Emerald railway station, Melbourne

Emerald
Emerald station and platform, January 2022
General information
Coordinates	37°56′02″S 145°26′23″E / 37.93381°S 145.43982°E / -37.93381; 145.43982
System	Puffing Billy Railway station
Lines	Puffing Billy Railway Gembrook railway line (former)
Distance	51.44 km (31.96 mi) from Flinders Street
Platforms	1
Tracks	5
Other information
Status	Periodically staffed
Services
Preceding station Puffing Billy Railway Following station Clematis towards Belgrave Gembrook line Nobelius Siding towards Gembrook
Location

Emerald railway station is situated on the Puffing Billy Railway in Victoria, Australia.^[1] It was opened with the Railway on 18 December 1900 and comprised a platform track and a loop siding.^[2]

When the line was reopened from Menzies Creek by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society the intent had been to have Lakeside, not Emerald, as the terminus and so water tanks had been provided at the former. However, trains only ran as far as Emerald between 1965 and 1975, and engines needed to refill their water tanks before returning to Belgrave. The short-term solution was to make use of wagon 149NQ, which had been fitted with a 2,000 imp gal (9,100 L) water tank and could be refilled by the Emerald Rural Fire Brigade as required. Later, a well was bored out and connected to a 5,000 imp gal (23,000 L) water tank, which refilled at a rate of about 100 imp gal (450 L) per hour.^[3]: 1–2

In 1967 a new carriage workshop was opened behind the former goods yard.^[4]: 146

In preservation the station building has been judged "the most intact on the line, with at least part of the original building surviving in its original location".^[5]: 10 The current station building incorporates the original timber structure with gabled corrugated iron roof, with modifications and extensions made over time. A corrugated iron shed at the north end of the yard has been demolished, but the two structures at the south end have been present for a very long time, if not quite being original. The northern part of the station grounds are covered by a heritage overlay. The goods shed is possibly a Victorian Railways' original but not necessarily the original Emerald shed, and the recreated stockyard and loading platform at the Kilvington Road end are on the correct site but use elements recovered from the Wonthaggi saleyards. There may also have been a residence just south of the station.^{[5]: 10–11}

In the 1990s a 50 ft (15 m) turntable was provided in the north-west quadrant of the yard, fitted with both 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) and 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) rails^{[5]: 10–11} in a gauntlet formation.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au

References