge, log bridge, viaduct, timber-trestle rail bridge