Every Easter thousands of runners and athletics fans from Australia and overseas make the annual pilgrimage to Central Park in Stawell for one of the world’s most famous and prestigious foot races, the Stawell Gift.
In 1983 VicRail ran a special to transport patrons to the event as the Central Park is only a short walk from Stawell railway station. To reach Stawell before the first of the races, the special departed Spencer Street at 6:35am. running via 'the Straight', the special had scheduled stops at Melton, Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, Ballarat, Beaufort and Ararat, reaching Stawell at 9:50am.
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| The Stawell Gift special snakes its way through Ballarat yard. The special is hauled by B67 and B69 with a consist of W cars. T367 rests in the yard on goods from Maryborough. |
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| B67-B69 round the curve past the Doveton Street sidings with special operated for the Stawell Gift. |
The special was formed by Kyneton set used on Run 34, of CW-AW-BW-BW plus spare cars to form a consist of CW-AW-AW-BW-BW-BW-BW. Since December 1982 wooden bodied passenger cars have rarely been used west of Ballarat. The special departed Stawell at 4:05pm reaching Melbourne at 7:10pm.
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| 3AW and 40AW two of the 9 AW's currently retained for use on specials. |
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| B69 leads B67 on the Up Stawell Gift special through the junction at Ballarat C Box on Easter Monday 1983. |
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