X-Nico

unusual facts about Geelong–Ballarat railway line


Andrew Sexton Gray

Through a relative on his mother's side (George Sexton Evans), who was one of the contractors, Gray was employed as resident railway surgeon during the construction of the Geelong–Ballarat railway line.


1938 VFL season

Geelong half-back flanker Jack Grant won the 1938 130-yard Stawell Gift in eleven and eleven-sixteenths seconds, off a handicap of 11½ yards.

1999 AFL season

Waverley Park hosted its first football match in Round 3, 1970 (Geelong vs Fitzroy), and was known for over twenty years as VFL Park.

93.9 Bay FM

It commenced broadcasting from an old industrial estate in Corio, Geelong in 1989.

Anatol Kagan

After arriving in Melbourne in 1939, Kagan worked in the offices of several prominent architectural firms of the day, including Hugh & Arthur Peck, Seabrook & Fildes, Joseph Plottel, and Geelong-based firm of Buchan, Laird & Buchan.

Beyondblue

Since 2006, the Australian Football League has supported the organisation with the beyondblue Cup awarded annually to the winner of clashes between the Geelong and Hawthorn football clubs.

Breakwater, Victoria

The name Breakwater originated from a rock ford constructed across the Barwon River by Geelong's first Police magistrate, Captain Foster Fyans, in 1837.

Caleb Jenner

He came to Victoria in 1850, and engaged in commercial pursuits at Geelong.

Charles Anthony Corbett Wilson

He arrived in Victoria on 10 August 1851 abord the Troubadour, attracted to the gold diggings at Golden Point, and although ultimately unsuccessful in this venture, he left Ballarat and practised as a surveyor in Geelong, and subsequently went on to have one of the longest careers of any engineer in Victoria, and was responsible for a number of important engineering works.

Clifton Springs

Clifton Springs, Victoria, a coastal town overlooking Corio Bay, approximately 20 km east of Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Colac-Ballarat railway line

The track has been removed completely and the last section of the Skipton to Ballarat line has been turned into a rail trail.

Dan Lonergan

After attending the Jesuit Xavier College, Lonergan had a cadetship with ABC Radio Sport in 1997 after stints at various stations including 3HA Hamilton, 3CS Colac, K Rock (3GL)in Geelong and Fox FM in Melbourne.

David McCooey

He is Personal Chair in Literary Studies and Professional & Creative Writing at Deakin University in Geelong and regularly writes reviews for Australian Book Review and The Age.

Dermott Brereton

In 2005, he appeared in a Toyota Memorable Moments advertisement featuring Stephen Curry that satirised the famous 1989 Grand Final incident with Geelong player Mark Yeates.

Drumcondra

Drumcondra, Victoria, Australia, a residential suburb of Geelong, overlooking Corio Bay.

Elaine Carbines

Carbines was also actively involved in several environmental campaigns, most notably the attempt to stop the move of the Coode Island chemical plant to the environmentally sensitive Point Lillias, and a proposal to build a rowing course on the site of the Belmont Common, another environmentally sensitive area on the outskirts of Geelong.

Foster Fyans

He also constructed a rock ford across the Barwon River in 1837, which gave name to the area now known as Breakwater, an eastern industrial and residential suburb of Geelong.

Geelong Baptist College

In May 2011, Melbourne Heart FC visited Geelong Baptist College to run a soccer clinic to the whole school.

Geelong Power Station

Three Peebles-La-Cour rotary converters of 500 kilowatt capacity was also installed to supply DC current for the Geelong tramways and older DC city supplies.

Harold Freedman

Geelong Government Offices (Regional History of Geelong mosaic)

Ilija Grgic

Since retiring from football, Grgic has had a successful professional career in the oil and gas industry, including serving as engineering manager at the Shell refinery in Geelong.

Inglewood Football Club

Greeves was a premiership player for Geelong and the first winner of the Brownlow Medal for the VFL's Fairest and Best Player.

James Newland

Newland was born in the Geelong suburb of Highton, Victoria, on 22 August 1881 to William Newland, a labourer, and his wife Louisa Jane (née Wall).

Jeff Gieschen

In 1995 and 1996 he was assistant coach for the Geelong Football club which included a grand final appearance in the former season.

John Lang Currie

Currie lived either on his estates or in Geelong until the 1870s, but in 1871 he moved to Melbourne and built Eildon Mansion in Grey St, St Kilda, where he lived until his death in 1898.

