A land before COVID

Remember peak hour crowds at CBD railway stations? I wrote about it a decade ago, and ended up in The Age.

In the years since much faster ticket readers by Vix have been deployed at busy stations, but for the past 18 months they’ve been barely used – COVID has cratered patronage.

How about the days when the AFL Grand Final was held in Melbourne? Back in 2011 Collingwood and Geelong were playing, with V/Line running extra trains from Geelong to transports Cats fans to the big game.

V/Line retired their fleet of P class locomotives in 2017, selling them to freight operator Southern Shorthaul Railroad in 2019, and thanks to COVID both the 2020 and 2021 AFL Grand Finals were held interstate.

October also used to be when the Royal Melbourne Show was held, with trains to Showgrounds station to transporting the crowds.

The show has been cancelled for two consecutive years thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the site turned over to a COVID-19 testing site and vaccination hub.

Changes on the railways

Ginifer used to be a station located at ground level.

Flowers placed beside the pedestrian crossing, following yet another person being struck and killed by a train.

And I found more flowers beside a second pedestrian crossing closer to St Albans.

After years of lobbying by local residents, in 2015 level crossings grade separated and new stations were built at Ginifer and St Albans, but there was one omission – the pedestrian crossing between them was left behind.

And finally down in the shadows of Docklands, I found freight wagons being shunted ready for another trip down the Frankston line.

The entire freight yard was relocated in 2015 to make way for the E-Gate urban renewal project, but the land has since been co-opted by the West Gate ‘Tunnel’ Project, to be covered by a tangle of freeway ramps.

Build it up

At 199 William Street the long abandoned skyscraper was seeing some activity.

Redeveloped as ‘The William‘ the lower floors are the Wyndham Hotel Melbourne, with apartments above.

Out at Melbourne Airport, work was well underway on a new air traffic control tower.

The 75 metre tall tower was built at a cost of $19 million, and took over from the 1970s facility next door in 2014.

Outside of Geelong, work on the $78 million final stage of the Geelong Ring Road was almost complete, with a 4.6 kilometre extension from Anglesea Road at Waurn Ponds to Pettavel Road.

It opened to motorists in 2013, and was followed in 2016 by the $164 million Princes Highway West duplication 25 kilometres from Waurn Ponds to Winchelsea.

A nice change from endless road projects was a brand new rail freight terminal at Spotswood.

Operated by Sadleirs Logistics, the terminal sees freight trains daily.

Changes were afoot on the railway towards Sunbury – electrification works were underway

The $270 million project extended suburban train services from Watergardens to Diggers Rest and Sunbury stations, allowing the retirement of the dedicated V/Line services to Sunbury from November 2012.

And the first extension of the suburban rail network in decades – 3.5 kilometres from Epping to South Morang.

When I visited the civil works were mostly complete, with ballast being dropped along the freshly laid track.

The extended line opened to passengers in April 2012, and cleared the way for a further extension of the railway – 8 kilometres north to Mernda, completed in August 2018.

And tear it down

Between Lonsdale and Little Bourke Street in the CBD there was a massive hole.

That was once occupied by Myer Melbourne.

The site was being cleared for the Emporium Melbourne shopping centre, completed in 2014, and which sits behind the facades of the former Myer store.

Over at the former RAAF Williams airfield in Laverton, I found a runway that wasn’t in very good shape.

Last used in 1998, the site is now the suburb of Williams Landing.

On Buckley Street in Footscray I found a row of abandoned houses, with windows boarded up.

Compulsorily acquired for the Regional Rail Link project, the remaining sliver of land is now occupied by townhouses.

While beside the West Gate Freeway another abandoned building was being demolished – the former West Gate Bridge toll plaza.

Made redundant in 1985 following removal of tolls on the bridge, VicRoads retained the site as a conference centre before selling it to a developer in 2010. The site is now the Expressway Business Park.

Things that are gone

Remember yellow ‘Bumblebee’ trams?

By 2014 the bee themed decals were looking rather tatty, so the trams were repainted into the standard Public Transport Victoria livery.

How about the mX newspaper?

Handed out free to homeward bound commuters at CBD railway stations, readership declined thanks to the rise of smartphones, with the final edition published on 12 June 2015.

And the food court at Southern Cross?

It was located on the mezzanine floor at the Collins Street end, and overlooked the country platforms.

The food court closed in November 2011 to make way for a redevelopment of the food and retail outlets at the station, with a Woolworths Metro supermarket now occupying the site.

