The first standard gauge retirements

The trigger for the first tranche of locomotive hauled carriage retirements was the introduction of the new standard gauge VLocity trains to the Albury line.

This left the four standard gauge ‘N’ type carriage sets previously used on the run surplus to V/Line’s needs – a total of 16 sitting carriages, and four power vans. The four accessible carriages were converted to broad gauge, providing accessible toilets and sitting areas to other V/Line trains.

And the rest of the carriages were stripped of the PTV livery decals and sent to the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre yard for storage.

Where they had to be uncoupled one by one, and shunted into their yard via the turntable.

And nine carriages earmarked for other railway preservation groups then transferred to the Ettamogah Rail Hub outside Albury, where they quickly became covered in graffiti.

The first usage of these retired V/Line carriages by a preservation group occurred in April 2023, when the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre ran a tour from Seymour to Laverton to pick up diesel locomotive S307, and return it to their depot.

In June 2023 the Australian Locomotive and Railway Carriage Company sent ‘Murraylander’ liveried diesel locomotive 701 from their base at Tailem Bend to pick up four carriages owned by Steamrail Victoria from Ettamogah, pending future use in South Australia.

And 707 Operations made the trip to Ettamogah in August 2023 to pick up their power van and five sitting carriages.

Making their debut in January 2024, on a tour from Southern Cross to Inverleigh and return.

And the retirements continue

With VLocity trains introduced to the the Bairnsdale and Shepparton line services in August 2018 and October 2022 respectively, the destinations for V/Line fleet of broad gauge carriages was also shrinking.

And so in December 2022 V/Line sent a five car broad gauge ‘N’ type carriage set from Newport Workshops to the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre for storage.

In May 2023 two carriages were transferred to the Victorian Goldfields Railway at Castlemaine.

In July 2023 three carriages were delivered by road to the Daylesford Spa Country Railway.

Video by ‘Driver667’

And the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre received a carriage by rail.

In September 2023 the Mornington Tourist Railway had three carriages delivered by road.

Mornington Tourist Railway photo

And Steamrail Victoria picked up their allocated power van.

The end result – carriages from the 1980s being used by railway preservation groups on weekends to carry tourists, while V/Line still uses a handful of older carriages from the 1950s on their mainline services.

Footnote: the number crunching

The current allocation of V/Line ‘N’ type carriages to railway preservation groups is as follows:

• 707 Operations (standard gauge):
  PCJ493, ACN48, BRN43, BN22, BN5, ACN45
• 707 Operations (broad gauge):
  PCJ492, BCZ257, BTN259
• Daylesford Spa Country Railway (broad gauge):
  ACN54, BRN52, BN1
• Mornington Tourist Railway (broad gauge):
  ACN33, BRN31, BN25
• Seymour Railway Heritage Centre (standard gauge):
  PZ260, ACN3, BRN53, BN19 and BRN46
• Seymour Railway Heritage Centre (broad gauge):
  BTN264
• Steamrail Victoria, leased to The Picnic Train, hired to Australian Locomotive and Railway Carriage Company (standard gauge):
  ACN24, BRN34, BN7, BN10
• Steamrail Victoria (broad gauge):
  PCJ491, BTN254
• Victorian Goldfields Railway (broad gauge):
  BTN263 and BTN268
• Yarra Valley Railway (broad gauge):
  ACN12, BRN44, BN11

Unfortunately the set allocated to the Yarra Valley Railway is a bit of an enigma – nobody has posted photos of it online yet!

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Down on Spencer Street

For Melbourne Open House 2010 CitiPower opened ‘JA’ zone substation – a key part of the power supply to the Melbourne CBD.

For historical reasons the substation was divided into two – the State Electricity Commission of Victoria who generated electricity controlled the 66kV input.

While the Melbourne City Council Electrical Supply Department (MCCESD) controlled the 11kV output to consumers.

The operations of the substation were merged following the breakup of the SECV – generation, transmission, distribution and retail being the current segments of the electricity industry.

Outside the substation was a big hole – the site of the former Spencer Street Power Station.

