Sale railway station, Victoria

Sale is a railway station on the Bairnsdale railway line in Sale, Victoria, Australia. The station is located on Pettit Drive and has a single platform, two loop sidings parallel to the platform, and a number of dead end sidings. It is served by the Bairnsdale V/Line rail service.

Platforms/Services

Platform 1:

• Gippsland line - terminating services; intercity services to Southern Cross
• Gippsland line - intercity services to Bairnsdale

History

The station opened in 1877 as the terminus of the line from Morwell. The line was then extended to Stratford Junction in 1888.^[1]

This original station was located in the town of Sale itself, east of Reeve Street. It was a dead end terminus, with both lines entering from the west. Trains continuing along the line were required to reverse at the station, or use the Traralgon - Maffra - Stratford line. At the peak of operations the yard had 5 roads, passenger and goods platforms, goods shed, a 47 lever signal box, cattle yard, engine shed, coal stage, and turntable.^[1]

There was also a short branch line to the Sale Wharf, as well as a number of industrial sidings in the area, serving cool stores, fuel depots, a gas works, flour mill, woolen mills, and stockyards.^[1]

The station was relocated in 1983 to a site outside the town, on a new section of track linking the Melbourne and Stratford lines, forming a triangle for a short period of time. The goods facilities were first to be moved, using part of the Sale - Stratford line as the base of the yard. The last train ran to the old station on November 12 1983, with the new station officially opened on December 4 the same year.^[1] Full signalling was not provided until 1987.^[1] Station staff were withdrawn in 1993, but have since been restored.

Until the reopening of the Bairnsdale line in 2004, Sale served as the termination point for all trains on the line. Bus services connected to the train, taking customers to Stratford, Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance, Orbost and further east, with some connecting services to southern New South Wales.

The former station is now the site of the "Gippsland Centre" shopping centre, with the signal box, level crossing gates, and two semaphore signals statically preserved. To the west of the station the Sale Industrial Sidings remain in place but unused, as does the goods sidings.^[2] The sidings across from the platform are regularly used to allow the Bairnsdale - Geelong freight train carrying logs to cross passenger services.^[3]

References