And things that are the same

Marketing stalls blocking the main entrance to Melbourne Central Station? Still there!

Waiting 20 minutes for a train on the Craigieburn line after 6pm? Still there!

‘Smartbuses’ stuck in traffic in the Melbourne CBD? Still there!

And something foreboding?

Outside Melbourne Central Station I found a line of people dressed in Tyvek coveralls.

But they weren’t testing patients at a COVID exposure site – but handing out marketing junk for the 2011 film ‘Contagion’.

Footnote

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

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The post Photos from ten years ago: October 2011 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Trains

This month ten years ago I went for a trip around the Melbourne suburbs in a restored Diesel Electric Rail Motor operated by DERMPAV

We headed out to Upfield, Alamein and Belgrave, with a lunch stop at the VRI bar on the platform at Lilydale station.

Lilydale station is currently being rebuilt as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project, but the heritage station building is being retained.

In August 2011 electrification of the railway between Watergardens and Sunbury had started.

Along with the upgrade of Diggers Rest station.

Allowing the first electric train to Sunbury running in November 2012.

The South Morang Rail Extension Project was also underway, extending the railway 3.5 kilometres from Epping to South Morang.

Along with duplicating 5 kilometres of existing single track railway between Keon Park and Epping.

Opened in April 2021.

Planes

I paid a visit to the viewing area at Melbourne Airport, and Qantas was still flying 747s.

Virgin Australia was still called Virgin Blue, with red painted planes.

Except for the one 737 that was actually painted blue.

Virgin Blue is now Virgin Australia, with the Coronavirus pandemic seeing them go into voluntary administration, while Qantas retired their 747 fleet.

And on the water

I also headed down the bay to see the Queenscliff-Sorrento ferry.

I’d found out that the older ferry Peninsula Princess had been brought back into service.

So I wanted to go for a ride.

Along the way I found the Port Phillip Sea Pilots headed out the heads.

And a cargo ship following them out.

New roads

Big money was being spent on extending the Geelong Ring Road west from Waurn Ponds.

The new freeway passing the cement works.

To meet the two lane Princes Highway towards Winchelsea.

Opening to motorists in February 2013.

The flood prone Breakwater Bridge over the Barwon River was also being replaced.

A new high level bridge being built over both the river and the railway at a cost of $63 million.

Requiring the demolition of nine houses.

The new bridge opening to traffic in May 2012.

And scenes that are gone

Down at Frankston I found the abandoned Peninsula Centre.

It’s since been redeveloped into an apartment complex.

And the Ambassador Hotel – home of Melbourne’s cheapest apartment.

It was eventually demolished.

Over in Hawthorn I found the Motel California

Since demolished, and about to become apartments.

The Ford casting plant down at Geelong

Demolished following the end of local production by Ford Australia.

And this dirt track off Barwon Heads Road at Connewarre, south of Geelong.

Now part of the massive Warralily Estate at Armstrong Creek.

Footnote

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

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New construction around Geelong

There was plenty of work happening around Geelong, with construction of the stage 4A of the Geelong Ring Road underway at Waurn Ponds

Passing over the original 1868 stone bridge built by the Barrabool Shire.

And the railway station car park at Geelong station was being rebuilt.

At a cost of $24.5 million.

The heritage listed signal box at the Melbourne end of Geelong station also having been restored.

Progress in Melbourne

Myki was now active on the Melbourne railway network, with a stall at Flinders Street Station was promoting myki to passengers.

While the rollout to trams was continuing, with the installation of ticket machines at CBD tram stops.

New X’Trapolis trains were arriving into Melbourne, and I found one on the wharf at Webb Dock.

But much slower were repairs to storm damage at Southern Cross Station – two months on, and counting.

Scenes that have changed

2010 saw Metro Trains ramp up maintenance across the Melbourne rail network, with one projects being the relaying of track through South Yarra station.

Back then there were gardens beside the railway lines at South Yarra – since cleared to make room for Metro Tunnel works.

While the sidings at ‘E’ gate are now gone – cleared to make room for the West Gate ‘Tunnel’ project.

Ding ding

Malvern tram depot celebrated its centenary this month, with a public open day held to commemorate the opening of the Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust on 30 May 1910.

Heritage trams #44 and #84 were brought down by road from the Bendigo Tramways for the occasion, with tram #44 running special trips between the depot and Dandenong Road.

