Lakers Siding railway station
Lakers Siding is a heritage Railway Station on the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, Australia. This railway station was built privately as a dead end during World War II.
Shell Grit dispatching The name is derived from the Laker family in the area, who established it as a shell grit plant and approximately 1000 tonnes of it was made each week. That shell grit used to then be transported to Australian Glass Siding in Spotswood, Victoria. Elevated Loading Bins and Platforms made of Concrete were provided. The shell grit dispatching was the Queenscliff Railway's main function. The Lakers decided to cease the business and decided to then create an engineering business at the site. So the Australian Glass Co then obtained shell grit from New South Wales.
Erosion Sand Erosion became a big problem at the site during the 1960s, so special grass was planted as an attempt to stop the sand from moving onto the train tracks. This 'special grass' could survive in such places, but the erosion is still evident at the site and continues to be a problem there. Sand drifts clogs the point work and the signal cables at the site.
Closing and Reopening The Siding remained available until the lines closure in 1976. The Bellarine Railway then took control and reopened the site as a tourist destination in 1979.
Maintaining the site In addition to re-gauging the track, the Bellarine Railway replaced the staff lock points with plunger locks and providing up and down home signals. A passenger platform was built in 2003 featuring a replica of the original VR portable building and also featured the Marshalltown post office hut replica. Then in 2007 the 'Lakers Project' begun.
This project included changing the platform into a 'island' platform, facilitating a new locomotive watering facility and a 150 meter long rolling stock shed harboring 4 tracks.