Pubs & Silos

It's a beautiful Easter Sunday so we went for a ride along the Benalla-Yarrawonga 'pub crawl' route.
In days gone by there was a passenger rail between Benalla and Yarrawonga. It had those little single carriage trains where you could chat to the driver. The train pased by all the little pubs, so you got juiced up at Benalla at the Vic Hotel across the road from the station, then hopped on board for the short trip to Goorambat where the train stopped long enough for 2 pots. Then the same thing at Devenish, St James, Tungamah and finally Yarrawonga where there were several pubs to crawl between before the train returned to Benalla.
Lets go!!!! ....and look at silos.

Goorambat






Goorambat pub aka the geebat.


A nice little spot between Gbat and Devenish.

The silos on this train route are now disused but the trains have been re commissioned recently for goods only. The farmers drive the grain to the silos at Yarrawonga or Dookie.
There is the occasional steam train though.

Next stop, Devenish. Hic.

(Booze comments are for fun only.)

Devenish





The Devenish pub is perhaps the friendliest on the pub crawl. It was always a community pub, in that it was owned by a cooperative of local farmers and residents. Not sure if that's still the case. We stepped inside and chatted but I didn't think to ask if it was still a co-op. Anyone know???

Sweet yarn!!

Nice RR John and Johnny
The little trains you mention may have been "Rail Motors"

My dad and his mum used to take one regularly when out shopping many years ago. They used to sit up the front next to the driver and my Grandmother would share a few swigs of "plonk" with the driver on the rail trip home. (!)

The Black Night Rally is held at the Goorambat hotel (and possibly at the Devenish hotel on alternate years). Jo and I went to the rally at the Goorambat pub one year. We got there pretty late in the afternoon and the only space left for pitching a tent was in the gravel carpark where your bike is parked adjacent the silos. That was a best test we've had yet of the comfort of our self inflating matresses.

St James







This is the first ever Coles. Sir G J Coles bought this shop from his father in 1910 for the sizable amount (in those days) of £4,500. He then moved on to Tasmania where he opened another shop. In 1914 he joined up with his brothers Jim and Arthur to open stores in Melbourne. The rest is history and this dilapidated building in St James is where it all started. We tried to fill up at the bowser out the front but the lock was rusted shut.... besides, they didn't offer the 4c a litre coupon discount.

Wiki article... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Coles_(entrepreneur)

There is a park diagonally opposite with nice new toilets and bbq area. Coles celebrated the 100th anniversary here with a free sausage sizzle and giveaways. We came home with a carload of free fruit, veg and other groceries. Great day!

John & Johnny said:

In days gone by there was a passenger rail between Benalla and Yarrawonga. It had those little single carriage trains where you could chat to the driver. The train pased by all the little pubs, so you got juiced up at Benalla at the Vic Hotel across the road from the station, then hopped on board for the short trip to Goorambat where the train stopped long enough for 2 pots.

Click to expand...

My aunt and uncle had a farm at Goorambat. Its train station's claim to fame was Queen Elizabeth alighting there from the Royal train during her tour in 1954. My aunt had a black and white pic of Lizzie on the platform.

Tungamah



Look hard...see Johnny?

Tungamah is the biggest town on this pub crawl. It has a one man police station and a garage, even a swimming pool. I think Willo frequents this place. The silos here are all fenced off and the pub is less than busy. It used to be a hive of activity but perhaps the days of working on the farm all day then enjoying an evening drinking and socialising at the pub before driving home are gone. Not just the drink driving laws but also the economic strain on farms trying to compete with free trade agreements. Farmers used to get old and the son would take over the farm, but now the kids move to more lucrative lives in the cities and the farms are left to rot. There may be many reasons why the silos are no longer used. Maybe the road network is more efficient, maybe the internet makes it easier to centralise the grain storage, but sadly I suspect there just aren't enough votes in rural communities to make the government care about farmers, so we buy oranges from America, rice from China and tomatoes from Italy while the orange crops in Mildura are bulldozed, the tomato crops in Shepparton are struggling and worst of all, the rice crops in NSW are owned by the Chinese who have purchased water rights on the Darling river to such an extent that Menindee lakes are drying up and Broken hill is now under extreme water restrictions for the first time in history. Now I need a drink! Catch 22.
The roads out here are great though. Very little traffic, wide, no trees, well surfaced, no cops in sight. The BM doesn't really like doing 100kph. Might have to give it a squirt between here and Telford.

Tungamah to Telford


This road looks like it's made for speed!

I will follow Nev's advice and hold the camera in portrait, not landscape, mode next time.
I hope it doesn't stuff up the forum formatting. Looks ok on my android tablet but don't know what it looks like on a pc or an ipad or iPhone.

Telford




What? No pub!!
Telford has a silo but no pub. Sorry. Other than the silo there is only one house. Vic Roads have still managed to put in the 80kph speed signs though.

There is a large conglomeration of privately owned silos back towards Tungamah. I've gone past them now but I'll get a pic on the way back. Getting hungry so next stop is Yarrawonga.