The Ballarat Railway Station! Ballarat West Railway Station was officially opened by Governor Sir Henry Barkly on the 11th April 1862, with four trains scheduled each way between Spencer Street Station (Southern Cross) and Ballarat per day.
The initial route was vastly different to today, the train traveling from Melbourne to Geelong, then on to Ballarat via the Moorabool viaduct, the newly built structure hailed as “the greatest railway work south of the equator.”
When the station opened, the walls were reportedly still being put up, and it would continue to expand over the coming years. The beautiful iron foot bridge was added in 1877, and the stationmaster’s office, grand portico and clock tower were added from 1889, following the opening of a direct line between Ballarat and Melbourne.
The actual clocks though were installed much later due to a “deadlock over clock” between the Ballarat City Council and the Railway department over who should pay for the installation and maintenance of the four clocks.
The clock-less tower is ironic given that the establishment of railways was one of the main drivers for setting a standard time – sometimes called ‘railway time’ – across the world. Prior to standard time, time would differ between towns and sometimes within a city itself, The Argus complaining that “never was a city so doomed to having great varieties of or variations in time as Melbourne.”
Victoria adopted Eastern Standard Time (EST) in 1895, with Melbourne putting clocks forward by 20 minutes, and Sydney winding theirs back by 5 minutes.
In December 1981, fire ripped through the 1889 sections of the station causing extensive damage. Following repair and restorations, the tower was finally graced with a clock in 1984, proving that “time will have his fancy, tomorrow or today.”
What are your memories of the station?
I worked there for over 17 years . And walked those platforms and tracked early hours of the morning as a shutter , platform assistant and a guard . This photo brings back plenty of memories
Here are the staff members
I used to love standing on the foot bridge when a steam train came in if I could get away with it.
present day.
The dining room at Ballarat Station always reminds me of the refreshment room in David Lean’s 1945 film Brief Encounter, where the lovers have their clandestine meetings. 
I loved the excitement I felt when in the late Forties we would dress up in our finest and as a family with my sister and brother we would wait on the platform eagerly awaiting the steam train that would take us to Melbourne for a day at the Zoo. There was something magical to a little girl of 5 about the whole scene. The Foyer entrance, the Refreshment room with the ladies in their pristine uniform ( I think it was green with a white apron) the what seemed like an enormous bridge across the tracks, the Porters in their uniform, the hustle and bustle of the waiting passengers and my Dad constantly warning me not to go too close to the edge. Of course the culmination of this excitement exploded when we heard the train coming with its warning horn sounding, steam hissing and smoke billowing. Finding a vacant carriage and fighting over who sat near the windows was paramount but unfortunately my two older siblings usually had first dibs on that, but I do remember being able to open the windows and wave to passer-by’s although it usually came with a piece of soot in the eye, so I wasn’t a fan of that, though my brother loved it. I have fond memories of my childhood in Ballarat and Ballarat Station is one of many.
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