Serviceton railway station

Serviceton railway station is located on the

The

The Premier of South Australia, John Downer, wrote to his Victorian equivalent, James Service, suggesting that the new border railway town and station be named Downer after him. Service wrote back and said that as it was in Victoria, it would be named Serviceton after himself, although at the time of construction the land was claimed by both colonies.

As Serviceton was the border station and train crews could only operate within their own state, crews and locomotives were changed between the

With federation, customs roles finished in January 1901 although trains would continue to changes locomotives until the 1980s.

On 7 September 1951, the westbound Overland service collided with its eastbound equivalent at the station, killing one person and destroying four A2 class locomotives.^[3][4][5]

In 1970, the station was listed by the

It ceased to be a crew changeover and train passing location in March 1984 after a new crossing loop opened at Dimboola.[10] In 2011, the station building was restored by VicTrack and leased to West Wimmera Shire Council for community group use.^[11] Since then it has housed a display of local and railway memorabilia.^[12]

The Overland previously called at Serviceton on its journey between Adelaide and Melbourne, but no longer stops there.

In popular culture

American singer Tom Waits included the closure of the station in his song 'Town with no cheer', in his 1983 album Swordfishtrombones.^[13]

References