Trains

We start the month at Footscray station, back when there were only four tracks – not six.

The reason for my visit – DERMPAV were due to pass through with their 1920s railcar RM58.

I also made a trip out to Eltham to capture Steamrail Victoria running steam trains for the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival.

In what was the last final days of the 100 year old manual signalling system in place between Greensborough and Hurstbridge.

Something old but not quite as old was the 1990s ‘Concession travel is only for concession card holders’ billboard at Melbourne Central station.

But something new for 2012 but seems incredibly dated today is this massive billboard covered in late-2000s internet memes, promoting the then-new free Wi-Fi service at Flinders Street Station.

With mobile data so cheap, does anyone even use free wi-fi connection today?

And something gone completely is mX staff having out their free newspaper.

The last issues was mX was published in 2015.

Meanwhile at Southern Cross the advertising that covered the station was a little different – a travel agency placing infrared heat lamps above their sign promoting summer holidays.

And the Red Rooster advertising screen beside the next train displays was also displaying a live countdown of the next trains to depart.

This was a time before live departure information available to the public, with even the official PTV app relying on timetable data, so seeing realtime information on an advertising screen was quite incredulous.

Finally, I paid a visit to the construction site of the future Williams Landing station.

And the extension of Palmers Road north from the Princes Freeway towards Truganina.

Palmers Road opened first, followed by Williams Landing station in 2013, but the road has already – upgraded from two to six lanes as part of the Western Roads Upgrade project in early 2021.

Trams

I was passing through Moonee Ponds Junction, a decade ago just some bus shelters sitting in the middle of a sea of asphalt.

The route 82 terminus located across multiple lanes of traffic and three pedestrian crossings from the bus interchange and route 59 tram stop.

The tram stop was eventually rebuilt in 2016, with route 59 and 82 trams sharing a new accessible platform stop, next to the bus interchange.

Around the Melbourne CBD

Who remembers the Melbourne Bike Share service – a source of free helmets for cyclists all over Melbourne.

Their bikes were blue, but they had a handful of one-off coloured bikes in the fleet.

The service was eventually shut down in November 2019, overtaken by a wave of venture capital-backed ‘dockless’ bike share services, and now e-scooters and e-bikes.

Something else on the way out back in 2012 was the original 1960s Royal Children’s Hospital building.

Demolished following completion of the new hospital next door.

The land returned to Royal Park, as compensation for the land used to build the new hospital.

But something I didn’t expect to see disappear was the cupcake fad.

Somehow the internet hasn’t killed seedy adult cinemas, but you’d be hard pressed to find a specialist cupcake store these days – burgers are now the big food fad.

And finally, something that you’d think would be gone but keeps sticking around is Telstra payphones.

Back in 2012 Telstra was moving them for maximum advertising exposure, but in recent years they’ve gone even further, turning them into massive digital advertising screens.

And a trip out east

For something different, I went on a road trip out to Gippsland, making a pit stop at the Longford Gas Plant, receiving point for oil and gas output from Bass Strait.

And home of the helicopters used to resupply the 23 offshore platforms drilling for oil and gas.

I also stumbled upon the Bairnsdale Power Station as I drove further west – one of a number of gas fired power stations in Victoria.

So what was my destination? Australia’s highest airport, Mount Hotham Airport!

I waited around for hours in the snow.

Until it finally arrived.

One of a handful of QantasLink flights that served the skifield.

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: August 2012 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Paperwork ahoy

The morning starting when I pulled into the airport car park at 6.30am.

Then off to the terminal, where I and the other lucky winners met the staff from Melbourne Airport, and filled in the paperwork required to be issued with visitors passes so we could enter the airside security restricted area.

Almost an hour later the paper shuffling was finally done and passes issued, so time to go – upstairs, downstairs, around the bend and then through a staff only door, leading to the security checkpoint leading airside. Time to bring out our ID and visitors passes, have them cross-referenced against the Aviation Security Identification Card of our Melbourne Airport sponsor, photo taken, bags x-rayed and put through the explosive detection swab, and we were in.

Or not – we were greeted by the baggage handing room.

Kane Constructions photo

Down another corridor, out a door, along the apron, and there it was – the bus that would take us out beside the runway.

And the Melbourne Airport airside safety car that would escort us there.

But a piece of bad news – the Qantas A380 arrival we had came here to photograph had been cancelled, the plane stuck in Sydney due to technical issues.

None the less, there was still a busy morning of both international and domestic arrivals and departures to see, so all aboard!

Headed airside

Off we went driving along the taxiways.

Having to give way to taxiing planes.

But we made it – the bus pulled up beside the arrival end of runway 34.

A taxiway on the other.

