A trip to Sydney

I decided to make the trip up to Sydney this month, catching the XPT north from Melbourne.

And being greeted by a light rail vehicle tram as soon as I arrived at Central Station.

I saw a double decker train the next day.

And presumably took some other photos up there, but they weren’t of trains – as I still haven’t uploaded them to my Flickr account.

Then then flew back home to Melbourne – to be greeted by a Myki visitors pack advertisement inside the Qantas terminal.

Along with a SkyBus one.

A decade on and the Myki machines at Melbourne Airport are just as hard to find, and SkyBus is still the only public transport route that runs from the airport to the CBD.

Melbourne Central

I also went on a tour of the Melbourne Central Tower this month, where we got to look out over the roof of Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, towards Myer House and Emporium.

But unfortunately we only got to look down on the glass cone, not look inside like some previous tours did.

Technology

It seems like an everyday scene now, but a decade ago seeing an entire tram full of passengers absorbed in their smartphones was still novel.

But Telstra was still behind the times – rollout out their ‘Telstra Air’ wifi hotspots to payphones, despite almost everyone having stacks of mobile data to use on their phone.

The Wi-Fi network is still in place today, but free since 2023.

Trams

‘Safety’ zone trams stops were still common place in the Melbourne CBD a decade ago – this one was on Collins Street at William Street.

This particular tram stop was replaced by a platform stop in June 2015, with the last safety zones in the CBD upgraded in July 2024. As for the rest of the tram network – the December 2022 deadline to make all tram stops accessible has been and gone, with hundreds still non compliant.

Meanwhile Yarra Trams was coming up with crackpot schemes like a coffee stall taking up precious space for passengers at the Flinders and Swanston Street stop.

Luckily that idea got kicked out very quickly.

A handful of 1970s-era Z1 class trams were also still kicking around the network, with their crappy little sliding windows and only two doors per side – despite having supposed to have been retired a decade earlier in favour of the incoming low floor C and D class trams, but kept on due to increasing patronage.

This particular tram – Z3.86 – was eventually retired in August 2015, following the delivery of the new E class trams.

A different flavour of stupidity are people who drive down Swanston Street – this driver managed to break down in the middle of the tram stop, and drum up help from passersby to get clear of the tracks.

While this confused country bumpkin headed up Swanston Street in their LandCruiser got pulled up by an unmarked police car, and got sent on their way.

And a decade on – nothing much has really changed.

V/Line trains

Here we see an original liveried VLocity train departing Richmond station for the city.

These days the entire VLocity fleet is in the PTV purple livery, the open air ramps at Richmond station are now roofed over, and Eureka Tower has been usurped by Australia 108 as the tallest building in Australia.

Down in Geelong I photographed a 6-car V/Line train approaching the brand new terminus station of Waurn Ponds.

Opened in October 2014, Waurn Ponds gained a second platform in 2022, and the 8 kilometers of track between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds has just been duplicated.

And a V/Line train in are more shocking condition was VLocity set VL12.

Involved in a collision on the Werribee line in August 2014 where a V/Line train passed a signal at stop and crashed into the rear of a Metro train, it had to be dragged to the workshops at Bendigo to be repaired.

The collision resulted in Metro trains rewriting the rules around passing a signal at stop, while VLocity VL12 reentered service in March 2015 as the only 2-car VLocity set to ever wear the PTV livery.

A load of rubbish

After the removal of rubbish bins from Melbourne stations due to the “increased terror alert level”, they all got dumped in a pile at Flinders Street Station.

And the average passenger responded as you might expect – like a filthy pig just leaving their rubbish on the ground.

The bins were eventually returned in March 2015, with the exception of the private management at Southern Cross Station, who still refuse to place any rubbish bins on their platforms.

A different kind of rubbish

It was the leadup to the 2014 State Election, and the Napthine Government was ramped up their ‘Moving Victoria’ campaign, promoting their unfundedthe Melbourne Rail Link project.