Unfortunately in the decade since no heritage trams have operated on the Melbourne tramway network.

In the scrapyard

Rail freight operator Pacific National was busy scrapping redundant rolling stock.

Lifting the wagons off their bogies.

Lining them up beside the tracks.

Ready for a claw equipped excavator.

Ripping them up into a pile of shredded scrap metal.

Crash!

On 4 May a suburban train bound for Craigieburn proceeded past two red signals, and crashed into the rear of a stationary freight train.

They came together at a speed of 47 km/h, pushing the freight train forward 30 metres, before eventually coming to a halt 16 metres after the point of impact.

The driver and 14 passengers on the suburban train were treated by paramedics on site, with the driver and four passengers subsequently being taken to hospital.

The recovery of the train continued throughout the night.

The investigation determined that the driver of the suburban train had passed two signals at stop and travelled at speeds up to 69 km/h, in contravention of the normal rules and operating procedures, but the reason for their actions could not be determined.

However the safety issue that led to the crash was only partially addressed, leading to a similar collision in 2014. The ATSB then became involved, and so in 2018 Metro Trains finally put in place engineering controls to prevent a similar collision occurring again.

Footnote

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

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Around Geelong

We start down in the Geelong suburb of Waurn Ponds.

Which a decade ago was the southern terminus of the Geelong Ring Road.

But work was underway to extend the freeway over the Waurn Ponds Creek valley.

And up the hill via Anglesea Road.

The nearby streets had bus stops to nowhere.

With new houses stretching as far as the railway line.

Back then only thrice-daily trains to Warrnambool used this line.

But a decade later it is now the site of Waurn Ponds station, terminus of the majority of V/Line services from Melbourne.

The Geelong Football Club made it into the 2009 AFL Grand Final, so V/Line ran special trains from Geelong to the MCG to carry the thousands of fans.

With a special ‘Geelong Cats’ headboard decorating the front of one train.

More construction

The new concourse at North Melbourne station opened in September 2009.

With Connex staff outnumbering the passengers on the first day of operations.

But for the first few weeks passengers still used the old northern entrance, as work on the new station building was still underway.

At Laverton station, the third platform was now starting to look real.

And the lift shafts for the new footbridge towering above the existing footbridge.

The new footbridge at Footscray was also rising at a rapid pace.

Multiple sections of bridge were ready to be lifted into place.

With others awaiting ramps and stairs to be added.

After the turning of the first sod for the Regional Rail Link project in August 2009, work at Southern Cross Station ramped up. The pile driver continued work on the future platform 15 and 16.

And the trackbed north of Latrobe Street was cleared to make room for the new Regional Rail Link tracks.

And some trains

The first of Melbourne’s ‘interim’ order of X’Trapolis trains had arrived at the Newport Workshops in September 2009.

A decade later we’re still ordering more of the aging design, but with no commitment to updating it, Alstom’s Ballarat plant may close down.

A much older train was the Steamrail Victoria special I followed through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

A decade later, this station at Heatherdale no longer exists – replaced by a rail-under grade separation in 2017.

Neither does the station at Mitcham – replaced in 2014.

Or the rickety footbridge at Ringwood – replaced in 2015.

Another steam train was this Steamrail Victoria special for Ballarat.

I also captured it at North Geelong C.

Where the century-old semaphore signals have only just been replaced.

I also followed the transfer of a V/Line power van from Melbourne to the Ballarat Workshops for refurbishment.

And the return working on a refurbished classmate.

Both vans are used by V/Line on their frequently failing V/Line Albury service.

And finally we end on the derailment of a V/Line train at Stonyford on the Warrnambool line.

On the evening of Saturday 12 September 2009 the train collided with trees lying across the track, felled by strong winds.

Which resulted in the derailment of the locomotives and four of the five passenger cars.

But the presence of a second locomotive on the train may have reduced the impact of the crash – there were only minor injuries to both locomotive drivers and one passenger.

As a result of the crash V/Line has taken a much more aggressive attitude to trees near railway lines.

Footnote

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

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Lots of construction

On the Craigieburn line, a new $38 million railway station was taking shape at Coolaroo.

While at Craigieburn the second platform was being prepared for the use of suburban trains.

Both projects were originally intended to be part of the Craigieburn Rail Project completed in 2007, but descoped to a lack of funds.

Down on the Werribee line the $92.6 project to add a third platform to Laverton station was well underway.

The old ramp was ready to be demolished.

