Colac is a small city in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac.
The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 3,438 square kilometres (1,327 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns of Apollo Bay, Beeac, Beech Forest, Birregurra, Colac, Cressy, Forrest, Johanna, Kennett River, Lavers Hill, Warrion and Wye River. It came into existence on 23 September 1994 through the amalgamation of the local government areas of City of Colac, Shire of Colac, part of the Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury.
A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains.
Colac railway station is located on the Warrnambool line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Colac, and opened on 27 July 1877.
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia, built a number of experimental 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.
Fallowfield railway station is a disused station that is located on Wilmslow Road in Fallowfield, a southern suburb of Manchester, England. It was on the Fallowfield Loop railway line, a suburban railway which looped around the south of the city and terminated at the former Manchester Central railway station. The station closed to passengers in 1958, but its building still stands on the corner of Wilmslow Road and Ladybarn Road.
Beech Forest is a town in Victoria, Australia. The area of Beech Forest is largely used for potato farming.
Shillingstone railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), serving the village of Shillingstone in the English county of Dorset. Shillingstone is the last surviving example of a station built by the Dorset Central Railway.
The Shire of Otway was a local government area about 190 kilometres (118 mi) southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1,906.94 square kilometres (736.3 sq mi), and existed from 1919 until 1994.
The Warrnambool railway line is a railway serving the south west of Victoria, Australia. Running from the western Melbourne suburb of Newport through the cities of Geelong and Warrnambool, the line once terminated at the coastal town of Port Fairy before being truncated to Dennington. This closed section of line has been converted into the 37 km long Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail. The line continues to see both passenger and freight services today.
The Crowes railway line was a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge railway located in the Otway Ranges in south-western Victoria, Australia, running from the main line to Port Fairy at Colac to Beech Forest and later to Crowes.
The Old Beechy Rail Trail is a 45–kilometre rail trail in Australia, running from Colac to Beech Forest. The trail includes approximately 30 kilometres of dedicated rail trail, with the rest being on-road. The historic "Beechy" train ran on this line from 1902 to 1962. The trail has 21 seats installed along the route for walkers to rest on, with shelters having been erected at Banool, Wimba, McDevitt and Dinmont. These were the old stopping points where the train would have collected travellers or produce. The original station signs have been replicated and painted in the Victorian railways colours. These being on a black board with white colouring and are positioned at the relevant stopping points along the rail trail. Other facets of the rail trail are the location of information boards as well as replicated road crossing markers. The first section of the Old Beechy Rail Trail was officially opened by Victoria's premier, Mr Steve Bracks in July 2005.
Kidlington railway station is a former railway station in Oxfordshire, England, that opened in 1855 on the Oxford and Rugby Railway to serve the village of Kidlington and the adjacent town of Woodstock. It became a junction station in 1890 upon the opening of the Blenheim and Woodstock Branch Line, and served the area for over 100 years before falling victim to the programme of closures initiated by the Beeching Report in 1964. Following many proposals for its reopening, a new station to serve Kidlington opened in October 2015 at Oxford Parkway on the Oxford to Bicester Line.
The Colac to Ballarat line was a cross-country line that branched from the Warrnambool line just east of Colac and ran in a generally northerly direction to join the Ballarat–Skipton Line at Newtown, from where it ran to Ballarat station. The line was 112 km long, passing through an area dotted with lakes at its southern end, and a hilly area in the northern section.
Banool was a stopping place and railway station located on the now dismantled Victorian Railways narrow gauge Crowes railway line. It opened in 1902 as Moorbanool and was renamed Banool in November 1904. Originally built with 3 tracks, one was removed in 1923. It closed with the closure of the Colac to Beech Forest section of the line in 1962.
Crowes was a railway station located in the Otway Ranges. It is noted for having been the southernmost railway terminus in mainland Australia.
Norman Houghton is a historian and archivist in Geelong, Victoria, who has published more than 40 books, many focusing on timber tramways and sawmills of the Otway and Wombat Forests of Western Victoria, Australia. Most of his works have been self-published, while he has provided numerous articles to the newsletter and journal of the Light Railway Research Society of Australia.
Dinmont was a stopping place and railway station in Victoria, Australia. It was located on the now dismantled Victorian Railways narrow gauge Crowes railway line. It opened in 1902 as Weeaproinah and was renamed in 1912 with the opening of Weeaproinah on the Beech Forest – Crowes section of the line. It closed with the closure of the Colac to Beech Forest section of the line in 1962.
McDevitt was a railway station and later stopping place near Colac, Victoria, Australia. It was located on the now dismantled Victorian Railways narrow gauge Crowes railway line. The first McDevitt station opened in 1904 and was 24 mile 55 chains (39.75 km) from Colac. The original station closed in 1930 and was replaced by a simple passenger shelter 6 chains (120 m) closer to Beech Forest. It closed with the closure of the Colac to Beech Forest section of the line in 1962.
Gellibrand was a railway station on the now-dismantled Victorian Railways narrow gauge Crowes railway line, 17 miles 20 chains (27.75 km) from Colac, Victoria. It had a single low-level platform with three tracks. A fourth one was added in 1923. The station closed in 1962, along with the Colac to Beech Forest section of the line.
