Waking up in Geelong

Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is July 2007.

We start in the southern Geelong suburb of Grovedale, where I photographed a pair of locomotives retuning light engine from the Waurn Ponds cement works.

Back then it was empty paddocks, but today the crest of the hill is the location of Waurn Ponds station, surrounded by cookie cutter houses on tiny blocks.

Over on the other side of Geelong, I captured a Genesee & Wyoming Australia operated grain train heading up the hill through Bell Post Hill behind a quartet of locomotives.

Both operator and locomotives still exist today but they are an infrequent visitor to Victoria, sticking to their home turf of South Australia. My chosen location has also changed – the Geelong Ring Road now crosses the railway a short distance away.

A little further north I photographed a VLocity train arriving into Lara station.

Back then Lara only had a small brick station building, with staff only in attendance during morning peak. Soon after I took my photo, work started on a major expansion project, the current station building being opened in 2008.

On odd sight I captured on the Princes Highway at Geelong was a railway carriage being moved by road.

This privately owned carriage was bound for the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre depot, previously being stored near South Geelong station.

Some I don’t visit often is the snow – Mount Hotham was the first time I’d ever gone to an actual snowfield.

I was more interested in photography than the slopes.

Capturing the equipment used to groom the slopes for skiers.

As well as the buses used to move them around the village.

Finally, we end on a night time wander around Southern Cross Station – neither trains or passengers were visible.

The fact that it was midnight probably had something to do with it!

Footnote

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

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