To be replaced by a steep set of stairs, and unreliable lifts that are too small to take an ambulance stretcher.

Work was also well underway on the new footbridge at Footscray station, with the site cleared.

And the first bridge span waiting to be lifted into place.

And a short distance away at Sunshine a different rail bridge was under construction.

Costing $15 million, the 8 span 220 metres long ‘Brooklyn Sunshine Triangle Bridge‘ enabled freight services from the north and west of Victoria to pass through Melbourne, removing the need for trains to stop at Tottenham Yard and reverse direction.

Regional Rail Link kicks off

August 27 saw the media circus roll into Southern Cross Station, as state and federal politicians turned the first sod for the Regional Rail Link project.

The crowd of minders having arrived an hour earlier, including a construction worker charged with making sure the pile driver was spotless.

The politicians and media scrum had to make their way through the old Spencer Street subway.

Where they emerged at the future platform 15/16.

Victorian Premier John Brumby, Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky were there.

Where they slowly raised and lowered a pile driver head.

I also headed out to Wyndham Vale, where a long empty strip of land marked the site of the future station.

Dennis Family Homes, developer of the Manor Lakes estate, couldn’t believe their luck – their advertised ‘transport link’ was actually happening.

The new line opened to passengers in June 2015.

Around Melbourne and Geelong

At first glance Southern Cross Station didn’t look that different, with promotional stands blocking the main entrance.

But from up top the view was different – one could enjoy a drink in the bar, as late evening commuters trickle in.

The bar and food count on level 1 of the Collins Street concourse closed in 2011, replaced by a Woolworths supermarket.

Out in the boondocks of Campbellfield I crossed over the Western Ring Road onboard an Upfield line train.

The freeway has gone from six to eight lanes, upgraded by the ‘Tulla Sydney Alliance’ in May 2013 but the railway line is still single track, despite the removal of the nearby Camp Road level crossing in 2018.

While on the western edge of Geelong I drove out to the newly developed ‘Highview Estate’ in Highton, where houses were taking over the Barrabool Hills.

Today the fields are covered with houses, with many of the residents probably driving to Melbourne for work via the recently completed Geelong Ring Road.

And a few trains

August 2009 saw me take a ride around suburban Melbourne with Steamrail Victoria, with our seam train visiting Cranbourne, Upfield, Craigieburn and Williamstown.

I also followed a Connex Melbourne train through the open countryside of the Ballarat line.

The train was bound for the Alstom Ballarat workshops for upgrades to the passenger information and CCTV systems.

Also in Ballarat I found two accident damaged Comeng suburban trains.

Both have since been scrapped – carriage 1109T having been damaged in the 2002 Epping collision while carriage 553M was destroyed by fire in 2002.

And to finish – we see the Maryvale paper train waiting at North Dynon, before another trip east.

And another load of grain headed west from Geelong, with a rainbow overhead.

Footnote

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

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Roadtrip!

I started my journey in the south-west down at Camperdown, where I caught up with this short train made up of just two empty flat wagons.

The train was on the way back to Melbourne, having been abandoned in Warrnambool after the end of El Zorro’s ill fated attempt at running the Warrnambool freight service.

I then headed east, pausing at the dive that was Westall station. With only two platforms, the only access was via a pedestrian crossing at the down end, and the timber station buildings were missing thanks to an arson attack.

Today the station is a grand monolith, completed in 2011 at a cost of $151 million – with a third platform for terminating trains, and an overhead footbridge providing access over the tracks.

I also paused at a red brick traction substation and overhead wires on the main Gippsland line at Bunyip.

Constructed in the 1950s as part of the electrification of the main Gippsland railway line, as part of the first main line electrification project in Australia. Electrification was cut back to Warragul in 1987, to Bunyip in 1998, before ceasing entirely beyond Pakenham in 2001.

The wires and substation were removed in 2004, except for the substation and a short section of overhead at Bunyip, which are covered by a heritage listing.

I then headed for the South Gippsland Railway, where heritage trains once operated along the former Leongatha railway.

I rode the train to the end of the line at Nyora.

Then back to the other end at Leongatha.

The railway disbanded in 2016, due to a lack of volunteer labour.

I also headed into the Latrobe Valley on the search for freight trains.

My first find at the Australian Paper mill in Morwell, where containers were being loaded for the trip to the Port of Melbourne.

It still runs today, taking hundreds of trucks off the Monash Freeway each day.

