When it comes to train stations, few in Australia have more storied histories than Serviceton’s grand old dame. Completed back in 1889, not only did this heritage-listed two-story red-brick building comprise 33 rooms (and 28 fireplaces), but also a customs house that stood in the middle of the disputed border dividing Victoria and South Australia.
Though the Overland does still fly through from Melbourne to Adelaide, it’s hasn’t stopped here since 1986. So these days it serves as a living museum, and one that feels remarkably intact. A train station like no other, come by to hear tales of train crashes and ghost stories before heading down to its basement that holds not just a jail (for prisoners being transferred interstate), but a morgue too.
Lamenting the closure of its refreshment rooms in 1981, the station was immortalised in the Tom Waits song ‘Town with No Cheer’. But to counterbalance this, more recent news announced that its grain silo would become the latest stop along the Silo Arts Trail – news that’s certain to bring back some cheer to this town!