Conceived as an alternative to the Metro Tunnel, the Melbourne Rail Link tunnel would have run between South Yarra and Southern Cross, serving new stations at Domain and Fishermans Bend – instead of Arden and Parkville, who would be stuck using buses and trams.

But as you might have guessed, the Melbourne Rail Link project went nowhere, construction of the Metro Tunnel started a few years later and is almost finished, work on the Melbourne Airport Rail project has been stop-start, and a rail link to Fishermans Bend is as far away as ever.

And another piece of pork barrelling I photographed was this Denis Napthine’s $115 million dollar train on the Frankston line – or what the government called the ‘Bayside Rail Project’.

Announced in May 2013, the Bayside Rail Project was promoted as bringing the newest trains in Melbourne – the X’Trapolis – to the Frankston line.

However these trains accelerate faster than anything else in the Melbourne fleet, putting them at risk of beating the boom barriers at level crossings, but because of the upcoming election, it was decided in October 2014, to just run a single X’Trapolis train on the line each morning, but with a speed restrictor on the throttle and two drivers in the cab.

Following changes to level crossing timings on the line in August 2016, the restriction on X’Trapolis trains was removed, allowing any X’Trapolis set to run revenue services to Frankston, and more amazingly a decade later, the bulk of the level crossings on the Frankston line don’t even exist anymore.

And a third kind of rubbish

For decades this ancient advertisement for Medibank Private faced passengers at Melbourne Central platform 1.

But 2014 saw this billboard finally removed from the platform wall, replaced by the ‘Xtrack TV’ digital screens with their insipid loop of advertisements – with audio soundtrack.

And Medibank Private – it’s still just as useless as the rest of the Australian private health insurance system.

Footnote

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

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Photos from ten years ago: November 2014 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

McDonald’s

The McDonald’s in the Melbourne Central basement food court station has a serving window facing onto the concourse at Melbourne Central station.

While the Box Hill Central outlet takes it a step further – a serving window facing into the paid area at Box Hill station.

McDonald’s logo on the station signage.

And the McDonald’s dining room has next train displays on the wall inside.

Red Rooster

It’s not just McDonald’s located in stations – Red Rooster at Southern Cross Station has a “Walk Thru”.

A glass wall separating their counter into paid and unpaid sections.

And a failure

At Melbourne Central Station there is also a KFC service window facing into the Elizabeth Street concourse.

But thanks to it being a dead end for passengers, it has since been abandoned.

(Also blocking the view of the Geoff Hogg mural.)

Footnote: an interstate example

Brisbane Central station also has a fast food outlet inside it’s paid area – a McDonald’s.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Melbourne’s transit orientated fast food restaurants appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Graeme Butler photo

The first sighting is the circular staircase connecting Queen Elizabeth Plaza to Museum Station, looking south towards Coops Shot Tower and Myer House.

The next shot switches to the other side of the staircase, now looking back towards La Trobe Street. Visible in the background are a number of circular ventilation stacks, now part of the Melbourne Central complex.

The third shot is looking east on the bluestone laneway of Knox Place, looking towards Swanston Street. This pathway still exists today in the shopping centre, as an open area arcade lined by take away foot outlets.

And finally, we looking back along Knox Place towards Elizabeth Street, at the lower floors of the Shot Tower. This area is now enclosed by the shopping centre.

Here is an annotated aerial view of Queen Elizabeth Plaza, showing the camera angles in the music video.

Graeme Butler photo, annotations by me

And here is the full music video for ‘Change in Mood’ by Kids in the Kitchen – from the 60 second mark Museum station features.

Footnote

On Flickr you can find more 1980s photos of Museum station by Graeme Butler, including one of the red spiral staircase as featured in the music video.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Another sighting of Museum station and the Shot Tower appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

The story behins

We start in the 1970s with the construction of the Museum station – now known as Melbourne Central – in a cut and cover box beneath La Trobe Street, between Swanston and Elizabeth Streets. To make room for the massive excavation, Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority acquired properties so that La Trobe Street was detoured to the south.