I also headed further east to Bairnsdale, where I found a train being loaded with logs.

Then followed it back to Melbourne, where I caught it at Stratford, crossing the timber bridge over the Avon River.

The train transported cut logs to the Midway woodchip mill at Geelong, where they would be sent to the paper mills of Japan. The native forests of Gippsland are still being logged today, but the train no longer runs – the timber is transported by road instead.

As for the timber bridge over the Avon River, it is still there today, but the state government is funding a $95 million replacement, which will allow the 10 km/h speed limit to be raised.

A ‘powerful’ diversion

While in the Latrobe Valley I also toured Victoria’s aging fleet of brown coal fired power stations.

I started at the PowerWorks visitors centre in Morwell, where a retired coal dredger is preserved.

As well as a narrow gauge electric locomotive once used in the Yallourn open cut mine.

Then I went past Energy Brix briquette plant next door.

Which closed in 2014.

Then across to the Hazelwood power station.

Back then the ‘West Field’ expansion of the open cut brown coal mine was underway, with a number of roads being closed to make room for the future hole.

But that effort didn’t really pay off – the aging dinosaur of a power station closed in 2017.

Still hanging on is the Yallourn W power station, completed in 1973-1982.

And the Loy Yang power station and and open cut mine.

In addition to the slightly cleaner gas turbine plant at Jeeralang.

And an interesting piece of technology – the Loy Yang Static Inverter Plant, the Victorian end of the Basslink high voltage DC undersea transmission line that connects Tasmania to the national electricity grid.

Headed north

I then headed back on the trail of trains, heading over to Seymour where work had started on the gauge conversion of the railway north to Albury.

I also followed a special train operated by the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre to Tocumwal.

With Santa saving from the rear platform.

Captured a V/Line train passing the since removed mechanical signals at Kilmore East.

Passed the crummy facilities that passed for a station at Donnybrook.

And saw gravel being loaded into a train, ready to be transported by rail to concrete plants across Melbourne, instead of a fleet of trucks.

I then headed west, to photograph a V/Line train at Ballan station.

It won’t look like the above very longer – a second platform and overhead footbridge is now under construction.

I also stopped in at Deer Park.

Work on the Deer Park Bypass was underway, making it quicker for people in Melbourne’s west to drive towards the city, as well as for trucks transporting interstate freight.

But no investment was coming for Deer Park station. Once part of the main route between Melbourne and Adelaide, bidirectional signalling was provided so that faster moving passenger trains could overtake the far heavier and slower freight trains.

But only a gravel platform was provided for passengers, visited by a V/Line train every two hours, if that.

It took until 2015 for the poor level of service to be fixed, following the completion of Regional Rail Link.

But unfortunately the cost cutting to the project saw the bidirectional signalling removed, resulting in major delays to V/Line services every time a train breaks down in the section.

Two steps forward, another back?

Another place on the fringe of Melbourne’s urban sprawl is Diggers Rest, which back then was only served by V/Line services.

As was Sunbury, which saw a number of V/Line shortworkings terminate there in order to pump up the frequency to something worth using.

The $270 million electrification of the Sunbury line was completed in 2012, seeing suburban trains extended to the town, but but many of the locals weren’t happy – they preferred waiting around on a cold platform then ride a comfortable V/Line train.

And back to Geelong

Finally, we end close to home at Geelong.

I visited the remains of the Fyansford cement works.

The silos were still in place.

As were the railway sidings once used to despatch the finished product.

But the cement kilns at the base of the hill were long gone.

Today the silos are still there, but the tracks were removed in 2011, and the rest of the site redeveloped as houses.

I found a VLocity train bound for Marshall station, heading through an unprotected level crossing.

Rather than upgrade the crossing, in 2008 it was closed to vehicle traffic.

At North Shore I captured The Overland westbound for Adelaide.

The newly refurbished train had entered service in mid-2008 in an attempt to reinvigorate the dying service, but it doesn’t do much good – it was almost cancelled in 2015 following an impasse over funding, with it now set to end in 2018 after SA government declined to extended the arrangement further.

The rollout of ‘Parkiteer’ bike cages at railway stations had started, with South Geelong receiving one.

Platform extension works were also underway.

In September 2008 then Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky, announced that longer trains would be deployed to the Geelong line, requiring platform extension works.

These trains continued to run until June 2015, when Geelong trains commenced using the new Regional Rail Link tracks and the trains were cut back to just six cars in length.

