General News
24 May, 2026
Rail celebration today
STAWELL Railway Station celebrates an important milestone later today and the public are invited. The Stawell Railway Station Gallery and Stawell Historical Society are planning a big celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of rail to Stawell.
A community celebration will bring together history, music, memorabilia, model trains and former railway workers.
The celebration commences at 2pm with several informative speeches from former railway employees about the Stawell Station and its importance in the community
Following the official speeches, visitors can browse through historic photos and memorabilia and connect with former V/Line employees.
“We’ve got a large selection of photographs to show people which have been supplied by the Historical Society,” said volunteer Pauline Shirrefs.
In the lead-up to the celebration, the gallery has been running a competition encouraging artists to submit works depicting the railway station building.
At 3pm Sunday, the winner of the competition will be unveiled and rewarded with a $500 prize.
There will also be colouring stations set up for the children, food and coffee vans, Devonshire teas and music from the Stawell City Brass Band.
Ms Shirrefs is encouraging Stawell residents to attend the celebration.
“It’s an important milestone and we would certainly welcome as many people as possible to the station at 2pm this Sunday,” she said.
Stawell Railway Station has a rich and impressive history.
The line officially opened on Saturday 15th February, 1876 with a partial holiday declared in Stawell to commemorate the temporary opening.
22 years after the first railway line was opened in Victoria in 1854, Stawell also became linked to the network with the Main Western Railway line being constructed in stages heading towards the South Australian border.
Ararat was reached in 1875 and at the same time tenders were being let for the Ararat to Stawell Railway, with the contract being let to Messrs Chapman and Leslie in February of that year.
For well over 100 years, Stawell had a reliable passenger rail connection to Melbourne, but all that changed in 1993 when the Premier Jeff Kennett ceased passenger services.
The closure was partially reversed when the Bracks Government returned passenger services to Ararat, but despite repeated calls for services to continue through the Wimmera, passenger train travel remains but a dream beyond Ararat.
To coincide with today's celebration, the Grampians Model Railway Club will also open its clubrooms in the nearby Goods Shed, with model trains running and memorabilia on display.
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