Standard Gauge Work at Southern Cross

combino3508 · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:00 pm

does anyone have any diagrams as to what is going on under the latrobe street bridge to platform 1+2? on the standard gauge

wongm · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:13 pm

I wish!

I finally found the thread where I posted 'before' photos:
http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p971018.htm

I don't have a clue what is going on at the moment, they have the standard gauge crossing over every which was at the yard lead in front of the signal box.

Marcus Wong

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wongm · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:30 pm

My brain hurts from standing up on the bridge trying to work out what goes where - then again I can't really tell the difference between broad and standard gauge, unless they are dual gauge... Mad

If anyone wants to try as well, here are some photos of the area:
http://www.railgeelong.com/gallery/geelong-line/southern-cross

Marcus Wong

Railway Pics (and the chaff) Updated November 28th
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Rail Geelong: History of Geelong's Railways. Victoria's real Main Line.

kuldalai · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:51 pm

Don't have a diagram sg wise but this is what has to be connected from the sg mainline near Dudley St Car Sheds :
* Connection into platform 1
* Then connection to Motorail Dock if it is still needed.
* Then sg into platform 2 and sg into 2a road which becomes dual gauge and a dual gauge runaround road .

Platform 1 is dead end dual gauge. Platform 2 has two separate dual gauge faces which will be able to be worked independently ( 2 North & 2 Centre). The Centre crossover and turnout at the Southern end are both now dg so sg loco runaround will be available for a long train occupying the full length of plat 2 or separately for a a smaller train standing in either or both 2 Centre and/or 2 North . The dual gauge crossover in the middle of paltform 2 is a very interesting piece of trackwork .

2a Road has also been extended in dual gauge at the Southern end to provide a short stub loco stabling road .

So with Albury going sg three separate sg platform faces will be available.

In future if an additional sg face is required then 3 Centre can be easily dual gauged and accessed via 2a/2b roads .

route14 · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:05 pm

It's good to have a SG run-around loop so that the relieved loco from the Overland doesn't have to wait for the train set to depart before returning to North Dynon.

Not the black cat
nor the white cat
but the right cat

dalts 1985 · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:27 pm

SN7 · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:34 pm

The SG run around will be for the Albury SG services as well.

SN7 · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:38 pm

The latest V/Line Voice - Customer Newsletter obtained from the V/Line Website has an article and a few pics as well ,

dalts 1985 · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:34 pm

A summery of whats to happen, kindly provided by Roderick B Smith:

South Dynon Rail Operations Precient:

South Dynon - new DG carriage wash plant, changes to loco/carriage maintenance facilities.

South Dynon Junction near Dock Line Road - completely re-worked with new layout that links to the Dynon-Tottenham project & which provides parallel moves through the area & direct DG access from North Dynon to the Port precinct, plus associated signalling.

Construction of the so-called 'missing link' which involves duplication of the DG track betwn South Dynon Junction & new double DG lead to Appleton & Swanson Docks (the latter is currently under construction -known as DPRL - Dynon Port Rail Link) plus consequential re-working of several tracks in the PN Melbourne Operations Terminal including conversion of Shaw's Siding tracks from BG to SG.

Dual-gauging & re-signalling of W track (this is the sharply curved triangle that comes around the east side of PN's LPC).

Construction of Passing Lane 1 which involves dual gauging of the present BG goods line for 6.7km betwn McIntyre Loop & near Tullamarine Loop. This will have 80km/h turnouts each end of the SG line leading into gauge splitters on the present BG.

It also involves re-construction of the BG line with DG concrete sleepers & new 50kg/m rail. Tullamarine Loop is then removed.

Broadmeadows Stn Precient:

Construction of a 180m SG platform at Broadmeadows on the eastern side of the corridor, Also involves a slue of the SG main line to the east, leaving room for a future 2nd SG track betwn it & the BG Up platform.

Passing Lanes:

Passing Lanes 2, 3 & 4 are part of the original N-S project & are already under construction, separately to this project.

