Waking up in Geelong

Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is January 2011.

By the beach

We start the month down at Queenscliff.

Where I found the Queenscliff-Sorrento car ferry.

A bridge to the secretive military base on Swan Island.

And rode the Bellarine Peninsula Railway.

Passing through Marcus station.

In the back streets of Geelong I found a Ford Territory SUV covered in camouflage.

The facelifted SZ series Territory was released in April 2011, and first official photos of the facelifted edition being released in February 2011 – looks like I had a scoop back then. 😛

Around Melbourne

Summer in Melbourne – and it was raining!

Tram passengers along Swanston Street still needed to climb up from street level.

Platform stops were eventually built in 2012.

At the corner of Bourke and William Street the St James Building was being gutted, making way for the redevelopment of AMP Square.

And trains

I photographed luxury rail cruise train The Southern Spirit arriving into Melbourne.

A very expensive rail cruise operated by Great Southern Rail, the Southern Spirit ran on various routes around Australia in January 2010, January 2011 and February 2012 before it was discontinued.

I also headed out to Diggers Rest, where I found a much less salubrious train.

Back then Diggers Rest was served by V/Line services, but work was about to start on the Sunbury electrification project that would extend service services to the town.

Another piece of construction was at Lara, where I found a set of points leading nowhere.

Part of a new 1850m crossing loop, Elders Loop opened in 2011.

While north of Craigieburn station a massive shed was taking shape.

Originally just a single stabling siding, the rail yards have since been expanded into the massive The Craigieburn Train Maintenance Facility.

One night after the last train, I found an X’Trapolis train being walked through the station at Ascot Vale, staff watching to make sure that the train didn’t strike the edge of the platform.

Back in the 2000s Melbourne’s rail network had been split between two private operators, with X’Trapolis trains purchased by Connex for use on the Lilydale, Belgrave, Glen Waverley, Alamein, Epping and Hurstbridge line.

This split meant X’Trapolis trains were never tested on the ‘other’ half of the network, requiring Metro to go back and complete this testing so that they could run them along the Craigieburn line to the new workshops.

Another nighttime find was this noisy machine at work on Pascoe Vale Road in Essendon.

It’s a rail grinder used to smooth tramway rails, making the ride quieter for the trams that pass along it.

‘Real’ Myki barriers were finally starting to appear on the network – this set was at the Swanston Street end of Melbourne Central.

These barriers eventually replaced the slower Metcard ‘Frankenbarriers’, but weren’t fast enough – in 2014 another style of gate was adopted at upgraded stations.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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