Public Record Office Victoria image (via ABC News)

The Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority also acquired additional land south of Museum station for a future commercial development, with this 1973 artists impression showing how it would be integrated with the underground station.

PROV image VPRS 12903/P0001, 698/27

However the plans for over site development stalled, and the decision was made to build three standalone entrances to Museum station – from Swanston, Elizabeth and La Trobe Streets. The architecture firm responsible was Perrott Lyon Timlock & Kesa, with the above ground entrances designed by project designer Graeme Butler.

The main entrance to the station was at the south-west corner of Swanston and La Trobe Street, with a civic plaza located over the escalators down to the station concourse.

Graeme Butler photo

Once the station box was completed and La Trobe Street moved back to the original alignment, construction of the station entrance started in earnest.

Graeme Butler photo

But by mid-1978 the intended opening date of December 1979 was looking unachievable – October 1980 set as the new date, following delays to the new ‘Metrol’ train control centre.

Weston Langford photo

Enter Queen Elizabeth II

On 1 March 1980 it was announced that Queen Elizabeth II would be coming to Australia to open the new High Court Building in Canberra on May 26, followed by visits to Sydney and Melbourne.

Photo by Con Tassios, via Wikimedia Commons

Another construction project also underway in Melbourne was City Square at the corner of Swanston and Collins Street, with Queen Elizabeth II cutting the ribbon to open it.

Graeme Butler photo

But Melbourne’s new underground railway – it wasn’t ready yet! So the civic plaza on top of the station entrance was tidied up.

Graeme Butler photo

Ready for the Royal Visit on 28 May 1980.

Screencap from MURLA film

The Royal Visit

Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh arrived at the station via La Trobe Street.

Screencap from MURLA film

Exiting their car on the north side of the street.

Screencap from MURLA film

Walking along La Trobe Street a short way.

Screencap from MURLA film

And down the ramp into the station.

Screencap from MURLA film

The ramp ran along a sloped garden, providing a lightwell into the station concourse.

Screencap from MURLA film

Once in the station, the party headed down another level to inspect a number of displays on the platform.

MURLA photo

And then back up the escalator to the concourse.

Screencap from MURLA film

After another escalator the party reached Swanston Street, where they walked up a flight of stairs to the upper level plaza.

Screencap from MURLA film

A crowd watching from the State Library forecourt across Swanston Street.

Screencap from MURLA film

Up ahead – a waiting plaque, covered in a velvet curtain adorned with the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority logo.

Screencap from MURLA film

Time to pull back the curtain.

Screencap from MURLA film

And there’s the plaque I found – “Queen Elizabeth Plaza named by Her Majesty The Queen, 28 May 1980”.

Screencap from MURLA film

Time for a quick photo with Her Majesty.

MURLA photo

And then it was time for the next engagement of the day.

So what happened to Queen Elizabeth Plaza?

Following the Royal Visit work continued: stage one of Museum station and the first two City Loop tunnels were officially opened on 14 November 1980.

The dome in the middle of Queen Elizabeth Plaza was completed.

Graeme Butler photo

Overshadowed by Coops Shot Tower.

Graeme Butler photo

An island among wasteland waiting to be redeveloped.

Graeme Butler photo

At what was then a quiet part of the Melbourne CBD.

Graeme Butler photo

But farewell

Redevelopment of the surrounding area was soon approved as part of the ‘Melbourne Central’ complex, and by 1989, Queen Elizabeth Plaza had disappeared beneath the new shopping complex.

Photo by Jkarjalainen, via Wikimedia Commons

The shopping centre opening atop the station entrance in 1991.

Sydney Hughes postcard

With the Queen Elizabeth name applied to ‘Queen Elizabeth Walk‘ on 11th September 1991.