PL 2 has been severely curtailed & is now only a 900m extension of Donnybrook Loop in the Down direction.
It was originally going all the way to Wallan, then cut back to Beveridge & is now only an 1800m long loop with the existing Down end turnout simply relocated.

PL3 (starting on the Up end of Kilmore East then for continues 6.7km in the Down direction)

PL 4 (starting at the Down end of Tallarook, then continues for 6.7km in the Up direction) are well underway, with 80km/h turnouts already laid in. Broadford Loop will be removed.

Seymour Stn Precient:

Seymour's entire current layout gets a major re-work.

The existing SG main line gets slued into the present Up platform leading to an 80km/h turnout just past "High St Level Crossing" which is the start of the double line.

A high speed crossover betwn the two tracks 2km beyond Seymour (just beyond the old Hume Highway crossing) facing trains in the Down direction from the new West line. The SG loco siding is being extended to form an emergency runaround with 171m clear standing room, enough for an XPT or 7 car loco hauled set.

A new 160m BG platform is to be built on the present Nos. 4 & 5 roads in Seymour Yard, which will have a Down end connection to a future DMU stabling facility on the site of the old livestock yards. Whilst mainly for local trains, the new BG platform will also have access to the GV line. Obviously, considerable re-signalling is also involved.

This new layout within Seymour Stn Precient, retains complete separation (apart from the lead to the present Loco Depot & SRHC Heritage Rail Operations Depot Precient) betwn the SG & BG, thus avoids the need for any DG work.

Seymour - Wodonga Track Works:

The Up end of the existing SG Seymour Loop is supposed to be retained as a works siding.

Riggs Creek Loop will be temporarily converted to SG until the signalling is ready, after which it will be removed.

Longwood Loop, Benalla Loop, Glenrowan Loop, Alumatta Loop & Chiltern Loop will all be dis-established.
Violet Town Loop will be retained as a works siding.

Seymour-Wodonga BG line will be re-constructed with concrete sleepers using a track laying machine & becomes the new west line.
Most of the existing rail will be re-used. Initially it will retain Train Order working for a few months until the signalling is commissioned.

Signalling wise: Seymour-Wodonga will basically be uni-directional with 18 min average headways.
However, both lines will be signalled for limited bi-directional working with no follow-on moves & long sections, ie Seymour-Benalla, Benalla-Wangaratta & Wangaratta-Wodonga.

New Stn Platforms betwn Seymour & Wodonga:

New 160m long platforms will be provided alongside the existing SG line (east line) at Avenel, Euroa, Violet Town, Springhurst & Chiltern.

80km/h crossovers will be provided at each end of Benalla & Wangaratta to allow all passenger trains (including XPT) access to the main platforms at these locations.

Benalla - Oaklands Branch Line:

The future of the Benalla-Oaklands line & connections into Benalla yard remain unresolved at this stage.

Wodonga Bypass & Wodonga Stn Precient:

Similarly to Seymour, a high speed crossover will be provided 2km on the Upside of the Wodonga bypass start (ie where the double line ends).
The Up end of Wodonga Loop will most likely be also retained as a works siding, like the Up end of the existing SG Seymour Loop, which is supposed to be retained as a works siding, possible continued access to Masterfoods siding (also not yet finally resolved).

The new bypass starts near the current Up End Wodonga Loop & will be a single SG line now all the way to the Up End Albury yard.

The new Wodonga Station will face the mainline with a 180m long platform about 1km from the start of the bypass.

Wodonga Coal sidings (SG only of course) will remain for some years with a connection to it just on the Up side of the Murray River bridge.

The current sidings will be re-worked to provide a single long road for loading of the log train which runs most days to Geelong (North Shore).
The new SG facilities at North Geelong & North Shore are due for commissioning in January 2009. The Bandiana line & container terminal there will remain open until the bypass is commissioned in mid-2010, however most of the traffic is expected to transfer in the meantime to Collin Rees new terminal at Ettamogah, construction of which started last week.