And aircraft lighting beneath our feet.

Our instructions from our airfield safety escort were quite simple – “don’t go past the gable markers in the grass over there or the runway gets shut down, but you can go behind the bus, just not onto the taxiway”.

Time for some planespotting

The first arrival was a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 freighter.

Touching down a short distance away from us.

Rolling past with full reverse thrust.

Next up was a far smaller QantasLink DHC Dash 8 Q300.

A Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800.

And a Xiamen Air Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Who were amused by our group of photographers standing out beside the runway.

The stream of inbound flights led to a queue of planes waiting to take off.

First to take off was an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

Soaring off into the grey skies.

From out in the middle of the airfield, this landing Jetstar Airways Airbus A320 looked quite tall and lanky.

But the noisiest plane was this relatively small 125-seater QantasLink Boeing 717.

I swear the pilot had wound the two rear-mounted engines up as far as they could go, and launched the plane right off the runway in no time at all.

“Change places!”

With the international arrivals finished for the morning, we climbed back onboard the bus and drove a little further down runway 34 to where departing pilots call “rotate” and take off.

The first take off to greet us – another run of the mill domestic Boeing 737.

A Jetstar A320 that rotated much earlier along the runway.

Another yet another 737, but with far more photogenic lighting.

But it was cameras out for the next departure.

A United Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Off to the USA.

Next up, a Thai Airways International Airbus A350.

And the last international departure.

A Bamboo Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner off to Vietnam.

And with that, time to go back to the bus.

Our final stop, taxiway Sierra.

To inspect the Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300ER parked for the weekend.

And with that, our morning airside was over – back onto the bus for the trip back to the terminal.

Footnote: car parking at Melbourne Airport

My usual trick at Melbourne Airport is to head to the cheaper long term car park, rather than park at the terminal. It’s currently branded the ‘Value Car Park‘ and costs $12 a day.

But try and find a space at the northern end, where you can walk direct to the terminals, instead of waiting for the shuttle bus.

Post retrieved by 35.215.163.46 using

The post Airside adventures at Melbourne Airport appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.

Trains

Work on Regional Rail Link was kicking off at Middle Footscray.

Excavators having rolled in.

To demolish the compulsorily acquired houses along Buckley Street.

Work on the extension of suburban trains to South Morang was almost complete, with track laid up to the future terminus.

As was duplication of the single track section between Keon Park and Epping.

The Metcard ticketing system was still hanging on, but new LCD next train displays were being rolled out.

Southern Cross Station was in the middle of a revamp – adding more shops.

While South Yarra station still had it’s little kiosk sticking out into the concourse opposite the ticket gates.

Things that go bump

On 26 November 2011 a V/Line train bound for Albury derailed at West Footscray.

The train split between two tracks.

The incident investigation report finding:

Shortly after its exit from the Bunbury Street tunnel the locomotive encountered a track defect at a location beneath the Nicholson Street road overbridge in Footscray that caused the derailment of one wheelset.

The train continued for about 1200 metres with the locomotive in this partially-derailed state until it encountered a turnout, resulting in the complete derailment of the locomotive and the first passenger car, and the derailment of the leading bogie of the second passenger car.

There were no injuries to passengers or V/Line personnel; however the track sustained significant damage.

Trams

Back in May 2011 work started on platform stops along Swanston Street – months later, the stop outside Melbourne Central was still incomplete.

Yarra Trams marking November with fuzzy Movember moustaches on the front of their trams.

They’ve missed a few Movembers in the years that have followed, and switched to a simpler stick on decal.

And some other bits

A $300 million expansion of Highpoint Shopping Centre was underway, with tower cranes at work on the 30,000 sqm extension, taking the centre to a total of 156,000 sqm.

Mobil petrol stations on the way out, having been taken over by 7-Eleven.

Down at the west end of the Melbourne CBD things were much emptier.

Emporium Melbourne was just a big hole between Little Bourke and Lonsdale Streets.

A day of planespotting

I made a trip out to Melbourne Airport to photograph the procession of planes.

Finding Virgin Blue’s only ‘blue’ plane.

Air New Zealand 747 – since retired.

United Airlines 747 – also retired.

V Australia 777 – subsumed into Virgin Australia.

Skytraders A319 – famous for another reason.

Tiger Airways A320 – merged into Virgin Australia and since retired as a brand.

Singapore Airlines A380 – on hiatus thanks to Covid.

And a Strategic Airlines A330 – liquidated in 2012.

And a trip to Adelaide

I ended November 2011 with a trip to Adelaide.

Where I rode some trams.

Their ‘Jumbo’ railcars.

And the diesel version of Melbourne’s Comeng railcars.

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 2011 appeared first on Waking up in Geelong.