But just over a decade later, it was now the turn of the Swanston Street station entrance to disappear.

Closed in 2003 as part of the redevelopment of the Melbourne Central, replaced by a maze of escalators running through the shopping centre.

Not exactly fit for a queen, is it?

And the ramp to La Trobe Street?

The ramp used by Queen Elizabeth II to enter Museum station survived far longer.

As did a spiral staircase to La Trobe Street.

Despite being enclosed by shops along La Trobe Street and a car park to the north, both remained in almost original condition until a few years ago.

Until the site was acquired for the Aurora Melbourne Central development. Demolition work commenced in 2015.

The connection to the station box hacked away at the north side of La Trobe Street.

Making way for the basement of the 84 storey residential tower.

The replacement station access to La Trobe Street? A dank graffiti covered staircase and lift.

Definitely not a place you would bring royalty to inspect!

Footnote: a few more Royal Visit titbits

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has a copy of the 1980 Royal Visit program – 30 minutes was allocated for the Queen to inspect Museum station.

3.10pm

• Alight at La Trobe Street entrance
• See selected features of the station
• Her Majesty unveils a plaque naming “Queen Elizabeth Plaza”

3.40pm

• Depart for Government House

In their 1980 annual report, the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority made special mention of the Royal Visit.

It is fitting that the Authority received recognition by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh during their recent visit to Melbourne by their making an inspection of the Underground at Museum Station, culminating in the conferring by Her Majesty of her name on the plaza above the eastern entrance to the Station. In due course the plaza will be integrated into the Museum Station area redevelopment.

The visit by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh provided a further impetus for public involvement with the Loop and its potential benefits. It also made possible a welcome opportunity to open Museum Station for inspection by special interest groups of individuals, and representatives of organisations who have made significant contributions to the project, and workmen (with their families), many of whom have been involved with the project since its inception.

Special reference is made to the Media which, in story and picture, provided a continuing coverage of Loop progress, particularly the television sector which, by virtue of its unique nature, enabled millions of viewers throughout the world to see activity taking place underground and in areas otherwise completely hidden from public view, including an extensive national and international coverage of the Royal Visit.

The full film of the visit is here:

‘phunnyfoto’ on Flickr was also there for the Royal Visit, photographing the event from atop 200 La Trobe Street.

Finally, on Flickr you can find more photos of Museum station by Graeme Butler.

Footnote: another Royal Visit to a delayed station

Queen Elizabeth II also visited a behind schedule railway station during her 1975 visit to Hong Kong – but still left behind a plaque to mark the occasion.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post The time Queen Elizabeth II visited Museum station appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Coop’s Shot Tower

The most famous one, located in the middle of the Melbourne Central shopping centre.

Completed in 1889, the square tower is 50 metres high, with 327 steps to the top.

The site produced six tonnes of shot weekly up until 1961, with the historic building saved from demolition in 1973 and was incorporated into Melbourne Central complex in 1991 underneath an 84 metre high conical glass roof.

Clifton Hill Shot Tower

Located beside Alexandra Parade, the Clifton Hill Shot Tower might be confused for a tall brick chimney.

This conical shot tower was completed in 1882 and is 80 metres tall, and was operated by the same Coops family who operated the shot tower in central Melbourne.

Ballantine Ammunition, Laverton North

And now for the wildcard entry to this list – this tower of steel beams in the back streets of Laverton North in Melbourne’s industrial west.

Operated by the small firm of Ballantine Ammunition, the 55 metres tall steel tower is of bolted steel girder construction, with a 4.5 tonne capacity lift used to lift lead ingots to the melting pot at the top. The resulting lead shot is loaded into 12 gauge shotgun cartridges, and sold to shooters who reload their own cartridges.

The tower was originally built by Eley Ammuntion at Deer Park, a division of ICI. Following a restructuring of their ammunition operations, the surplus equipment was put up for sale, and purchased by Eley engineer Mark Ballantine, who established Ballantine Ammunition in 1982 and relocated the tower to the current site in Laverton North.