Ready for the ‘Upper West Side’ development, which had already erected an elevated display suite.

The heritage listed cast iron water tank being the only remnant of the old power station.

The $550 million development was completed in 2016, containing 2,207 apartments across four towers.

Trains around Melbourne

Metro Trains Melbourne was busy promising more staff on the network, with ‘despatch paddles’ rolled out at City Loop stations during morning and afternoon peak to indicate that the doors were clear.

But the experiment was short lived – abandoned by 2012.

On 27 July a faulty overhead wire cut power between Southern Cross and Flinders Street stations, severely limiting the amount of trains that could move through that section, and causing crowds across the network.

As ‘compensation’ passengers were given a free travel day on Friday 30 July.

Since then, only the 2016 V/Line VLocity train issues have result in free travel as compensation to passengers.

A happier note was early works for Regional Rail Link, with construction of Southern Cross Station platforms 15 and 16 moving along slowly.

2020 marks five years since V/Line trains from Geelong started using the completed corridor.

And out at the Yarra Valley Railway was an even happier day, with local MP Ben Hardman and Minister for Tourism and Major Events Tim Holding attending the launch of regular heritage train services on the line.

Since then the railway has gone from strength to strength, with government grants allowing the line to be progressively restored from Healesville to Yarra Glen.

V/Line services extended to Maryborough

July 2010 also saw the ribbon being cut on the extension of V/Line rail services from Ballarat to Maryborough. The project was announced in December 2008 as part of the Victorian Transport Plan, at a cost of $50 million.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula, Premier John Brumby, and Member for Ballarat East Geoff Howard rode the first train.

Creswick was the only station to be reopened in this first stage, with a new platform constructed opposite the heritage listed buildings.

Clunes following in December 2011.

And Talbot in December 2013.

As part of the project flashing lights and boom barriers were installed at level crossings.

And level crossings on minor roads were closed.

The increasing size of trucks presenting difficulties at other level crossings.

But one unwanted ‘upgrade’ was the removal of passing loops at Sulky, Tourello and Talbot – leaving a 60 kilometre long section of single track between Ballarat and Maryborough, and crippling the ability to run freight services along the corridor.

The recent Murray Basin Rail Project attempted to rectify this at a cost of $440 million, but has left the corridor in even worse condition.

Rail freight

On the standard gauge mainline between Melbourne and Adelaide, a new passing loop was being built outside Lara.

Giving a slight reduction in travel times and increase in efficiency for freight trains on the corridor.

However plenty of freight trains were still being hauled by 60 year old antique locomotives.

Such as those moving grain from the wheat belt.

To the Port of Geelong

The intent of the Murray Basin Rail Project was to convert Victoria’s orphan broad gauge network to standard gauge, allowing the use of locomotives from anywhere in Australia, but with the project stalled, today broad gauge freight services still rely on similarly aged rolling stock.

Finally, I headed out to Waurn Ponds, where loaded cement hoppers were sitting in the sidings ready for despatch.

Alongside B-double cement trucks.

In the end the trucks almost won, with the final cement train ran from Waurn Ponds in December 2015 – but in a surprising move, Qube Logistics returned cement traffic to Victorian tracks in September 2019.

And road freight

‘High Productivity Freight Vehicles’ became widespread at the Port of Melbourne in 2010.

These ‘super’ B-double trucks took the place of port rail shuttles, a project forever proposed but yet to be implemented.

These new bigger trucks serve container parks in the western suburbs of Melbourne, with projects such as the $48.5 million Kororoit Creek Road duplication project in Altona North making road transport more convenient.

Work on the project was completed in December 2011, including the removal of a level crossing on the Werribee line.

Another gift to road freight was the $200 million Anthony’s Cutting upgrade on the Western Freeway between Melton and Bacchus Marsh.

Requiring a massive cutting west of Bacchus Marsh, and new bridges across Djerriwarrh Creek.

The upgraded freeway opened in June 2011, making it even easier for trucks to replace trains on the Melbourne-Adelaide corridor.

One step forwards, two steps back?

Footnote

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

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