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Cowangie

Origin of name: "Kow" - a white powdery substance that rises to the surface of the land; Copi or gypsum used for corroboree ornamentation. Aboriginal - a fog.

Station opened: 25-6-1912 as KOW PLAINS; 9-12-1912 renamed COWANGIE

Distance from Melbourne (via Castlemaine): 345 miles 9 chains 16 links; 555.407 km

Distance from Melbourne (via Ballan): 562.311 km

Height above Sea Level: 140 feet

Cowangie was originally provided with a 150 foot passenger platform with a cart dock, a 20 x 12 foot portable office with double roof and 17 foot 6 inches x 8 foot shelter shed with locker. A 400 gallon tank and timber stand was also provided.

There were two loop goods sidings with a 50 x 16 foot goods platform on the outer siding. A space was left between the main line and the inner siding for another track. A private 12 ton weighbridge was located in the goods yard.

An employee's residence was also provided. A Stationmaster was appointed from 2-4-1917.

Cowangie station in 1916. Photo: Bruce McLean Collection

Sheep yards were located on a dead end extension of the goods platform siding at the down end. This siding was extended to connect with the main line with the installation of a 110,000 bushel concrete grain elevator on 19-9-1939.

Cowangie was eventually supervised by Murrayville.

J505 stands in the platform at Cowangie at the head of a goods train for Pinnaroo, 1966. Photo: Unknown - Bruce McLean Collection

Cowangie was closed to passenger traffic from 1-11-1968.

It was announced in August 1968 that the Victorian Railways had successfully negotiated to rail approximately 100,000 tons of gypsum annually from Cowangie.

The sheep race was removed by 27-1-1970.

A "BH 70" type Grain Storage was provided by 17-2-1970.

On 6-7-1976, Staff Locks were provided in lieu of hand locking bars on the Up and Down end points.

Supervision of Cowangie was transferred from Murrayville to Ouyen, by 13-12-1983.

A railway enthusiast special train has stopped at Cowangie on 17-3-1984 to inspect the gypsum loading facilities which supplement the grain income off the Ouyen to Pinnaroo line. The gypsum loading bank is at right. The station building was still in use at the time of the visit. Photo: Bruce McLean

Gypsum traffic from Cowangie increased in 1987 when Boral Australia commenced a mining lease 30 kilometers to the north. The gypsum is transported to Cowangie station by road trucks and loaded directly into wagons for transport to Fyansford, Waurn Ponds and Traralgon. Gypsum from Cowangie is mainly used in the production of cement.

Another truck load of washed gypsum is tipped into a waiting rail wagon at Cowangie. The loading bank in use is located on the site of the former passenger platform, a new siding on the down side of the line being specially built to cater for the traffic and to avoid clashing with grain loading on the goods siding where the original gypsum loading bank was located. 1989. Photo: V/Line

Cowangie gypsum in rail wagons at Ouyen waiting for transport to either Gheringhap, Waurn Ponds or Traralgon. 1989. Photo: V/Line

Cowangie station yard on 6-9-1992. Note the variety of rolling stock lined up for gypsum traffic. Photo: Bruce McLean

Class-leader VHRX1 in gypsum traffic at Cowangie. 6-9-1992. Photo: Bruce McLean

Former CJ cement wagons, now classified VHJA, in gypsum traffic at Cowangie. 4-5-1998. Photo: Bruce McLean

In March 2002, the original gypsum loading ramp on the northern loop siding was demolished and the area graded to a flat area. A similar flat area was prepared on the southern side loop. The reason was to accommodate a change in loading practices. Instead of road trucks tipping into rail wagons at the loading ramps one truck at a time, they were depositing their load on the flat area into a stockpile and a front-end loader was then used to load rail wagons. This enabled loading to be more expeditious (about 8 minutes a wagon) and avoided leaving wagons at the siding between trips. Wagons were now loaded when a train arrived, resulting in a more efficient operation.

Gypsum loading operations were changed at Cowangie in April 2002. Note the stockpile of gypsum on the flat standing area on the southern loop at Cowangie. Wagons were loaded directly from the stockpile instead of from the loading ramp avoiding the need to leave wagons in the siding between scheduled train trips. Wagons were loaded quickly while the train was present. 27-4-2002. Photo: Bruce McLean