And finally after years of trying, I was finally in the right place at the right time and captured the daily V/Line overtaking move outside Geelong.

Until 2015 on the Geelong line, two V/Line services would depart Geelong each morning a few minutes apart. The first train would stop all stations, while the second train would run express to Melbourne, overtaking the slower train.

Finding this overtaking point was more art than science – even a 30 second delay to either train could move it a kilometre or so down the line, so all I could do was pick a spot lineside, and hope that I wouldn’t have to come back another day to try again.

Footnote

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

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Checking the progress of the Geelong Ring Road seems to be an ongoing theme, and it comes up again this month.

I also paid a visit to what is now the site of Waurn Ponds station, where I photographed a freight train headed back from the Blue Circle cement works.

This traffic was lost to rail in December 2015, and the area in the background has dramatically changed, with overpasses for Anglesea Road and Baanip Boulevard having been built over the tracks.

Another project underway in 2008 was the new concourse at the city end of North Melbourne station, which was starting to look like a ‘real’ station.

The escalators were in place.

But the roof was still to come.

One could argue that given how useless the shelters are, they needn’t have bothered.

A different project that was finished was Southern Cross Station, where I photographed the future platforms 15 and 16.

Stranded minus track, the platform also lacked any access points from the overhead concourse.

Originally intended for use by an airport rail link, a year later the platform became the site of the sod turning for the Regional Rail Link project, which commissioned the platforms, which opened to trains in December 2013.

September 2008 saw the decision made to run 7-car long trains to Geelong, which required platform extensions to be built at stations along the way, including North Melbourne.

But the work wasn’t able to be completed in time for the first 7-car train, so an extra conductor had to ride each service to ensure that passengers didn’t step out into the ether.

These longer trains continued to run until June 2015, when Geelong trains commenced using the new Regional Rail Link tracks and the last remaining 2-car VLocity trains were converted into 3-car units.

Up in Melbourne the new ‘Bumblebee’ trams from France had entered service.

They are still ‘buzzing’ around Melbourne today, but in the standard white and green PTV livery.

While up at Albury the final broad gauge train ran, clearing the way for the conversion of the line to standard gauge.

I rode in style onboard the train made up of carriages built in 1937 for the Spirit of Progress.

And we had plenty of train spotters along the way taking photos.

V/Line services to Albury eventually returned in June 2011 but never in a dependable way, with a combination of poor track and failing rolling stock turning it a political football.

Footnote

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

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As usual we start down at Geelong, were I paid a visit to the future Geelong Ring Road interchange at Waurn Ponds.

This interchange opened in June 2009 as the terminus of stage 3, with the freeway extended south towards Colac in 2011.

I also headed south-west from Geelong to Warrnambool, on the trail of the final El Zorro operated container service.

The line from Geelong to Warrnambool is single track, with the only place available for opposing trains to pass being Camperdown.

Freight trains still run on the line today, but the loop at Warncoort provides another place for trains to pass.

While at Warrnambool I followed the remains of the Port Fairy railway.

The Port Fairy line closed in 1977, but the section to Dennington remained open until 2002, to permit the delivery of briquettes to the neighbouring Nestle factory.

I also drove west of Geelong, chasing a ballast train at work on the main Melbourne-Adelaide railway.

Another long drive took me north to Wycheproof, where the railway runs down the middle of the main street.

Steamrail Victoria had ran a special train up to Wycheproof for the weekend.

A group of mates came along for the chase.

And every time we got ahead of the train, we’d pull over to take a photo of it.

At North Geelong I was lucky enough to catch track inspection vehicle EM100 head past on another tour of the network.

The aging vehicle is still in service today, but increasingly out of service due to mechanical faults.

Back in 2008 two carriage trains on the Geelong line were a common sight.

But platform extension works were underway – this is Marshall station.

And the city end of North Melbourne platform 5 and 6.

The work was to allow the operation of 7-car VLocity trains in peak times, which commenced in November 2008 and continued operating until June 2015, when the expansion of 2-car VLocity sets to 3-cars made such an arrangement impossible.

Upgrades to North Melbourne station were also continuing.

With the escalators between platform and concourse now in place.

But the concourse made no difference to trains stuck on increasingly congested tracks.

It took until 2015 for V/Line trains to be separated from suburban trains at North Melbourne, with the opening of the first stage of Regional Rail Link.

But passengers on the Hurstbridge line were seeing one of their bottlenecks removed.

