Seymour railway station
Seymour railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Seymour, and it opened on 20 November 1872. The station serves as the terminus for V/Line's Seymour line services. A locomotive depot previously operated north of the station. Today, it is the home of the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre, and is still used to stable V/Line trains. The station also had a goods yard opposite the main passenger platform. North of Seymour, the Tocumwal line branches off towards Shepparton. History. The railway line to Seymour officially  opened on 20 November 1872. Due to the bridge over the Goulburn River not being finished, the line from Essendon station had opened on 18 April 1872 at a temporary terminus at School House Lane. Demolished station Mangalore was located north of Seymour, at the junction of the North East and Tocumwal lines. School House Lane / Dysart Sidings / Goulburn Junction was located between Seymour and Tallarook stations. Station building and platforms. When the station opened, only a single platform was provided, with temporary timber station buildings and three tracks. A brick building was erected in 1874/1875, with extensions and alterations  made in 1883/1884, including a new street facade. In 1886, a subway was provided to the platform from Station Street, and in 1887, the street entrance to the station was removed, to permit the opening of the back platform. A level crossing was constructed to provide access to the station. More alterations to the station occurred in 1926. To support the station, a number of Departmental Residences were erected by the Victorian Railways, to house railway employees and their families. Around the start of the 20th century, there was 29 residences, increasing to 82 by the 1960s. They have since  been sold to private owners. Although the station looks like one large building from Station Street, it is made up of numerous smaller buildings behind a common facade. The refreshment room is a grand two-storey building, while the ticket office and waiting room is a collection of smaller buildings. Though the standard gauge line to Albury, which opened in 1962, passed the station, a platform was not provided on the line until 1974. It was only one carriage long, and was not used for regular services. It was removed in 2008, when Platform 1 was converted to standard gauge . The station was altered to the current interior layout in 1997, when a general refurbishment was carried out, with the parcels office being converted into a waiting room and toilets. In 2008, there was a $1.5 million upgrade of the bus interchange, with the subway to the station being rebuilt on a shallower grade, to allow wheelchair access. These works were done in preparation for the Australian Rail Track Corporation's North-East Rail Revitalisation Project, during which all V/Line trains north of Seymour were replaced by buses, while gauge-conversion of the line was undertaken. A part  of this project also involved the construction of a new broad gauge Platform 3, which was built on the western side of the yard. It opened in November 2009. Refreshment room. A railway refreshment room was opened at Seymour station in 1873, replacing the one at Kilmore East. It later became the largest country refreshment rooms in the state. By 1875, the room was serving at least six trains per day, with 15 minutes permitted for passengers to eat. In 1884, the rooms were expanded with new buffet and dining rooms. Buffet patrons ordered and collected their food from a  counter and ate elsewhere, while dining room patrons sat down and received table service. They were originally managed by a lease, but were taken over by the Victorian Railways in 1919, in preparation for the creation of their Refreshment Services Branch in 1920. The rooms catered for 150 people standing in the buffet, and 112 people seated in the dining room, and was staffed at its peak by 34 employees, who lived in a cottage complex near the station. By 1976, the rooms were in decline, serving light refreshments only by a staff of 11 employees. The rooms closed on  8 October 1981, when on-train catering was rolled out to all trains passing through the station. The buffet room was refurbished in 1993–1995 for community uses, but the dining room is used for storage. The refreshment rooms reopened as a café in November 2008, to cater for V/Line Albury/Wodonga line passengers who used Seymour to transfer from coach to train, while the line was being upgraded to standard gauge. Locomotive depot. The locomotive depot at Seymour existed from the opening of the station until 1993. It was the home of the S class 4-6-2 Pacifics , as used on the "Spirit of Progress". The depot was originally located just to the north of the station, with a two locomotive shed and a 42 ft turntable. It was moved to the current location in 1889, where a new 9 track roundhouse-style shed was erected in timber and corrugated iron, along with a coal stage and brick offices. In 1902, it was extended to thirteen bays, and in 1910, it was extended to twenty bays, which almost made a complete circle. The original 40 ft turntable was replaced in 1890 by a 50 ft version, and by  a 70 ft version in 1907. In the 1930s, an electric turntable was provided, until replaced by a more modern version in 1954. At the peak of operation in June 1950, 245 railway men worked at Seymour Locomotive Depot, made up of 60 drivers, 57 firemen, 41 cleaners, 14 mechanics, 53 shed staff, 9 rail motor staff, and 11 train examiners. By 1958, the number of staff had declined to 181, with the arrival of diesel locomotives. The last steam locomotive housed there withdrawn in 1966. Much of the roundhouse was removed in 1961, in conjunction with construction of the  standard gauge line, with the rest of the roundhouse removed in May 1971, leaving just the workshop buildings. By 1976, only 125 were employed at the depot, and by the 1980s, locomotives were no longer based at the depot. It was officially closed on 8 April 1993. Today, it used to stable V/Line trains, as well as being the home of the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre. Goods shed. A goods shed was provided at Seymour in September 1873, of the same though track rounded roof style seen at Kilmore East, Tallarook, Avenel, and Euroa. In 1885, the yard was  extended from three to nine tracks, and a new, but smaller, goods shed was provided. It was lengthened in 1909, and again in 1930. Until the 1960s, the main outbound traffic was agricultural produce, wool, firewood and timber, along with incoming supplies for the town. By the 1970s, small consignments of goods were only handled by a number of larger stations, with road transport used the rest of the way. The Seymour Freight Centre opened on 8 February 1978, to serve the local area, and remained in used until 27 April 1985. Platforms and services. Seymour has one island platform  with two faces and one side platform. It is serviced by V/Line Seymour, Shepparton and Albury line services. It is also serviced by NSW TrainLink XPT services travelling between Sydney and Melbourne. Platform 1: Platform 2: Platform 3: Transport links. Mitchell Transit operates five routes to and from Seymour station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: Shepparton Transit operates one route to and from Seymour station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: V/Line operates road coach services from Seymour station to Albury, Echuca, Melbourne, Shepparton, Tocumwal and Wangaratta.