Re: Vicrail rail closures

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

The North Fitzroy Line , ie Royal Park  to North Fitzroy A Box ,North 
Fitzroy A Box to Fitzroy and North Fitzroy A Box to Northcote Loop Junction 
Box (Thru Line) were certainly open in the 1970s , at least up till about 1972.
There were at least 3 trains per week in both directions usually hauled by a T 
or Y .
The trains shunted at Fitzroy and then proceeded to Reservoir ,and 
sometimes went beyond ,I never figured to where,and ,came back late in the 
afternoon.
I dont know about the status of the North Fitzroy A Box to Northcote 
Loop Junction local line on which I never saw a train and it was always rusty.
This railway had a lot of intriguing features not found anywhere else in 
Victoria.
North Fitzroy A Box to Northcote Loop Junction Box was double track worked as 
two bidirectional single lines known as the thru line (or Whittlesea line) and 
the local line.
For reasons which I have never been able to determine the two lines were 
worked by totally dissimilar safeworking systems ,electric staff originally 
,reverting to ordinary train staff without tickets on the thru line,sometimes 
in the late 1960s  and lever locking and track control on the local line,(the 
local line only was track circuited). Does anyone know the history of this ?
North Fitzroy A Box I suspect was unique in Victoria , maybe in Australia in 
that it controlled 2 sets of interlocked gates from the one Box.
There were 2 large wheels at each end of the box which opened and closed the 
gates, was quite an effort for the signalman.


cheers
MD


--------------------------------------------------
Maurie Daly
Department of Communications Lab.
Canberra
Australia
mauried@commslab.gov.au
ph 6 2791331
--------------------------------------------------