The final section of the north-eastern railway to Wodonga was completed in November 1874.
Soon after construction of the Benalla Railway Station, council asked government to move the Benalla Showgrounds site, about to be granted on the south bank of the river, to a two-hectare site of vacant land beside the station.
Presumably, it was on the Hannah St side. Council’s request was refused. The Benalla Showgrounds remained on the site of the original grant.
Early in 1874, after a petition by Benalla district’s farmers, the Railway Commissioner agreed to install sheep and cattle yards beside Benalla Railway Station.
These were completed by August of that year. This meant that farmers who wanted to transport their beasts to Melbourne markets no longer had to walk them 65km to Longwood for yarding and loading.
The Railway Commissioner was not done. Despite strong and persistent rumours that they would be built in Wangaratta, large and extensive railway workshops were installed in Benalla beside the station.
An engine shed capable of holding 12 locomotives was built, with a turntable to turn the locomotives around.
The turntable still sits up the line from the station but the engine shed is long gone. To this day, significant housing for the required railway staff can be seen in Benalla.
Four fettlers’ gangs were also headquartered in Benalla. Their task was to maintain the track north and south of Benalla.
A letterbox was placed on the station’s platform. It was cleared by the guard on the mail train that stopped at Benalla twice a day.
In 1873, when the building of the station was under way, the Victoria Hotel had just been built but the streets around the station still contained tents.
Despite a serious recession in 1874, the arrival of the railway sparked a building boom in Benalla over the next couple of years.
Streets close to the station filled up with houses and stores. The price of Bridge St land sky-rocketed.
That year, it was sold at the astounding price of $20 per square metre. Also in 1874, Mayor George Sharpe cleared land for his new home, now called Moira House.
In 1875, Benalla’s population rose by 400 to 1800. It was now serviced by 14 hotels, six of them built close to the railway station.
The town had 20 stores, three butchers and three steam-driven flour mills.
In 1876, the Moodie brothers established a large factory to manufacture agricultural implements in Carrier St near the station.
A large traction engine powered the factory’s tools. The Moodies acted as timber dealers and built carts and vehicles, so the engine also powered a circular saw.
The noise from their businesses must have tormented nearby residents.
The railway station changed Benalla’s life for ever. Local farmers and business people had many more customers for their produce and products.
Benalla’s residents had access to a much wider range of products, all with very reasonable delivery costs.
– John Barry