Re: East Swanston Dock (Patricks)

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

>Yuri J Sos/Melbourne AUS wrote in message
<37d10bf7.8822022@news.enternet.com.au>...
>On Sat, 4 Sep 1999 12:03:30 +1000, "Brian Evans (IOM)"
<bevans@omni.com.au> wrote, and I selectively quote:

>Can anyone please tell me if the rail sidings are still in use at that Site
>and if so how are they connected back to the other side of Footscray Road
in
>Melbourne.

>No Brian, Patricks' siding is located parallel to Appleton Dock and
>direct rail access to East Swanson Dock is just a fond memory.


Yes, sad but try

>There is an easement that swings off the Patricks' siding between
>stacks of containers towards East Swanson Dock which may still have BG
>rail pretty well buried in it; BG track is still visible where it
>crosses the road into a another freight forwarder's premises.  It may
>be that it will turn into a rail line some day.

No, sorry we pulled it up at the start of 1997, removed the level crossing
materials for the new? road onto the coal  area (with will be decommisioned
when the new road is built.  The only rail left was the stuff in the road
ways, Port of Melbourne Authority didn't want to spend the money to remove
it.  All the rail released from these lines was either used in the dual
gauging of the line or was destroyed by the MUA when they decided to weld it
all together to make a barrier for the trains during the strike.  Perhaps I
should have told them that just having it sitting on the track was enough,
oh well there goes a lot of good rail straight to the scapper.

>Have a look at
>http://www.railpage.org.au/steam4me/images/current/appleton.jpg for an
>overall view of Appleton Dock, the right most track in the foreground
>(set of points on it midway down) is Patricks' siding.  The line that
>disappears into the bottom of the photo swings almost underneath the
>northern approaches to the Bolte Bridge and in fact crosses Footscray
>Road just west of the freeway and under the north bound access ramp.

>From there it links up to the Standard gauge behine the fruit market then
onward to the rest of Australia on the Standard Gauge.  The Broad gauge
splits just prior to the flower market I think.  If I remember the ARTC
Tender docs correctly all this track is managed by ARTC and maintained by
ABB (ARTC Contract not VLINE).

>As a footnote, the old railway easement that used to carry the line
>away from the Appleton Dock track towards Swanson Dock West is being
>converted into a street, probably to allow truck access to the new
>silos (would that be right Stephen?)

Correct, the new road to replace the new road that we built in 1997 will go
along the old rail line and swing into the new terminal.  When I get the
time I will scan in the plans and post them (OOOPS I forgot I would get
flammed posting a Binary to this No Binary Newsgroup) perhaps I will email
them to both Chris and Yuri for inclusion on there web pages.

Trackwork is finished at Appleton Dock now all we need are some trains to
see if the biys built it correctly.
Good work Steve B (if you are reading this) and Kevin G


>Regards
>
>Yuri


Nuff Said

PS: For all those who care, Boorcan siding on the Warrnambool Line was
decommissioned on Sunday 29th August 1999 (by me and the boys).  All that
remains on the mainline are the old mounds for the reversers and the old
site of the switch stand (which is in my front yard).  The sidings are still
intact for the moment, a sad day for the rail fan.


Stephen Devenish

"Where out of Terrang, through Boorcan, through Camperdown and heading for
Colac, and welding while we go"