Moriac railway station

Moriac
Undated photo of the Moriac railway station
General information
Line(s)Warrnambool
Platforms1
Tracks1
Other information
StatusClosed
History
Opened1 October 1877
Closed4 October 1981
Services
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Waurn Ponds   Warrnambool line   Winchelsea
Junction   Wensleydale line   Towards Wensleydale
  List of closed railway stations in Victoria  

Moriac is a closed station on the Warrnambool railway line, located in the town of Moriac, Victoria. The station opened on 1 October 1877,[1] and was one of 35 stations in Victoria, and five on the Warrnambool line, which were closed to passenger traffic on 4 October 1981, as part of the so-called New Deal for country passengers.[2][3]

Moriac station was the junction of the short branch line south to Wensleydale, which opened in 1889, and was closed in 1948.[2]

The station was the scene of a fatal accident in April 1952. A woman was killed when a Melbourne-bound train collided with a Warrnambool-bound train which was still shunting into siding at the station to allow the Melbourne-bound train to pass it on the single track. The victim was in the first carriage of the Melbourne-bound train, which was telescoped after being forced into the tender of the locomotive.[4]

The bluestone platform facing remains, along with the earth goods loading bank, and a wooden buffer stop.[2]

  1. ^ Norm Houghton (December 1983). "The Moriac Jinx". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 333.
  2. ^ a b c "Rail Geelong—Moriac Station". www.railgeelong.com. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
  3. ^ Scott Martin and Chris Banger (October 2006). "'New Deal' for County Passengers—25 years on". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). p. 319.
  4. ^ "One Dead, Many Injured in Vic. Rail Crash". The Sunday Herald. 13 April 1952. Retrieved 4 June 2021.