 In 1869, the clipper "Lightning" caught fire at the Yarra Street pier and was cast adrift in Corio Bay to burn before finally sunk by artillery fire.Improvements to transport saw Geelong emerge as the centre of the Western District of Victoria, with railway lines extended towards Colac in 1876, and to Queenscliff in 1879.Construction of the Hopetoun shipping channel began in 1881 and completed in 1893.