Like the famous little steam-train, Mr Bodycoat has proven that persistence is an important commodity when it comes to making tracks on railway ground.

Mr Bodycoat is the secretary of the Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail committee of management.

It is a role he has filled since the formative days of the rail trail concept.

"We went on the Great Victorian Bike Ride which re-introduced us to cycling having not done any for a while," Mr Bodycoat said.

"I read in The Standard a committee had been formed to look at getting a rail trail up and going.

"They were looking for volunteers so I went along to the second meeting and I took on the secretary role."

The committee of management had landed itself a boom recruit, a highly qualified young, active retiree.

Originally from Moonee Ponds, Mr Bodycoat was an industrial chemist, his work taking him all over the world. He began working for a pharmaceutical company and went on to work for Ansell in the production of rubber gloves.

For 30 years he worked overseas, helping set up production in factories in countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Germany.

On his return to Australia, Mr Bodycoat and his wife Robyn had a very clear vision of where they wanted to spend their retirement.

“We wanted a place on a hill overlooking the sea,” Mr Bodycoat said.

“We started the search from Port Albert and worked our way down the coast until we reached Warrnambool and found what we wanted.

“We knew the area well, we had holidayed there in the past.”

The Bodycoat’s had found their idyllic destination but retirement was never going to be just about kicking back and relaxing.

“I have to have something to do, I can’t sit around for too long,” Mr Bodycoat said.

“I was looking for a project to keep me occupied and the rail trail does that.”

When the idea of a rail trail was first raised in the middle of last decade, it looked from the outside to be mission impossible.

But with a tick coming from both Warrnambool City and Moyne Shire council’s, the ambitious vision became a reality.

But as is often the case, the basic build was the onset of the period of hardest work.

Construction of the trail began in 2008 and was fully operational within two years.

Warrnambool City Council committed to maintenance of the trail from the breakwater to Levy’s Point with Moyne taking on from the other side of Levy’s Point to Lane’s Lane in Illowa.

The biggest section of the trail, from Regent Street in Port Fairy to Lane’s Lane, fell to the volunteer committee of management.

The magnitude of this task cannot be underestimated.

The committee of management and friends of the rail trail did not shy away from rolling up their sleeves to begin the hard work of mowing grass and planting trees.

But it was with limited resources that the task with tackled.

“When we started when had one hand mower and one ride-on,” Mr Bodycoat said.

“We planted a lot of trees and we had a 50 per cent strike rate with them staying alive.”

But as daunting as the challenge was, Mr Bodycoat and his team were up for the fight.

In his first big charge for funding, Mr Bodycoat went in search for $32,000 for a small tractor and slasher.

His persistence paid off, landing a shinny new red machine that made cutting grass along the trail a manageable task.

“You have to do as much as you can to equip your volunteers properly,” Mr Bodycoat said.

“If they have good tools to use then they will keep coming back, that is certainly what has happened with the rail trail.”

The task of the committee and friends of group has been made easier with a number of community organisations coming on board and taking on the maintenance of sections of the trail.

The Koroit Lions Club, the Warrnambool Bushwalkers group, St Patrick’s Koroit Primary School, Port Fairy Casual Riders and the Hash House Harriers all tend to sections, as does Murray Goulburn.

The jewel in the crown of the rail trail is the Koroit Railway Station, its position of prominence owing plenty to the dedication of Mr Bodycoat.

He has worked tirelessly to source $110,000 of funding to re-do the station platform surface and canopy, refurbish the second waiting room and fix the brickwork on the building exterior.

So impressive is the station that it now has two business tenants, providing valuable income to the rail trail.

The Koroit Lions Club earlier this year opened up a playground along the trail opposite the Koroit station. Moyne Shire Council has identified a parcel of land across from the station in Bourke Avenue as the future home of a skate park.

While the train stopped coming through Koroit in 1977, the station area is set to again become a hub of the town, this time as a recreational mecca.

Mr Bodycoat is modest about his massive contribution to the station and the trail.

“I’m fairly pragmatic, you have wins and loses with funding and other things along the way but you just keep going,” Mr Bodycoat said.

“I just go and do what I can to try and improve things, we are lucky to now have a lot of people pulling in the same direction.”

Rail trail committee of management chairman Richard Zerbe is lavish in his praise of Mr Bodycoat’s work.

“Without Ian’s efforts the rail trail would not be in half as good as condition that it is now,” Mr Zerbe said.

“He has that great skill of being able to co-ordinate resources and also do so much hands-on work himself.

“He takes people along the journey with him. He is both passionate and capable. He has always had such a clear vision of how to improve and enhance the trail.”