Sources

• Coop’s Shot Tower (Wikipedia)
• Coop’s Shot Tower and flanking building (Victorian Heritage Register)
• Clifton Hill Shot Tower (Wikipedia)
• Richard Hodgson’s shot manufacturer’s tower (Victorian Heritage Register)
• A true Aussie champion – The Ballantine Ammunition Company (Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia)
• Business hopes to outlast virus (Star Weekly)

Further reading

• 10 Dark Towers That Once Made The World’s Bullets (Atlas Obscura)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator’s mysterious Melbourne 212-storey skyscraper: is it a tower, is it a pole, is it a typo? (The Guardian)

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Melbourne’s other shot towers appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

I found my first example at Melbourne Central station, where arrows on a directional sign at concourse level can be turned on or off, depending on which direction the escalators are running in.

The reason for the sign – Melbourne Central has a number of escalators that don’t have a matching set alongside, meaning that they only operate in the ‘peak’ direction.

I then found a similar sign on the concourse at Flagstaff station, directing passengers down the escalators to platform level.

Again, the reason for the sign is the escalators – the direction of operation is changed in peak times to move passengers in the dominant direction, with passengers headed the other way only having on route to follow.

Finally, I found this illuminated ‘Degraves/Flinders Street Exit via subway’ sign at Flinders Street Station.

It directs passengers towards the ticket gates at the Campbell Arcade subway.

This exit sees little use outside peak hour, so is often closed late at night, hence the indication can be switched off to avoid sending passengers on a while goose chase.

Another Flinders Street Station footnote

Until a few years ago the Southbank and Elizabeth Street exits from Flinders Street Station were closed between 10pm at night and 6am in the morning – station signage pointing out the operating hours.

I wonder why the Degraves Street exit warranted an illuminated sign, but Southbank and Elizabeth Street had to settle for fixed times?

And on the subject of ticket gates

Myki ticket gates also have illuminated directional signs on them – green for open, red for closed.

As did the previous Metcard ticket gates.

However these indications aren’t very useful in peak times, when crowds of passengers block them from view.

A more useful solution is an additional set of open/closed indications located above the gates, such as this setup in Sydney.

The indications are also deceptive when the Myki gate develops a fault, displaying the ‘go’ indication on the approach, but the ticker reader isn’t active.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Dynamic directional signs at Melbourne railway stations appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Flinders Street Station and Town Hall

The ‘Draft CBD South Precinct Development Plan‘ details the access to the new station:

The design has carefully considered the multiple passenger destinations by incorporating three separate entries into the CBD South Station. These are located at Federation Square, City Square and at the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston Street.

• At City Square, there are five interchangeable escalators that descend several levels before reaching the ticketed barriers and train platform. Each level leading up to the ticketed barrier will provide for unpaid plaza and concourse areas. Lifts are located adjacent the escalators providing additional access to the platforms.
• The entrance on the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane (i.e. proposed over-site development area) has four interchangeable escalators which also provide unpaid areas before descending to the paid ticketed barrier on the second level. Again, lifts will be providing access to platforms and easy access for the mobility impaired users. Provision for over-site development and retail spaces will be provided as part of the Day 1 look of the precinct.
• Federation Square entrance leads straight to the ticketed barriers, down escalators and along a gradually declining walkway which connects in with the other stations underneath Flinders Street.

As well as the link to Flinders Street Station:

An underground connection through the paid concourse will be provided between CBD South and Flinders Street Station, via the existing Degraves Street underpass. This will provide an effortless connection between various train lines, providing access to additional destinations throughout Melbourne City.

‘B1 – Landing Level Plan’ found in ‘Appendix B: Architectural Plans‘ shows the connection in greater detail.

