Steamrail - Bendigo Line 150th 2012
Sunday 21 October 2012
On October 21, 2012 Steamrail relaunched steam locomotive R711 into service, hauling a seven car to Bendigo for the 150th anniversary of the line opening. T364 went along push-pull for the empty cars ride between Newport and Southern Cross, reversing at Sunshine due to an occupation on the line via Yarraville
Steamrail - Double R class to Bendigo, September 2012
Saturday 8 September 2012
R707 and R761 lead a 10 car train from Melbourne to Bendigo and return, connecting with a special train on the Victorian Goldfields Railway at Castlemaine. Along the way we were overtaken by a trio of PN locos headed towards Elphinstone to rescue a failed grain train.
Steamrail - Hurstbridge Wattle Festival 2012
Sunday 26 August 2012
On August 26th Steamrail took K153 and K190 along with five carriages up to Hurstbridge to run shuttle trips from there to Eltham for the annual Wattle Festival.
El Zorro broad gauge grain trains
Wednesday 23 May 2012
El Zorro once operated a number of grain trains through Victoria on broad gauge, using a mix of hired locomotives and wagons.
DERMPAV - Melbourne suburban tour, May 2012
Saturday 19 May 2012
On May 19, 2012 the Diesel Electric Rail Motor Preservation Association of Victoria took RM58 on a route of the suburbs, with a focus on the goods lines that ARTC would let passenger trains access.
The route taken was:
- Southern Cross platform 7
- Newport platform 2, change direction
- Altona sidings and to Brooklyn via the West line (broad gauge only track)
- Over the Tottenham flyover, past Tottenham Yard and through the Bunbury Street tunnel
- West fork towards North Dynon Junction, to just before Dynon Road, change direction
- East fork of triangle past MPC, stop just on the east side of Dock Link Road, beyond signal DYN134, change direction
- Take south fork, then Bunbury Street tunnel through to Sunshine platform 2, change direction
- Back to the city via the passenger lines.
- Southern Cross platform 8 north, change direction.
- Over the Essendon flyover to Flemington Racecourse platform 1, change direction
- Back via the Essendon flyover to Flinders Street platform 10, lunch break
- Down to Sandringham, change direction
- Flinders Street platform 10
707 Operations - Seymour May 2012
Saturday 19 May 2012
707 Operations took R707 to Seymour and return on 19 May 2012, with T413 providing some assistance.
Steamrail - Williamstown shuttles 2012
Sunday 29 April 2012
On April 29 Steamrail ran a shuttle train between Williamstown and Flinders Street Station for the 2012 Williamstown Festival. K153 and K190 were used push-pull with a five car train, running four return trips.
Ballarat broad gauge freight
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Until 2008 freight trains actually stopped at Ballarat - container wagons loaded and unloaded in the goods yard at Ballarat then attached onto the Pacific National service that ran between Mildura and Melbourne, and grain trains from Dunolly served the Bunge grain silos at Ballarat North.
Steamrail - Geelong - Ballarat Railway 150th 2012
Tuesday 10 April 2012
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Geelong Ballarat rail line opening, a special charter train ran from Geelong to Ballarat and return on 10th April 2012. Steamrail's T364 led the train, which included carriages 1BCE, 3ABE and 7ABE
Deniliquin line signalling and infrastructure
Sunday 4 March 2012
Signalling and infrastructure on the line to Deniliquin - despite being in NSW it's all broad gauge and Victorian Railways operated
Pacific National log trains
Friday 30 December 2011
Until 2009 Pacific National operated trains delivering logs to the Midway export woodchip plant at North Shore in Geelong, with logs sources from Bairnsdale and Wodonga. Y class locos are often used to shunt the wagons at Geelong
V/Line - West Footscray derailment, November 2011
Monday 12 December 2011
November 26, 2011 locomotive N470 and carriage set SN1 derailed at West Footscray when passing through a crossover. The loco ended up split between two tracks, but everything stayed upright.
Road Transferable Locomotive
Sunday 25 September 2011
Back in the 1990s V/Line acquired a single Road Transferable Locomotive, capable of hauling a number of rail wagons, then heading off by road to the next job. Freight Australia repainted it and used it for a number of years, putting it into storage at South Dynon around 2004, and then pulling bits off it by 2009. The rego plate is MVORTL, white on green "Victoria on the Move".
Steamrail - Double R class to Bendigo, September 2011
Saturday 17 September 2011
R707 and R761 lead a 10 car train from Melbourne to Bendigo and return, connecting with a special train on the Victorian Goldfields Railway at Castlemaine. The train ran arrived back in Melbourne an hour early, skipping the timetabled crosses after V/Line cancelled most of their trains due to a power failure in Melbourne.
