Finley- the Wheat Transportation Hub

---

We slept in and then rechecked the weather forecast on Barry’s phone app. Still saying storms approaching quite quickly. We decided to stay. The Showgrounds Superintendent told us that this area usually gets less rain than most of the region during storms so we hope he's right.

We’d noticed a sign for an historic railway station in town, no longer on a functional railway line. That would give us something to do before the storm hit. We found it easily, a well painted little weatherboard station, which was fenced off and locked up, unfortunately. It looked very similar to the one at Gundagai, though, so we knew what would be inside. There were things to see outside, though, including some interesting tourism information boards about the features and equipment you could still see. We were very surprised to read that this small town had been a very important terminal for collecting and transporting massive amounts of wheat from the area by rail. One year, 1926, it had processed 420,000 bags of grain, which was a record for one station for the whole of the Commonwealth at the time. The platforms were very high so that they were level with the trains’ flatbed trucks to make transferring the bags from the horse drawn wagons easier. In 1922 they had built some massive silos to allow for more secure and dry storage while awaiting the transporting trains.

Nowadays, with the rail line closed since 1987, they use trucks instead. Next to the 18 old concrete silos is a brand new metal one and they all had evidence of recent grain spillage around them so they must still be collecting huge quantities, even now. With the Newell Highway running right beside the silos it is easy for them to get to. Barry, the big kid, also had a go with the levers to change the tracks (only one worked because the tracks were all buckled!)

The wind started to increase and the sky was darkening so we beat it back to the van for an evening in. It rained non-stop all night but no storms - thank goodness. We were also pleased to find no leaks around the slide-out so it looks as if all Barry's hard work paid off.

---

Photos

Finley Historic Railway Station
Barry, the kid, having fun with the old track-changing levers

Finley Historic Railway Station
The old Gantry Crane with an open wagon below. Behind is a delapidated Double Decker Sheep Transport Wagon.

Finley Historic Railway Station
The massive concrete silos from 1922 are still in use but the grain is now transported by trucks. You can just see the modern metal silo at the back.

Comments

[Snap Shot Stacey]

Did they still move or were they rusted up?

[dragonlady]

Rusty but one moved
The one Dad has his hands on moved because it had become disconnected from the rails. The other three didn't as the rails they controlled were so buckled there was no way they could shift them. He enjoyed trying, though.