John Marden

returned to his old school, The Geelong College, this time as a teacher under notable educator George Morrison, moving to the Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne (M.L.C Melbourne) as a Science master three years later.

John Shirlow

He is represented at the British Museum, the national galleries of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, and at Stockholm, Bendigo, Geelong and Castlemaine.

Kevin Sheehan

Kevin Vincent Sheehan OAM (born 1 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer for Geelong and the current Australian Football League (AFL) National Talent and International Manager, a member of the AFL football operations sub-committee and a selector for the AFL Rising Star award.

Kiss FM Australia

Kiss FM currently has active transmitters at Balwyn, Chadstone, Epping, Flemington, Frankston, Geelong, Kangaroo Ground, Laverton, Melbourne City, Mornington & Olinda and a relay service on Orbit FM's transmitters in Daylesford, Mount Buller, Wangaratta & Cairns.

Klaas Runia

In 1956 he was appointed Professor of Systematic theology at the Reformed Theological College in Geelong, Australia, where he taught until his return to the Netherlands in 1971.

Landy Field, Geelong

Surrounding Geelong municipalities and shires contributed $2,550.00 whilst the Geelong Guild Athletic Club donated $3,989.80 towards the construction of Landy Field.

At the conclusion of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, the Geelong City Council held a dinner on 15 January 1957 to honour the six Geelong Guild athletes (Ron Blackney, John Chittick, Robert James "Bob" Joyce, John Landy, Don MacMillan and John Vernon) who had represented Geelong and Australia at these games.

Geelong, at that stage had no dediacted athletic field of any kind.

Lee Troop

He became involved in athletics at the age of 11 when he joined his father's weight loss campaign by taking training runs around the Geelong suburb of Whittington.

Lucy Meacock

She then moved to Australia, where she attended the independent Morongo Girls College in Geelong, Victoria.

Mark Blicavs

Prior to being recruited by Geelong, Blicavs was a middle-distance runner and steeplechaser, who attempted to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Rod Mackenzie

He received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1999 for his services to the Geelong community.

Ron Watt

In September 2012 Watt, the Geelong Football Clubs' player development manager, announced his intention to stand for the historical first ever directly elected Mayor of Geelong.

Shane Dowling

Local businessman and future state Liberal MP Andrew Katos was elected to fulfill the Geelong ward vacancy caused by Dowling's resignation.

Shell Australia

Following the decision by the Royal Dutch Shell fuel corporation to close its Geelong, Australia refinery in April 2013, a third consecutive annual loss was recorded for Shell's Australian refining and fuel marketing assets.

South Geelong, Victoria

Major industry in South Geelong includes the Godfrey Hirst Pty Ltd carpet manufacturers on Barwon Terrace currently (2009) owned by the McKendrick family.

Spirit of Progress

The Spirit of Progress was launched on 17 November 1937 in a blaze of publicity, which included dramatic footage being taken of the new train racing Airco DH.4 aeroplane VH-UBZ Spirit of Melbourne on its demonstration run to the Victorian city of Geelong.

The Deakins

Over their 10 year journey, performing live concerts and dance venues mainly in Melbourne, Geelong, through to Torquay circuits and later, appearing on television’s rock shows Kommotion and the GO!!

Travis Varcoe

Varcoe played a critical role in delivering a handball to Paul Chapman late in the game which resulted in a brilliant Chapman goal giving Geelong a six point lead.

Victorian Railways C class

To facilitate passenger working, their maximum allowable speed was raised from 50 mph (80 km/h) to 60 mph (96 km/h) on the key North Eastern, Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong lines.

Wayne N. Phillips

Wayne Norman Phillips (born 7 November 1962 in Geelong, Victoria) is a former Australian and Victorian cricketer.

Whiskas

In 1998, Australian rules footballer Garry Hocking changed his name by deed poll to "Whiskas" as part of the Geelong Football Club promotion with the company.

Wodonga railway station

Until November 2008 Pacific National operated broad gauge freight services from the Wodonga Coal Sidings to North Shore station (in Geelong) carrying logs for woodchipping.

Zoe Fairbairns

Fairbairns has worked as a freelance journalist and a creative writing tutor; she has also held appointments as Writer in Residence at Bromley Schools (1981-3 and 1985-9), Deakin University, Geelong, Australia (1983), Sunderland Polytechnic (1983-5) and Surrey County Council (1989).


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