Taradale railway station

Taradale
Taradale Station, 2021
General information
Line(s)	Bendigo
Platforms	2
Tracks	2
Other information
Status	Closed
History
Opened	1862
Closed	18 November 1976
Services
Preceding station V/Line Following station Malmsbury towards Southern Cross Bendigo line Elphinstone towards Bendigo List of closed railway stations in Victoria

Taradale railway station was located was on the Bendigo line, 108 km (67 mi) from Southern Cross station, and served the township of Taradale.

The line through the station was originally double track, but the section north of Kyneton station was reduced to a single track as part of the Regional Fast Rail project. However, there is a 7.7 km (4.8 mi) crossing loop which incorporates the section of track through the former station, together with the nearby 198 m (650 ft) Taradale Viaduct and the closed Elphinstone station, further towards Bendigo.[1][2]

Taradale was de-staffed by 1974,[3] before closing to all business on 18 November 1976.[4] The bluestone station building survives and is now a private residence, under lease from VicTrack.[5][6]

In the 1970s, convicted paedophile, Robert Whitehead, along with another former senior Victorian transport bureaucrat and two other men, was granted a lease of the station building for at least 10 years, and Whitehead used the location to sexually assault boys. There is no evidence that his fellow lessees knew about his illegal activities there.[7][8].

References

1. "Long Double Track Sections To Provide For High-Quality Services On Bendigo Rail Line". Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria. 17 November 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
2. "VICSIG - Infrastructure - Line Data Bendigo Line". www.vicsig.net. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
3. "Way & Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). June 1974. p. 136.
4. "Traffic". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). January 1977. p. 10.
5. "Taradale Railway Station". Taradale Community. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
6. "Address available on request, Taradale, VIC 3447". realcommercial.com.au. REA Group. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
7. Baker, Richard; McKenzie, Nick (17 July 2015). "Puffing Billy paedophile Robert Whitehead leased station from state to abuse boys". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
8. Baker, Richard; McKenzie, Nick (17 July 2015). "Puffing Billy paedophile Robert Whitehead: the secret he took to the grave". The Age. Retrieved 13 January 2025.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au

37°08′01″S 144°21′22″E