With work on a $52 million project to duplicate 750m of single track between Clifton Hill and Westgarth station underway, featuring a new bridge over the Merri Creek.

The second track opened in 2009, paving the way for the Heidelberg-Rosanna duplication completed in 2018.

Another bottleneck since removed is the level crossing at Clayton, visible behind this citybound Connex train.

But some things never change – like vandals riding the coupler of trains, tagging the rear windscreen.

And the abandoned Webb Dock railway.

Running beneath the West Gate Bridge, it once linked the port to the rest of Victoria.

But now lays idle.

The last train used the line in 1992, with the city end dismantled in the 1990s to make way for the Melbourne Docklands development. There have been various proposals to reopen the line to transport freight to Webb Dock, reducing the number of trucks on the road, but they have come to nought.

Footnote

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

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It seems that every month sees me start in Geelong, where this time around I photographed a boring blue bus at Geelong station.

The ‘GTS’ stood for Geelong Transit System and was the operating brand for public transport in Geelong between 1983 until 2000, when it was replaced by a mishmash of bus operator branding. Today no sign of it remains, Myki being the ticketing system, and the Public Transport Victoria livery has been applied to buses.

I also took at look at progress on the Geelong Ring Road through the Barrabool Hills.

Barrabool Road had been slewed to one side, allowing construction of the bridge over the future freeway to be carried out without interference with traffic.

Excavation work on the long cutting towards Waurn Ponds was well underway.

As was the massive climb uphill from the Barwon River.

Another ongoing theme is the decline of rail freight – I found a rake of redundant superphosphate hopper wagons in storage at North Geelong Yard.

As well as a rake of much older cement hoppers.

Both were destined for the scrap yard – the superphosphate traffic was completely lost to rail in the early 2000s, but cement traffic was still barley holding on but in smaller volumes, hence the retirement of older wagons.

But there was one new traffic that rail won – the transport of containerised mineral sands from the Iluka Resources processing plant outside Hamilton to the Port of Melbourne for export.

The service was run by small operator El Zorro, with the transport of the mineral sands between mine and processing plant also moving to rail in 2011.

And another success was the transport of Geelong football fans to Melbourne, where they would see the Cats get thrashed by Hawthorn in the 2008 AFL Grand Final.

A number of special 8 car trains ran between Geelong and Richmond during the finals seasons, with one of the trains on grand final day wearing a special ‘Geelong Cats’ headboard on the lead locomotive.

Up in Melbourne I took a walk through Flinders Street Station, where Connex had opened a new customer information booth on the main concourse.

The booth still exists today, just rebranded for Metro Trains Melbourne.

I also photographed the ‘split flap’ Solari boards hidden on the main concourse, which once listed train departures for each line.

Installed in the 1990s, the screens were decommissioned in 2007 but remained in place for a few years, hidden by advertising.

Over at Southern Cross Station I followed a speedy piece of construction – a new loading ramp at the north end of platform 1.

Built to enable the provision of motorail services on The Overland between Melbourne and Adelaide, two weeks later it was virtually complete.

The first cars were loaded onto The Overland in February 2009, but today the ramp stands unused – the motorail service was withdrawn in November 2015.

Finally, we end this month with a trip to Ballarat.

In the small township of Millbrook I came across a level crossing on Old Melbourne Road, protected by bells and lights but no boom barriers.

VicTrack funded a upgrade of this level crossing during the 2012/13 financial year, but the railway line is due to be closed in a year or two time, made redundant by the Ballarat Line Upgrade.

On the shores of Lake Wendouree is the Ballarat Tramway Museum, where I photographed tram 33 departing the St Aidans Drive terminus.

While a short distance away I paid a visit to the future Wendouree station site.

The railway past the station was still being used by trains to Ararat, so the tracks were slewed away from the platform, allowing construction to be completed without delaying V/Line services.

I also had a look at the Alstom workshops at North Ballarat, where the sidings were full of abandoned trains.

I found Comeng carriages 1109T and 533M showing plenty of accident damage; as well as classmate 671M stored in a stripped condition, minus windows, doors, cab front and who knows what else.

Comeng carriage 671M was eventually made part of a new MFB training facility at Craigieburn in 2014, while 1109T and 533M were scrapped in 2010.

I also found Hitachi carriages 204M and 203M.

Both scrapped in 2010.

But there was also signs of new life – Hitachi carriage 225M was under refurbishment.

