Historic West Moorabool station still boarded-up, two years on

The bluestone exteriors of the double-storey station and a nearby toilet block were repaired in December, but all doors and windows remain boarded up.

The work was originally scheduled to be completed by June 2023 - 160 years after it opened and 40 years after it was formally closed.

"It's been a long time. You can't rush these things, but the momentum has started and it's just a matter of time," West Moorabool ward councillor Tom Sullivan said.

"We just have to work out the lease arrangements with VicTrack - as well as insurance.

"To have this project and not to lose the infrastructure over time is a really good outcome."

He said Moorabool Council was in the process of drawing up legal and insurance documents before interior work could be advertised for tender.

From there, Cr Sullivan said the availability of tradespeople could be another issue.

"It's good to see the repurposing of a facility from a bygone era. They certainly don't build them like that anymore," he said.

"The project ties in well with Council's overall economic development and tourism strategy, so it's really pleasing to see this revitalisation."

Hub committee member Sue Witherspoon said a community meeting would be planned in the next few months to work out how the centre would operate.

In the past the group has flagged using the buildings as a community hub, gallery and meeting space through the week - and as a tourist information centre on weekends.

"The nearby Lal Lal Falls are one of the most recognised tourism icons in the Ballarat area. They're a natural phenomenon," Cr Sullivan said.

"With the station buildings open you could really invigorate tourism for daytrippers in the western half of the shire.

Planning documents indicate the revamped railway station would hold a maximum of 30 people.

The site also includes an historic lamp room and goods shed.

Ms Witherspoon said the existing amenities block - which contained wooden toilets - would be used as a storage shed, with new toilets installed elsewhere at the site.

The cracked and disintegrating platform surface has now been replaced with asphalt 4cm thick.

A wire mesh fence has also been built about a metre from the edge of the platform, which still carries freight between Ballarat and Geelong.

Until now, most vintage trains using the line Ballarat have not been allowed to pull up at the platform.

The last passenger services ran in 1978 - but the track is still used as an express alternative for empty passenger trains when the Ballarat-Melbourne line is not available.

The station itself was formally closed in 1983.

The project has been years in the making, with a $700,000 makeover announced in early 2021.

Plans for the external renovations went before Moorabool Council in October.

The bluestone booking office and stationmaster's home complex was built a year after the line opened in 1862, taking miners from Geelong to the Ballarat goldfields.

Lal Lal is one of the last surviving stations on country Victoria's first rail line.

Work is also being carried out on bluestone stations at Lethbridge and Little River.

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