After leaving Skipton (28th February 2023), Marija and I drove to the Pittong historic railway site.

Work on the Ballarat to Skipton railway commenced in 883 with the opening of the line to Scarsdale. By 1891 the line had been extended to Linton. Work on the Linton to Skipton line was conducted between 1914-1916 at a cost of £65,000. The line officially opened in 1916.

When the Pittong station opened it originally consisted of a 200-foot passenger platform and shelter plus a loop siding, ramped goods platform and livestock loading races. Due to Pittong being entirely rural, the station received wool, livestock and produce for outwards freight and superphosphate for inwards. By 1956 the livestock facilities had been removed. During the early 1970s a revival in freight occurred with the establishment of a kaolin plant in the Pittong station yard. A long loop siding on the south side, behind the old passenger platform was installed for the plant, and this traffic became the mainstay of the entire railway until its closure on the 27th day of September 1985.

Above:- Melbourne-Skipton excursion rail ticket 1978. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The line is now the Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail, a walking and cycling path. There is an information board at the site of the old Pittong Station explaining the history of the station.

We then headed east on the Glenelg Highway and drove up to The Flagstaff Hill lookout on Flagstaff Road, Pittong. There is an observation tower at the top which offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. We were very surprised that this did not qualify for the Summits On The Air (SOTA) program, but clearly, it does have sufficient prominence to qualify.

We then travelled into the historic gold town of Linton, about 34 kilometres southwest of Ballarat.

The Carninjebalug clan of the Wathawurrung aboriginal tribe inhabited the land around Linton prior to European settlement. In 1839 Joseph and Mary Linton and their three young daughters arrived in Geelong from Scotland. They travelled to the district which was then known as Wardy Yallock and established the Emu Hill pastoral run which was known by the local Aboriginal people as Kayjap. The Linton property was 15,000 acres in size and had about 8,000 sheep, and extended north and south of the present-day town of Linton.

In 1855 gold was discovered in the northern section of the Emu Hill pastoral run. Within months of gold being discovered, there were hundreds of men and women on the goldfields. They commenced clearing the eucalyptus forest and establishing the Linton’s Diggings. It subsequently became Old Lintons when a new township was built in 1860 on Surface Hill. This was the roots of the present-day town of LInton.

In 1861 the population of Linton was 1,969 people. The Shire of Glenville was proclaimed in February 1864. Numerous buildings were erected including a bank, courthouse, post office, churches, hotels, and shops.

By 1900 the population of Linton was 630 people and it was still the largest town in Grenville Shire. By the 1930s the depression took its toll on the town of Linton resulting in a loss of population. Numerous buildings in the town fell into a state of disrepair and many were demolished.

Above:- the main street of Linton, c. 1900. Image c/o victoriancollections.net.au

The 1903 Australian Handbook described Linton as follows:

Fortunately, numerous historic buildings remain in Linton, and we enjoyed strolling down the main street admiring the town’s history.

After leaving the town of Linton we decided to have a look at Devils Kitchen, a geological reserve located southeast of Linton.

Above:- an old stone bridge passing over Woady Yaloak River.

Unfortunately, we reached a road leading down to the Devil’s Kitchen that was completely blocked off. There was also some police tape and although we could drive around the bollards, we decided to err on the side of caution. We were a little disappointed, as we had gone out of our way to have a look at Devil’s Kitchen, and there was no information on the Parks Victoria website to suggest that it was closed. We subsequently found on the Golden Plains Shire website that the bridge was closed due to recent flood damage.

We then decided to head to the Linton Flora and Fauna Reserve VKFF-2370 for a park activation for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. We drove back along the Linton-Piggoreet Road and then drove along Graded Road and soon reached the park. Our first stop in the park was the old rail trestle bridge.

We passed a sign which read Clarkesdale Reserve, but we were not satisfied that we were in the park.

We drove east along Clarks Road and according to our GPS we were now definitely in the park.

Above:- Aerial shot of the park showing our operating spot. Image c/o Google Earth.

The Linton Flora and Fauna Reserve is also referred to as the Linton Nature Conservation Reserve on some maps, including Google maps. It is split into two parts. The first being on the northern side of the Linton-Piggoreet Road and Clarks Road. The second part is on the southern side of Clarks Road.

Above:- Aerial shot of the Linton Flora & Fauna Reserve. Image c/o Google maps

The park is 227 acres in size and was established on the 22nd day of November 1983.

We set up on the side of Clarks Road. We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5FANA
2. VK5HS
3. VK2MOE
4. VK2IO
5. VK4HAT
6. VK2FALL/p
7. VK3PF

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3KAI
3. VK3GV
4. VK2EXA

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4EMP
2. VK4TI
3. VK4NH
4. VK4DXA
5. VK4FW
6. VK8MM
7. VK4HRE
8. VK4CXY

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5FANA
2. VK5HS
3. VK2MOE
4. VK2IO
5. VK4HAT
6. VK2FALL/p
7. VK3PF

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3KAI
3. VK3GV
4. VK2EXA

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4EMP
2. VK4TI
3. VK4NH
4. VK4DXA
5. VK1AO
6. VK2MET
7. VK4FW
8. VK8MM

References.

1. CAPAD 2020.
2. Goldfields Guide, 2023, <https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore-location/390/devils-kitchen-geological-reserve/>, viewed 1st April 2023.
3. Linton & District Historical Society Inc, 2023, <https://www.lintonhistory.org.au/brief-history>, viewed 1st April 2023.
4. Rail Trails Australia, 2023, <https://www.railtrails.org.au/>, viewed 1st April 2023.
5. Visit Golden Plains, 2023, <https://www.visitgoldenplains.com.au/>, viewed 1st April 2023.