Located at the same level as the existing Degraves Street subway, the new underground passageway will be carved out beneath Flinders Street itself, connecting into the new Town Hall station box, located at the site of the Port Phillip Arcade.

These modifications hit the news in December 2017, when it was revealed that the eastern sections of the heritage listed arcade would need to be demolished.

With the Heritage Impact Statement for Flinders Street Station dated 2021 showing the shops to be lost.

Also of note is the proposed modifications to the subway beneath the platforms at Flinders Street Station – the eastern set of stairs to each platform are intended to be replaced by lifts, in order to provide a DDA compliant access route between the two levels.

Melbourne Central and State Library

The ‘Draft CBD North Precinct Development Plan‘ details access to the new station:

CBD North Station will be located directly below Swanston Street providing direct transport interchange with the existing tram network and City Loop. Passengers can enter and exit the station via the main entry on La Trobe and Swanston Streets, at the corner of Franklin and Swanston Street or via Melbourne Central Station concourse.

Diagram ‘B2 – Melbourne Central Concourse & Service Level Plan’ found in ”Appendix B: Architectural Plans‘ shows how this connection will be made – by bashing a hole into the existing concourse.

Right about where this advertising screen is currently located, next door to McDonalds.

Diagram ‘North – South long section – A’beckett Street & Little Latrobe Street shafts’ shows where the escalators will run down to the platforms at State Library.

Pretty simple and uncontroversial, compared to the changes at Flinders Street Station!

What about the names

There was been a lot of debate about naming the new stations – not just the names themselves, but whether ‘CBD North’ and ‘CBD South’ stations should have their own identity, or piggy back off their neighbouring stations – Melbourne Central and Flinders Streets.

There are pros and cons on both sides:

• separate names means passengers won’t enter one station, only to discover that they have a long walk via the interchange passageway to reach the platform they need,
• but separate names might also lead to passengers needlessly changing trains at Caulfield and Footscray stations, just so they are on a train to the ‘right’ station in the CBD.

So how do other rail systems name their interchanges?

On the Hong Kong MTR interchange stations usually have the same name, with the exception of two station complexes that have double barrelled names – one being an interchange that requires exiting the paid area then re-entering, the other requiring a long walk via an underground passageway.

Meanwhile on metro systems of the the former Soviet Union, the opposite is the rule – the platforms for each line at an interchange station are usually given their own name.

Over in London they mix and match naming practices at interchange stations – Bank and Monument is has double barrelled name, while ‘Paddington’ is applied to two independent London Underground stations plus the mainline station.

Meanwhile the Paris Metro favours double named stations – a practice born when independently stations on separate lines became associated as interchange stations.

The New York Subway takes confusion to another level – passengers change between different lines at ‘station complexes‘ with double barrelled names, but have to pay attention to identically named stations that are located nowhere near each other!

But the Chicago ‘L’ really takes the cake – with five stations called ‘Western’!

So what to make of naming interchanges?

My take on the situation: if the platforms at an interchange are close enough together that choosing an entrance doesn’t matter – give it the station a single name. Almost every existing Melbourne station you can get to every platform from any entrance – suburban ‘side’ platform stations and the brand new river entrance to Flinders Street platform 10 being exceptions that come to mind.

If it looks like two stations tied together via an interchange passageway – give the two halves different names, and make sure your network maps point out that the two are linked.

At the expanded Melbourne Central and Flinders Street Station some entrances will allow you to access the ‘new’ and ‘old’ platforms directly, but at the rest of them you’ll need to head needlessly go up and down escalators and concourses to get to the ‘other’ half – hence a different name makes sense.

Sources

The Metro Tunnel draft development plans have the full detail – they’re currently up for public display on the Metro Tunnel website.

Daniel Bowen also weighs in on the station name debate in his post The metro tunnel stations will be called….

Footnote: an abandoned plan

The original plan to link CBD South with Flinders Street Station was via a bank of escalators on the Swanson Street concourse.