DERMPAV - Melbourne suburban tour, August 2011
Saturday 27 August 2011
On August 27, 2011 the Diesel Electric Rail Motor Preservation Association of Victoria took RM58 from Southern Cross to Upfield, Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale.
P&O Trans Australia wagon transfer
Saturday 25 June 2011
In June 2011 P&O Trans Australia transferred a number of AFGF wagons from Adelaide atop standard gauge AQPY wagons along with a set of broad gauge for use in the upcoming Deniquillin rice train.
Steamrail - Y112 Geelong shuttles, April 2011
Saturday 16 April 2011
T356, Y112 and D3 639 ran shuttles around Geelong on April 16th and 17th. The diesel was only used on the first morning, Y112 having run light engine from Ballarat for the occasion.
Shell Geelong oil shunts
Sunday 6 March 2011
Shell Refinery at Corio despatched fuel by rail until early 2008, with the last destinations being Mildura and Shepparton. Before this time Y class locomotives from Pacific National transferred the tank wagons to and from North Geelong Yard
V/Line 2011 Avalon Airshow specials
Saturday 5 March 2011
The most boring airshow for V/Line ever: VLocities ran the majority of services. Only one hauled push-pull set ran, with a pair of N classes it only ran one return trip on Saturday and one return trip on Sunday.
DERMPAV - RM58 test run, February 2011
Monday 21 February 2011
RM58 has been restored by DERM Preservation Association of Victoria and went out for a test run on February 21 from Newport to Melbourne Yard and return.
Metro Trains Melbourne driver training, February 2011
Thursday 3 February 2011
T376 and T369 ran around the network late at night in order to train El Zorro diesel crews on the Flemington Racecourse, Craigieburn and Williamstown lines.
SRHC - Hills to the Bay tour January 2011
Saturday 22 January 2011
T378 and T357 hauled the train, with State Car 4, Mitta Mitta, and a small collection of S and E carriages - a shorter train than other years.
X'Trapolis test run to Craigieburn, January 2011
Thursday 20 January 2011
After the last train on 19 January 2011, set 33M-34M + 35M-36M headed slowly to Craigieburn in order to clear the route for X'Trapolis trains.
SRHC - 2010 fireworks special
Friday 31 December 2010
S303 and B74 lead a special train for SRHC members between Seymour and Melbourne on New Years Eve.
B64 transfer by road to South Dynon
Thursday 16 December 2010
B64 was stored for a number of years at Ballarat East for / by Steamrail Victoria. In 2008 it was purchased by El Zorro and moved to Avteq to be rebuilt and recommissioned. For an unknown reason it was moved to the old FCL shed at South Dynon by road, coincidentally this shed has a number of container-mounted gensets with the El Zorro name on them. Two new ZDXF type container flats were also moved here and placed on the ground minus bogies.
SRHC - Maryborough picnic train, December 2010
Saturday 11 December 2010
On December 11, 2010 SRHC ran their "picnic train" consist from Seymour to Maryborough via Melbourne, North Geelong and Ballarat.
Steamrail - Geelong November 2010
Sunday 14 November 2010
K153 lead 5 cars to Geelong and back, BRS in the middle of the consist, with four wooden cars making up the rest of the train.
El Zorro wagon transfers
Tuesday 2 November 2010
El Zorro wagon transfers between freight terminals in Melbourne.
Steamrail - Cup Weekender October 2010
Saturday 30 October 2010
Running from Melbourne to Quambatook and Sea Lake over the Melbourne Cup weekend, the consist was S313 - S301 - PCP - Goulburn - LAN - Moorabool - BZ - BRS - Werribee - Indi - Coliban - Inman - AK - BCE.
Steamrail - Bendigo Cup charter 2010
Wednesday 27 October 2010
A charter operated by Steamrail Victoria on behalf of Southern Cross Television, for the Bendigo Cup. The consist was PCP292, 11AS, 14BRS, Moorabool, and BZ269 ('Hobsons Bay').
SRHC / Steamrail - Tastes of the Goulburn 2010
Saturday 16 October 2010
SRHC ran shuttles north from Seymour with T357 and T413, while Steamrail ran a train from Melbourne to Seymour with R761. After their arrival T413 was replaced on the shuttles by R761.
Steamrail - Twin R class to Bendigo, October 2010
Saturday 9 October 2010
R761 lead R707 to Bendigo with a train 11 car long train, connecting at Castlemaine for a VGR train.
