But there was a time, before the stream trains came to the Central West, when milling was king.

And all this and more will be revealed during a walking tour on Sunday, March 24, in conjunction with the Autumn Colours Heritage Festival.

Lead by local historian David Bullock, the tour will explore the history of the railway, the nearby streets, the pubs and the businesses that catered for people who lived and worked in the area known as Milltown.

Mr Bullock said milling was a major industry in Bathurst prior to the arrival of the railway in 1876.

"It was very important. It had jobs for people," he said.

"It went to Sydney. It was close to the railway, so you could get everything on.

"It was a very, very important industry. You had mills like Tremain's and Crago."

"I just talk about the Bathurst people, the businesses. How South Bathurst used to be called Milltown."

But when the Bathurst railway station opened April 4, 1876, it pushed milling to the side and made the railway the prime industry.

Mr Bullock said that was at the detriment of local businesses.

"The railway stuffed Bathurst," he said.

"What happened in the early days, your industry was all here in Bathurst. Say if you wanted a plough, it was made here in Bathurst.

"When the railway came, they would do it in Sydney. You could ring the supplier up in Sydney and guarantee next-day delivery on the mail trains."

In the early days, the railway employed hundreds of workers and many were housed in nearby pubs including the Victoria Hotel, the Railway Hotel and a now-abandoned one of the corner opposite the former.

And when the economy suffered, so did those pubs.

"There were 200 railway workers in the 1880s," Mr Bullock said.

"In the 1890s, they had a recession and they dropped the employment to about 70 and it buggered the Vic Hotel up.

"Railway was a big industry. We'd catch the train down overnight. I even worked on the railway for a few years as an apprentice fitter."

Mr Bullock's tour will start at 10.30am on Sunday, March 24, are tickets are $10 per person.

Bookings are essential and can be made at the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre on 1800 68 100.

Attendees are required to meet at the Bathurst railway station, with the tour taking roughly two hours.