A bell more than 100 years ago will have a key role in a memorial to mark 50 years since the Southern Aurora passenger train and a goods service crashed near Violet Town

Four train crew, including Wodonga locomotive drivers Laurence Rosevear and John Bowden, died when the passenger service struck a goods train just south of Violet Town around 7am on February 7, 1969.

To mark the 50^th anniversary, a ceremony will be held at the crash site, with Mr Rosevear and Mr Bowden’s names to be read aloud along with those of conductor Frederick McKenzie and electrician Allan Wilson.

The names of passengers Doris Reddick, Kathleen Vider, Mary King and mother Nora Newell and her daughter Lorna, 14, will also be spoken.

Former Violet Town fire brigade captain Ian Chanter will hit the bell with a hammer after each name is read.

Self-taught handyman and volunteer firefighter Mick McLaughlin has spent the past week freshening up the bell with a new coat of silver paint and an attachment which will allow it to be hung from a frame he has constructed.

“It’s normally used when they have the funeral march for local firefighters, it’s the first time it’s been used for this type of memorial,” Mr McLaughlin said.

The vigil involving Anglican reverend Michelle Wood and federal MP Damian Drum marks the start of four days of commemorations.

They will culminate on Sunday with the opening of a memorial garden near the Violet Town railway station.