Figure 5-10 in the 2011 Melbourne Metro business case

Further detail of the interchange passageway was found in the 2012 Flinders Street Station Design Competition Design Brief document. From the side:

And from the top:

These plans were abandoned for the simpler link via the Degraves Street subway.

And an update for 2021

To create a paid area connection to Flinders Street Station, the 2017 ‘Draft CBD South Precinct Development Plan’ featured the total destruction of every shop along the eastern side of Campbell Arcade, and the capture of the remaining shops inside the paid area.

However this design was revised following consultation with Heritage Victoria and the City of Melbourne, avoiding the demolition of the remaining intact 1950s shopfronts.

The design also relocated the new lift shafts to the Degraves Street subway from the western stairs, to the eastern, and resigned the structure to reduced the impact on heritage building fabric.

I’ve since updated this post to reflect this updated design.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Connecting Melbourne Central and Flinders Street Station to Melbourne Metro appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Dozens of fluorescent lights opposite the platforms are dead.

Ceiling cladding panels are missing.

Concrete along the tunnel floor is cracked.

Water leaks in the tunnel result in black crud being washed down the walls.

Even the signs Public Transport Victoria added last year are already covered with tunnel grime.

It seems like the out of date billboards are the least of the problems Metro Trains has to deal with at Melbourne Central!

Footnote

Structural decay of the City Loop have been an issue for years – since 2011 it has popped in Melbourne’s newspapers on a number of occasions.

On the patronage front, Melbourne Central is the third most used railway station in Melbourne – here is the 2011-12 patronage data from Public Transport Victoria.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Missing maintenance at Melbourne Central Station appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

The first was was ‘Pipeworks Fun Market’, located in the northern suburb of Campbellfield.

The second was a Metcard branded ‘Concession travel is only for concession card holders’ poster, featuring a Hitachi train still in the green and gold The Met livery.

Both advertisers sure received value for money from their marketing budget, with the pair of billboards both outlasting their owners – Metcard was replaced by Myki in December 2012, and the Pipeworks Market closed for good in the same month.

The end finally came in early March 2014 during maintenance work in the City Loop, with the two billboards being removed.

Three empty wall panels mark where ‘Pipeworks Fun Market’ used to tout for customers.

And just a dirty smear indicates where the massive Metcard billboard used to hang.

By the time the Metcard advertisement was removed, the middle-aged man using an ill-gotten concession ticket was probably old enough to legitimately hold a Seniors Card!

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Melbourne Central ditches dated advertisements appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Stretching 61 metres long and 3.7 metres high, this mural spans two walls of the otherwise empty concourse, and depicts male and female workers from a range of occupations.

The mural is classified by the National Trust at the state level (reference number B6821) – the statement of significance is as follows:

Conceived in 1983 and completed in 1984, the mural was produced by a small team of artists from the Victorian Trades Hall Council Arts Workshop, headed by Dr Geoff Hogg (b. 1950) with assistance from Ilma Jasper (b. 1953) and sculptor Kay Douglas (b. 1952). It is painted over an expanse of wall measuring approximately 61.0 metres in length and 3.7 metres in height, or 225.7 square metres.

The mural depicts a complex tableau of male and female workers from a range of occupations – trades and professions, paid and domestic – including engineers, biomedical researchers, electricians, machinists, hotel cleaners and textile workers. Interwoven among these figures are circular cogs and wheels and diagonal girders used as unifying elements.

The mural was painted in situ directly onto the station concourse wall. The otherwise flat surface of the wall was broken up for aesthetic reasons through the introduction of areas of impasto surfaces and wooden relief sections made by Kay Douglas.

In the years since it was completed, the only change has been at the eastern end of the mural, where the construction of a KFC restaurant during the 2005 station redevelopment led to part of the mural disappearing inside their kitchen.

Further reading

• Designing the mural, by artist Geoff Hogg

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post The forgotten mural at Melbourne Central station appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.