Albury Stn Precient:

Albury is still being resolved, however ARTC now seems to prefer constructing a new passenger stabling siding & runaround for V/Line trains just beyond the Sydney end of the platform rather than convert the present BG dock platform. This is to do with problems with the interlocking at the former Albury South Box. V/Line is agreeable to this.

Rolling-stock wise in regards to V/Line NE Services: - 3 N Class Locos & 3 x 5-car N Sets are to be converted, as previously announced.
The 3x 5-car N Sets to be converted, will be re-furbished & re-done in the new red and grey V/Line livery.

Closure of the existing NE BG Line

Timing is still being resolved, but at this stage it looks like the BG will cease operating beyond Seymour on 1 November 2008, after which buses will operate all V/line Seymour-Albury Services, until V/Line resumes services betwn Seymour & Albury on the now converted & vastly upgraded line on 1 July 2009.

Schedules have been agreed betwn V/Line & Countrylink because the two services are then integrated with common fares & ticketing.

Changes to future Melb. Southern Cross Stn Workings:

The Overland's current timetables, will also have to change slightly to accommodate the 5 daily NE-Service Departures & Arrivals, that will use the now DG Platforms 1 & 2 at Southern Cross Stn.

The new DG trackwork & Platform 2 dual runarounds: 2C Loco Release to road 2B & 2N Centre to Road 2B, for this purpose, gets commissioned this coming Queens Birthday Wkend (June 6 - 9), together with the new SSI interlocking in No# 1 box.

"A vote for Labor means no more of Howard's bullsh*t

combino3508 · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:52 pm

i believe that they will be getting rid of the Spencer street No1 box and moving it into a new building in the station.

wongm · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:06 pm

spottyrahr · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:04 pm

Ah we've gotten a lot of calls at work due to all of this. Countrylink is telling everyone they get dropped off in a freight yard and got to get a bus. Apparently they don't even try to glam it up. Oh well, more business for us.

dalts 1985 · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:34 am

wongm · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:30 pm

I keep forgetting to mention it, but over the past month or so a tilt slab building has been in the process of construction in the carriage yards. It is located north of the Latrobe Street bridge, and between the bus access road and the carriage sidings, next to the big diesel tank.

Does anyone know what it is going to be? It is big enough to drive a truck into, but has no doors on the rail sides. Confused

Marcus Wong

Railway Pics (and the chaff) Updated November 28th
Youtube videos
Rail Geelong: History of Geelong's Railways. Victoria's real Main Line.

wongm · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 5:16 pm

I finally received a copy of the new diagram of the station, so I could make these up, the simplified version - before:

After:

The main changes are in front of the signal box, with a number of tracks ripped up, leading back to under Latrobe Street. The dual gauge into platform 1 has also been extended back, and the huge lineup of broad gauge double slips leading towards platform 1 actually leads into it rather than a dead end. The motorail dock is directly in front of the signal box, cars using it appear to need to cross the broad gauge track from platform 1 to the carriage sidings.

I have also updated the more accurate plan I made earlier:
http://www.railgeelong.com/articles/spencerstreetyard

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/3647/ssstracksfullv2fulltw2.gif
[4000x1500 pixels, 150kB]

NOW: from above platform 1:

A BEFORE shot of the same spot, the divergence below me was a gauge splitter, SG to right and BG to left:

NOW: zoomed in a bit - they are in the middle of adding the third rail:

A BEFORE shot of the same spot, BG, SG, BG from platform 1:

NOW: three broad gauge lines into the station unaltered at right, then SG into platform 2, and DG into platform 1. Under the bridge is where 4 broad gauge lines off the suburban lines merge into one to enter the station, you can just see the last set of points to the right of the workers.

A BEFORE shot of the same spot, the track on the left had BG added to form DG, was only SG before. Second from left was removed to make room for the SG into platform 2:

Marcus Wong

Railway Pics (and the chaff) Updated November 28th
Youtube videos
Rail Geelong: History of Geelong's Railways. Victoria's real Main Line.