There’s nothing like it … literally. The Melton railway station, built in the 1890s, is the only ‘Kaniva’-design station to continue to be used for its intended purpose.
Earlier this month, community group Linking Melton South unveiled Melton railway station history boards to give residents and commuters a better understanding of the station’s rich history.
Built in Leeor, in Victoria’s West Wimmera, in 1898 for the extension of the railway to the South Australian border, the station building was relocated to Melton South later that year.
It is one of only two remaining ‘Kaniva’-type stations, which were built following Victorian Railways design for the Kaniva railway station in 1887.
The Kaniva stations’ design featured a hipped roof of galvanised corrugated steel, horizontal timber weatherboard wall cladding, a rendered brick chimney with multi-corbelled top and narrow eaves.
The Melton station building remained in its original state until the late 1980s when the western side was extended and other parts altered. But the materials used and design of the extension mirrored the original design.
With the opening of the station Melton became a lot busier. Two sawmills were built, milk deliveries to the town increased; and a ‘land boom’ arrived with people paying highest prices for land near the station.
The town’s first post office was opened at the station on September 1, 1891, and a community function centre, named Victoria Hall, was built nearby in 1910. A Melton Railway School, for prep pupils only, was established out of this hall the following year.
