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MelbourneCity
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jan 22, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 22, 2008
Location: Melbourne
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:56 pm
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Just wondering, what station infrastructure etc remains in Hobart as part of the former suburban system?
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Z1NorthernProgress2110
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Nov 30, 2004
Last Visited: Nov 23, 2008
Location: Burnie, Tasmania
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 1:37 pm
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Well as for stations there is only one, the original TMLR Hobart sandstone station, which is now the headquarters for Tassie ABC.
But the bikelane track is original part of the second suburban system. When you look over near the rail line there is some remains of some platforms used for suburban trains.I think the last station that was used in the burb days was Bridgewater which sadly was pulled down in the bad An days.
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tasrail2100
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jul 24, 2004
Last Visited: Nov 21, 2008
Location: Brisbane, Queensland.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:01 pm
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i thought it burnt down?
the old risdon line is still there too i believe, for what purpose i dont know, maybe somebody from down south could shed some light on that.
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Z1NorthernProgress2110
Chief Commissioner
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Last Visited: Nov 23, 2008
Location: Burnie, Tasmania
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:56 pm
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Well it did in the 67 bushfires but it was rebuilt. I think you mean Derwnt Park station which was burnt down buy fire bugs.
I know about the Risdon line.It was used to transport workers to and from Hobart.Called the "Big Zinc"!. I think they also use to haul goods too. Some old pictures show a X class loco hauling upto 6 cars with a E class goods wagon too.
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benscaro
Deputy Commissioner
Joined: Jan 04, 2005
Last Visited: Nov 19, 2008
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:48 pm
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Derwent Park was if not last, the second to last station in use, and was burnt - which is sad as the Hobart station buildings were generally very nice looking weatherboard structures that had a lot of character.
I do not know if Bridgewater was the last one manned, but it may be so.
Moonah was a particular favourite of mine - as kids we used to walk down there to watch a V class shunting in the small yard. A house near the level crossing at Berriedale is still on site, it may be the SM's house or the level crossing attendant [?] and while other buildings are preserved, they are not on site . . .
The 'Big Zinc' was the 7.15am [?] passenger train which was one of the last trains to use a rake of dog-boxes, with a DB van. And one of the last rosters for Q class steam locos, apparently. Later on it would be worked with a rake of SS/SSD/SSS cars and an X or Y, although operational requirements could see it steam hauled from time to time.
I am not particularly aware of a train working the Risdon line with coaches and an E van. This was not a Cadbury's train by any chance ? Although I'm sure there may have been call for E vans on the Risdon line too from time to time, for bagged fertiliser traffic [at a guess] the attaching of an E van to a suburban passenger service sounds very typical of a Cadbury's line service.
Ben
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MelbourneCity
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jan 22, 2003
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Location: Melbourne
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:19 am
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What was the timetable like on the suburban system? I imagine just hourly trains or something?
So the platforms etc at Hobart station no longer exist?
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tasrail
Moderator
Joined: Jan 14, 2003
Last Visited: Nov 23, 2008
Location: Hobart, Tasmania
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:15 am
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| MelbourneCity wrote: | | What was the timetable like on the suburban system? |
A scanned public timetable from 1972 can be found here: http://www.railtasmania.com/archives/
| MelbourneCity wrote: | | So the platforms etc at Hobart station no longer exist? |
Yep. The platforms are now laregly under carpark, and the yard lead area is becoming the site of a Bahai temple.
I think Bridgewater was demolished, although it may have had an internal fire/vandalism that led to this. Derwent Park was burnt to the ground.
I think most fright traffic to/from the risdon line was worked by shunt movements from Derwent Park. The Cadbury train often ran as a mixed though, as other have pointed out.
Stuart
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GeoffreyHansen
Minister for Railways
Joined: Apr 13, 2004
Last Visited: Nov 23, 2008
Location: Waiting for the next commuter service to Bathurst
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 1:46 pm
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There was a photo of Hobart station's platforms in a recent Australian Railway History, they looked quite substantial to me. It's a shame to hear of them no longer existing.
Would it be possible to rebuild platforms here if passenger trains were ever reintroduced to Tasmania?
Thanks
Geoffrey
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duttonbay
Chief Commissioner
Joined: May 26, 2003
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:49 pm
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| GeoffreyHansen wrote: | | There was a photo of Hobart station's platforms in a recent Australian Railway History ... Would it be possible to rebuild platforms here if passenger trains were ever reintroduced to Tasmania? |
Not at the old location, at least without a great deal of angst amongst the road users. The thick black line on this map is the approximate location of the line leading into the station, which was at the left hand end, near the roundabout. You will note the the Tasman Highway now runs right across the line so to reinstate the line woud mean crossing this busy highway.
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benscaro
Deputy Commissioner
Joined: Jan 04, 2005
Last Visited: Nov 19, 2008
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:04 am
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There does seem to be a persistent low-level move to at least discuss the restoration of some level of passenger service in Tasmania.
I suppose minds have been directed to this idea by the large number of tour trains operated in Tasmania over the past few years - well since 1983 actually - so we are talking about a bona-fide part of the rail industry here that's existed for 20+ years.
I could only see restoration of a platform making sense for tourist trains. A line laid onto Hobart's waterfront would probably be a good way of showing off such a train to tourists and would be convenient for those on cruise vessels. Some of the track is still there, laid in the concrete, though whether it could in fact be restored is another matter.
****
However, investment beyond this level ignores the fundamental realities that Tasmanian rail lines are not in a condition to host any sort of modern passenger service.
The track itself is generally in better condition than in TGR days, but it is the track alignment that is the problem. I just cannot see a scenario where it is going to become viable to run passenger trains in a state with such a small population, taking into account that massive rebuilding would be entailed even if one wanted to be able to run a train from Hobart to Launceston in three hours.
Ben
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tasrail2100
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Jul 24, 2004
Last Visited: Nov 21, 2008
Location: Brisbane, Queensland.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:19 am
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| benscaro wrote: | | The track itself is generally in better condition than in TGR days, but it is the track alignment that is the problem |
that is only the case from the midlands to hobart, and from about ulverstone to burnie. the rest of the track takes a pretty direct alingment, lets not forget the line from western junction to delloraine was built to broad gauge.
i can not see how the track is in better condition than it was in the TGR days, after having a cab ride between delloraine and parratah i lost count of the amount of 15km/h speed restrictions we had to endure, one of which was on a 4km straight flat section of track. but as i was not around in the TGR days, i will take your word for it.
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benscaro
Deputy Commissioner
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 3:39 am
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Well, it may be the case . . . however it was pretty well upgraded by AN during their time, not sure what ATN did in their tenure so it could well be crap again. This sort of thing takes continual investment.
However, the alignment of the section from Brighton to about Parattah would significantly slow down any Hobart-Launceston train - and this is a major portion of the route.
I think there were also a lot of track restrictions on the Tasman Ltd during its last years. At least newspaper articles I've read from the time - I was only ten in 1978 when ANR killed it - mention such delays.
I've often wondered what the fastest Hobart-Launceston trip ever would have been by rail. Wonder if they ever did it in under four hours ? A DP car might have been able to do it . . . although I'm sure the passengers would not have appreciated it.
Ben
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tasrail2100
Chief Commissioner
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Location: Brisbane, Queensland.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:10 am
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well i was talkin to one of my lecturers about the trains back in the day, anyway after pasting him with a few smart remarks about actually being old enough to remember taking the train to school and to launceston, he told me that it has always been a pretty slow journey - just the roads were worse back in the day so there was not as much time difference between travelling on the train and travelling by car.
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