It reentered service soon after, remaining in service until 2014.

Along with a number of Great Southern Rail carriages being upgraded for use on the Indian Pacific and The Ghan services.

They also saw use on the ultra expensive Southern Spirit service that operated between 2010 and 2012.

But we end some something I just stumbled upon – the abandoned Joe White Maltings factory at Wendouree.

The factory itself had already been demolished, with the silos meeting the same fate in 2010. Houses now occupy the site.

Footnote

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

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Chasing trains

I drove out to Moorabool, west of Geelong to photograph a freight train. As soon as I stepped out of the car and locked the door I realised I’d left my keys inside – but thankfully I still had my camera, so I didn’t miss the shot.

A blast from the past was this train operated by 707 Operations bound for Geelong.

Steam locomotive R707 and diesel T413 hauled the train to Marshall and back, with a spin on the turntable at Geelong putting the steam engine facing the right way before the return leg to Melbourne.

Another unusual train headed through Geelong was a Hitachi suburban set usually used in Melbourne, being hauled by Seymour Rail Heritage Centre’s freshly restored diesel locomotive T378 for refurbishment work at the Ballarat Workshops.

This Hitachi train was back in service by August 2009 but was put into storage a few years later, eventually being retired in 2015, and transferred to Bendigo for scrapping in May 2018.

Back in 2008 small rail freight operator El Zorro was running the container train to Warrnambool. If they left the Port of Melbourne too late they would lose their ‘slot’ on the single track beyond Geelong, and would get dumped in the siding at Lara station until a path was available.

I was commuting from Geelong to Melbourne multiple days a week, so I’d keep my eye out at Lara for it – jumping off the train for a photo, then catching the next service on to Melbourne.

At Flinders Street Station one morning I stumbled upon this odd looking train.

It is track evaluation vehicle ‘EM100’ and traverses the network on a regular basis, with an array of sensors looking for track faults. It is still in service today, just renumbered ‘IEV100’ and with a snazzy looking Metro Trains Melbourne livery on it.

But somewhere way off my usual beat was the Montague Street bridge in South Melbourne.

Unlike today the bridge was quite anonymous, the feature catching my eye being that only two of the four bridges had tracks across them. Originally built to serve the Montague shipping shed, by late 2009 the tram tracks at Southbank Depot had been extended west over the bridge to stable the newly arrived ‘Bumblebee’ trams.

Railway upgrades

Work was continuing on the new concourse at North Melbourne station, as seen in previous posts in this series.

While another structure being built over active railway lines was the ‘Media House’ development for The Age, located on the southern side of Collins Street, opposite Southern Cross Station.

A massive crane was required to place the steel beams and concrete deck over the railway line.

Which permitted more conventional methods of construction to be used for the office building on top.

A short distance away the Dynon Port Rail Link was also well underway, removing a bottleneck that blocked road traffic every time a train entered the Port of Melbourne.

The network of flyovers replaced a single track level crossing on Footscray Road, allowing more trains to access the port.

As well as eliminating a seven track wide crossing inside the port itself.

Another project aimed at improving rail freight was the Corio Independent Goods Line at the Port of Geelong.

Work started in 2008 with the first train running in October the same year, but in the decade since is better described as a white elephant, with no new rail traffic being attracted to the port.

And the other bits

Down in Geelong work on the Geelong Ring Road was progressing, with the Lewis Bandt Bridge over the Moorabool River pretty much complete.

While a short distance south work on the bridge over the Barwon River had started.

Another road project underway was the Monash-CityLink-West Gate Upgrade. No – not the current ‘upgrade’ adding a new lane to the M1 freeway, but the project a decade ago that added a new to the M1 freeway.

For Engineering Week I ended up atop the freeway viaduct through South Melbourne.

Seeing how the new bridge spans were being tied into the existing viaduct.

Allowing an extra road lane to be squeezed in.

Over in Docklands things looked quite different, with Southern Cross Station still clearly visible from the top level of what was then called Telstra Dome.

But plenty of construction was taking place, with heritage listed No. 2 Goods Shed being converted into offices.

Chopped in half in the early 2000s to make way for the extension of Collins Street into the new Docklands development, work was underway to plug up the gaps at either end, then restore the remaining structure.

But the best view of all was from up inside the roof of what was then called Telstra Dome.

My tour went for a walk through the roof trusses.

Looking down on the grow lights on the playing surface.

And the rows of seats down below.

Footnote

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

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