Steamrail - Y112 Ballarat shuttles, August 2010
Sunday 22 August 2010
On 21 and 22 August 2010 Steamrail ran steam shuttles out of Ballarat along the line to Maryborough, using K153 and Y112 push-pull on a rake of timber bodied BW carriages.
V/Line - Maryborough line launch
Saturday 24 July 2010
V/Line services to Maryborough were officially launched on Saturday July 24, with VLocities VL34 and VL38 running special trains on the day, and Premier John Brumby and Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula there for the opening ceremonies.
The train carried passengers from Melbourne as far as Ballarat, then took invited guests to Creswick, where an opening ceremony for the new station was held. Locals were allowed to catch the train to Maryborough where another opening ceremony was held. Five shuttle trips were run between Maryborough and the 214 km post for the locals (originally six were planned) before VL38 headed back to Melbourne, VL34 stabled to run the first up service the next day.
Brooklyn wagon scrapping
Saturday 5 June 2010
In 2010 Pacific National started to clear out the multitudes of stored wagons at Tottenham Yard and selling them for scrap. A dozen or so at a time are being dragged at 20 km/h to Brooklyn, where they are being pushing into the VR tip siding to be cut up.
El Zorro derailment, March 2010
Tuesday 9 March 2010
A down El Zorro grain derailed at West Footscray Junction, with T320 and S303 coming off the rails (third and fourth units), along with 12 wagons.
707 Operations - Suburban tour December 2009
Saturday 5 December 2009
R707 and T413 ran push pull around the Melbourne suburbs, from Newport to Glen Waverley, Flemington Racecourse and Lilydale. Chasing a train around suburbia by car = fail!
SRHC - Kyneton charter December 2009
Tuesday 1 December 2009
S303 and B74 ran a private charter from Melbourne to Kyneton and return, the four car train was made up of 'Mitta Mitta', two BRS carriages, and Parlor Car
Connex Melbourne
Saturday 28 November 2009
Connex Melbourne was the operator of suburban trains in Melbourne from 1999 until 2009, using a variety of EMUs ranging from the ageing Hitachi, through to refurbished Comengs, and modern X'Trapolis and Siemens models.
Steamrail - Bendigo charter October 2009
Wednesday 28 October 2009
Steamrail ran a charter for Southern Cross Television from Melbourne to Bendigo. Hired V/Line loco N470 lead Steamrail carriages 269 BZ (Hobsons Bay), Moorabool, 2 BS, 14 BRS and PCP 292.
Geelong football specials 2009
Saturday 26 September 2009
Geelong won against St Kilda in the 2009 AFL Grand Final at the MCG. The V/Line football specials on the Geelong line were a mix of P class hauled single push-pull sets, and N class hauled seven car long N sets
Steamrail - Geelong September 2009
Thursday 24 September 2009
K153 lead 7 cars to Geelong and back for a school holiday special
Steamrail - Mitcham to Mooroolbark shuttles, September 2009
Sunday 20 September 2009
K153 on the Melbourne end was push pull with K190 and five wooden carriages
PCJ van transfers to/from Ballarat, September 2009
Tuesday 15 September 2009
El Zorro ran a transfer between Melbourne and Ballarat via North Geelong, T357 took V/Line power van PCJ491 to the Ballarat Workshops for refurbishment, bringing back completed van PCJ493 (formerly PCO2). You don't see Bona (engine and a single guards van) moves that often!
Steamrail - Ballarat driver training September 2009
Saturday 12 September 2009
Recently repaired R761 took 5 cars on a driver training run from Melbourne to Ballarat - via Geelong on Saturday 12th, and back via Bacchus Marsh on Sunday 13th
Steamrail - Suburban Rambler, August 2009
Saturday 22 August 2009
D3 639 ran this train push pull with T356 and Y164 running from Newport to Cranbourne, Upfield, the reversing loop at Melbourne Yard, Craigieburn, Williamstown via the goods lines, then finally back to Newport
S302 transfer, August 2009
Friday 14 August 2009
S302 has been recently repaired by SSR Bendigo for El Zorro, it was also repainted in their orange and grey livery. It was transferred to Seymour via Melbourne with T342
707 Operations - Geelong August 2009
Sunday 2 August 2009
With R707 out of action for maintenance, Steamrail kindly provided K153 for use on this trip, with T413 bringing up the rear
Steamrail - 'Ballarat Discoverer' May 2009
Saturday 2 May 2009
R761 lead a 5 car train from Melbourne to Ballarat and return, via Bacchus March both ways.
707 Operations - Colac March 2009
Sunday 22 March 2009
On 22 March, 707 Operations took T413 and Steamrail's T356 from Newport to Colac and return. The carriages were a PCP power van, BRS, BZ and ACZ.