Today we take a step back to the 1920s and take a walk around North Melbourne railway station, comparing it to what exists today.
At the north end of the platforms little has changed.
The only difference I can spot is the removal of the sheltered timber platform seats, replaced by cold steel benches.
The entrance to platform 4 and 5 has changed a little more. Still used by trains headed west to Footscray, Sunshine and St Albans – these trains now head further north to Sydenham and Sunbury.
The timber gates used by ticket checking staff are gone, replaced by fare gates on the main station concourse, and the pull down ‘bathgate’ train indicators have been replaced by LCD screens.
A much bigger change is visible outside the station, at what was once the main entrance for passengers.
Dynon Road once crossed the railway tracks via the north side of North Melbourne station, until the current bridge was opened in 1968.
This spartan brick station building replaced the original 1886 station building in 1974, until it was made redundant in 2009 with the completion of the current southern entrance to the station.
Another contrast can be seen this eastwards view from platform 6.
The only constant is the bluestone faced platforms – static billboards are now motorised advertising panels, towering apartment buildings have replaced terraced houses, and the gardens along the Railway Place have given way for a concrete retaining wall.
The city end of the platforms have seen similar changes.
Neatly tended gardens haven given way to a weed covered slope, a brown brick bunker has been erected to house modern signalling equipment, and the bluestone platform face has given way to concrete.
At first glance little has changed north of the station, where the Upfield line branches off from the Werribee, Sunbury and Craigieburn bound tracks.
The same number of tracks remain in place today, the only difference being the lineside signals and gantries supporting the overhead wires.
But this view from the December 1935 edition of National Geographic Magazine titled ‘Flashes of Colour in the Fifth Continent’ tell a different story.
From ‘Melbourne as featured in National Geographic Magazine 1935’
The “blossums and foliage between the rail lines on the embankments provide a colourful approach to the capital of Victoria” are long gone, replaced by weeds and gravel.
The same contrast can be seen at the city end of the station, where a carefully manicured garden occupied the space between Railway Place and the tracks.
VPRS 12903/P1, item Box 164/07
The garden was demolished in the 1960s when the North Melbourne flyover was constructed as part of the North East standard gauge project, the area taking on the current look following the completion of the Regional Rail Link project in 2015.
A short history lesson
- 1859: station opened
- 1886: six platform station complex completed
- 1919: electric trains introduced
- 1962: North Melbourne flyover completed
- 1968: Dynon Road moved onto new bridge
- 1970s: track rearrangement to cater for City Loop
- 1974: new entrance replaced 1886 building
- 2009: current southern station entrance opened, northern entrance closed
- 2015: North Melbourne flyover rebuilt for Regional Rail Link
Footnote
A 1979 photo of North Melbourne station by Len Johnston.
Oh how beautiful it used to look. What happened? Why can’t we make anything look nice anymore? It’s like compare a top down of Flinders Street station, and the new concourse looks so damn ugly from above.
Old buildings didn’t have air conditioning so none of that equipment to hide up on the roof, and there wasn’t a need for walkways and handrails to stop workers from falling off.
Pity about the bluestone. Someone charged a fortune to the taxpayer to remove that and then charged a fortune to someone who could afford to avoid tax to put in their fancy home or garden.
The bulk of the bluestone platform face is still there today – the construction of the City Loop portals in the 1970s saw two tracks at a time closed to create the required space, so I assume that was the reason for the concrete at the city end.
The embankments at the 1920s station look very attractive. Imagine making and maintaining the gardens between the tracks nowadays and the chaos of safety procedures that would need to be followed. Many changes, but trains still run on tracks.
Even today inspection staff can access the tracks while trains are still running, but they need a lookout to come along for the ride.
*West Melbourne station.
Renaming a station then giving the old name to a new station is a recipe for confusion – say what you want about ‘Southern Cross Station’ as a name, but if someone says Spencer Street they’ll still get there – or a blank look from someone too young to remember the ‘good old days’ – but never sent to the wrong place!
I think that North Melbourne is one of the better upgrade designs. They have at least retained much of the old station and the modern up-grade (despite limitations) is respectful. Unlike Footscray for instance, where the new station buildings completely overwhelm the old buildings. I don’t see any real problem with maintaining gardens in any of the old spaces. It would require some safety stuff of course but it would look a damn sight better than the weeds which currently grow.
I think the clear separation between new and old is what makes the design work.
Marcus why you so passionate about this shit?
I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. 😛
North Melbourne station is one of my early childhood memories l have, seeing cars using Dynon Road just north of the station entrance. Whist employed on the railways, l had to seek shelter inside the building on platform 6 on several occasions when l missed the last train home.
If you go to the bottom of the ramp to platform one, and go to the street side and look north, you will see an aperture for another rail line.
I’ve noticed that underpass on the eastern side before, but haven’t worked out what it was for – it seems too narrow to have a track pass through it.
https://www.railgeelong.com/gallery/geelong-line/north-melbourne/F130_1926.jpg.html