Re: Railway over Yarra River.

["Stephen Devenish" <JohnnyR@bigpond.com>]

Garry Hoddinett wrote in message <7qlm6n$ive$1@otis.netspace.net.au>...
>When in Melbourne a couple of months ago I noticed from the Rialto Towers
>Observation Deck a single track railway bridge to the south over the Yarra
>River.  The line now seems to be truncated for the construction of the
>Docklands Stadium.  Where did the line go to and why was it removed?  It
>seems stupid these days to sever rail connections to a city's port.  In
>speaking to a person who works for PO in Sydney he said a rail connection
to
>their Rozelle port is seen as one of their best marketing assets.
>

The line as stated by Chris Gordon, was in fact the line down to Webb Dock
where Pactricks load cars on and off ships.  The line went down along the
Lorimer street and past Holden and the back around into Web Dock.  The line
was in fact Dual Gauge although as no trains used the line and the third
rail (Standard Gauge leg) was removed.  The line was not Jeffed as stated by
another poster, movement of Cars by rail isn't big in Australia and with
Pactricks moving the car loading down to webb dock the need for rail access
was of no advantage.  There were 2 AN Dual Gauge to Dual Gauge turnouts (AN
standing for Australian National) embedded in concrete at the end of the
line, these where removed, cleaned and rebuilt on timber and installed on
the Appleton Dock line.  So Patricks actually stuffed the line but raised
another line from out of the ashes.  The Appleton dock line will see even
more traffic as Globex Bulk Commodity Facility comes on line.  The Webb Dock
line was slated for removal when the freight centre was relocated and no
train had actually run down there in the previous years was evident by the
rail and turnout condition.

With the consolidation of dual gauge access in Appleton dock, rail freight
is starting to take off, all we need now is some more Standard Gauge in the
northern area's.



Stephen Devenish

PS: As a side note, when we decommissioned the Webb Dock line I managed to
Save the old station Sign that hung at the end of the line.  It was in fact
the old Spotswood sign sprayed white.