Waking up in Geelong

Then, now and in between – this time it is Moonee Ponds station on the Craigieburn line in the inner north-west of Melbourne.

Moonee Ponds station opened in 1860 as part of railway line to Essendon built by the private Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company, but closed due to financial issues in 1864, reopening in 1871 under government ownership. The brick station building on platform 1 was completed in 1882.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P0001 H 4957

The next change came in 1919, when electric trains took over from steam, following the commissioning of the 1500 V DC overhead wiring.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P0003, ADV 0717

And in the years since?

Very little has changed:

• A timber shelter on the outbound platform has been replaced by utilitarian brick structure.
• Wall of billboards have given way to a multitude of smaller signs along the station fence.
• Plastic wheelie bins instead of metal rubbish bins.
• Platform edge was once bare, it now has a yellow line, and tactile guide markings are in the process of being added.
• People on the platform are nowhere near as well dressed.

And a bonus photo

Here we see a restored example of Melbourne’s 1st generation electric trains passing through Moonee Ponds in 2022.

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