There is little chance of the “closed” sign returning again any time soon to the one-time Kalangadoo Railway Station.
For the past 25 years it has housed railway memorabilia collected by its honorary curator and one-time station master Peter Savage.
Known to all as “Sav”, he is about to blow out 70 candles on his birthday cake.
However, he has no intention of severing ties with either the railway station or his town’s beloved football club.
A second-generation railwayman, Sav’s association with the Kalangadoo Railway Station dates back to the early 1970s when he joined its staff straight from secondary school.
At the time, the station had a workforce of 10 and was a major outwards shipping location for potatoes and sawn timber.
His hometown had a busy commercial heart with two banks and two stock firms as well as four churches, a police station, active sawmill and a primary school with 160 students.
Over the years, Kalangadoo’s population shrank, businesses closed and activity at the railway station contracted.
The decision to close the Kalangadoo station was made in the mid-1990s, with Sav being its station master and the sole remaining employee.
Reluctantly, Sav was obliged to send many of the railway treasures to the head office in Adelaide ahead of its closure in 1986.
The stone building was mostly left unchanged for the following 12 years or so until late Auspine timber magnate Adrian DeBruin stepped in to buy the property as a sales outlet.
Sav took a job with the DeBruin Group and housed his railway memorabilia in a portion of the building not required.
Within this allocated space, Sav was able to display much of his collection of lamps, tickets, maps, uniforms, signs and so on.
The ownership of the station building has since changed but the owners allow the museum to be housed there.
Over the past quarter of a century, Sav has added to the collection.
With the active backing of his wife Judy, the station has also become somewhat of a repository for historic items from local families as well as the archives of the Kalangadoo Football Club.4
“I have lots of original photos from one of the prominent pioneering families of the district,” Sav said.
“I was told they were going to the rubbish dump as no one wanted them.”
It is a nostalgic exercise to visit Kalangadoo as passenger train services to the region ceased in the 1980s.
Scheduled freight services through Kalangadoo have not run for around 30 years as the South East broad-gauge line became isolated from the new Adelaide/Melbourne standard gauge line.
However, it gladdened Sav’s heart when the Limestone Coast Tourist Railway operated on South East lines around 20 years ago.
“They arranged for three Red Hen carriages from the Adelaide metropolitan network to come from Mount Gambier to Kalangadoo for the 2002 Mid South East football and netball grand finals,” he said.
“It was like old times as we issued the tickets.”
It is not just railway buffs who visit Sav and his museum.
“We have pilgrims who walk through Kalangadoo as part of the St Mary MacKillop Camino Trail,” Sav said.
“The Catholic Bishop of Ballarat Paul Bird has been here.”
With his trademark broad humour, Sav explains the contents of the five rooms of the station with tours which last one or two hours.
No charge is made and bookings can be made via the Peter Savage Facebook page.
Donations are encouraged for Kalangadoo Remembers which is an annual remembrance event around Anzac Day each year for local service veterans.
In a flash of his renowned black humour, Sav explains that he has a plot secured at the Kalangadoo cemetery for after his demise.
“The station has been a labour of love for me for the past 25 years plus the 13.5 years of my own railway service here,” he said.
“My old man (father) spent time at the Kalangadoo Railway Station and that certainly makes it dear to my heart.
“While the station clock is ticking, the Kalangadoo Railway Station is still alive.”
