FORMER IRYMPLE RAILWAY STATION BUILDING

The Former Irymple Railway Station Building is a timber building with a wide verandah constructed ca.1921 at Irymple to service the railway staff and people who were drawn to the area by the rapidly expanding fruit industry. It is made from four portable, partially prefabricated, timber units joined together to form one building. The office component of the building has a double ventilated roof. It was moved to Red Cliffs in 2002. 

The Former Irymple Railway Station Building is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register: 

Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.

Criterion B
Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history.

Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects

 

The Former Irymple Railway Station Building is historically significant for its association with the extension of the railway network into the Wimmera and Mallee regions in the early twentieth century, including to Irymple where it provided transport services for people, freight, parcels and fruit products. 
(Criterion A)

The Former Irymple Railway Station Building is historically significant for its association with the period following the 1890s depression where the Victorian Railways were forced to operate under budget restrictions. These led to the development of standardised portable, partially prefabricated railway station building units which could be adapted and moved to suit the passenger and freight needs of each site.

 

The Former Irymple Railway Station Building is a rare example of a portable railway building with a double ventilated roof.

 

The Former Irymple Railway Station Building is architecturally significant because it is a notable example of the class of portable railway station buildings, displaying the principal characteristics of the class in a way that allows it to be easily understood and including features such as ventilated roofs which were adapted to the climate requirements of their sites.