![BACK ON TRACK: Peter Tolsher of Thurgoona Men's Shed standing with the newly restored Bandiana station house. Picture: TARA TREWHELLA BACK ON TRACK: Peter Tolsher of Thurgoona Men's Shed standing with the newly restored Bandiana station house. Picture: TARA TREWHELLA](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/127011937/0a7cf2de-82f9-4f7c-a002-283d66df26a2.jpg/r0_265_5184_3191_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Albury may have the claim on the longest rail platform in the southern hemisphere but the Thurgoona Men's Shed is making the case for a different record.
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The old Bandiana station house has been given a new lease of life and project manager Peter Tolsher said the case could be made for the smallest platform south of the equator.
"Albury Railway Station has the longest platform in the southern hemisphere, so maybe we can put a bid in for the shortest," he said.
Besides a new roof and signage, the station house is all the original wood.
The revamped shed also features a large mural of a train painted by Border artist Kade Fielder.
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Mr Tolsher said one of the key aims for their restoration was keeping the station as close to what it would have been back in its heyday during World War II.
They even went as far as leaving the signatures of the men who'd worked the railway intact on the inside of the structure.
The oldest signature inscribed in lead pencil on the inside wall belongs to one JS Muir, dated 1939.
The men's shed even made sure to include a garden bed to house what would have been the station master's flowers.
"You can't have a railway platform anywhere that hasn't got the flowers that the station masters used to take a lot of pride in looking after," he said.
"We've tried to stay true to what might have been around then or what was popular, because those grevilleas are hardy as buggery."
The restoration began in October 2019 but COVID-19 caused delays in its completion.
"The Lachlan Valley Historical Society brought it out here to restore it and, after about 18 months, they said we don't really know what we're doing so you can do what you like with it," Mr Tolsher said.
"I said we'd take it on as long as we did it properly and it wasn't just a slap-up and it came up really well.
"It's been great to see how it's just come to life and the interest has magnified over the journey.
"I'm pleased that it's finished and I can't stress enough that it's been a combined effort.
"A lot of us had a lot of fun doing it."
Mr Tolsher said that a number of people in the Border region had approached the men's shed about the restoration, sharing stories of their fathers working in that very station house.
"The history of the railway is still implanted in people's minds, there are a lot of trainspotters around," he said.
"The nearby neighbours, dog walkers and others would pull up and tell us how good it's looking, it gives us a bit of an identity."