The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

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Old Man Aaron
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Old Man Aaron » Tue Sep 28, 2021 8:42 am

Melbournesparks wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:55 am "He is to be given access to all the infrastructure and facilities under our control, for the purposes of a thorough inspection."

"We're going to need to hide some stuff"
I know that feeling! :roll:

I somehow missed reading the Inspector's visit to the CCT, Mitch - sorry this is late, but nicely done. "Robin" goes well with those coaches, I must say.
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Mitch stack
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Mitch stack » Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:16 am

he likes his "Yoga" routine so give him some time for that i suppose!

Is that the Yoga that comes in cans and bottles??
Last edited by Mitch stack on Sat Jan 13, 2024 7:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Andrew » Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:15 pm

Old Man Aaron wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 8:42 am
I somehow missed reading the Inspector's visit to the CCT, Mitch - sorry this is late, but nicely done. "Robin" goes well with those coaches, I must say.
Me too, I think I was on holiday - lovely photos, thanks Mitch. And yes, I agree about the loco and carriages combination, looks great.

Andrew.

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Lonsdaler » Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:52 pm

Melbournesparks wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:55 am
"Well he's going to be here next week apparently. He is to be given access to all the infrastructure and facilities under our control, for the purposes of a thorough inspection."

"We're going to need to hide some stuff"

:lol: There was quite a bit he didn't see on the GWLR as well! Found him very easy to distract though - I'm sure you'll be fine! :salute:
Phil

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Lonsdaler » Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:54 pm

Glad he's resurfaced after the visit to Mitch's railway. I'm in no position to complain or criticise - he went dark here in the North west for far longer!
Phil

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Tropic Blunder » Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:36 pm

I believe in between visits to Mitches and the NEVR he was visiting other railways his reports just havent managed to escape the hills as of yet. Reception is terrible up in the Dandenongs and as soon as he makes it back to a nice hotel user "Cooltrain" will update us :)
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Lonsdaler » Wed Sep 29, 2021 11:56 am

Tropic Blunder wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:36 pm I believe in between visits to Mitches and the NEVR he was visiting other railways his reports just havent managed to escape the hills as of yet. Reception is terrible up in the Dandenongs and as soon as he makes it back to a nice hotel user "Cooltrain" will update us :)
Good stuff! Look forward to catching up :salute:
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Melbournesparks » Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:14 am

Originally I only had three lines that I was planning to visit here in Victoria, but during my inspection of the Cockatoo Creek tramway it came to my attention that there is another operation in the general area. Not a real railway maybe, but a volunteer run heritage tramway. Despite the short notice I immediately planned a visit, no line can be allowed to escape inspection! Lucky I did, as it turned out I had quite a bit to get through on this one. In the interests of accurate note taking in the field, and for once having use of my phone in this part of the world I have dictated notes and recorded conversations which are transcribed below.


Part 1: The Eltham South Electric Tramway

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The grey green bush rolls past the window of the North East Victoria railway's passenger train as it makes its way north. I will be thoroughly inspecting this line in due course, but today I am just a passenger. My destination today is the junction of the EST where apparently it has a track connection to the NEVR.
Unfortunately after a conversation with the conductor my hopes for any sort of convenience were dashed. The NEVR hasn't run through to the EST exchange sidings in a while and the train was not even timetabled to stop at the junction today! Fortunately, perhaps sensing my official purpose the conductor offered to arrange an unscheduled stop for me.

I watched the NEVR train's marker lights disappear into the distance with some regret, the facilities here are not promising. Just a single set of points, locked for the main line. The rusty rails which I am led to believe are the former Mt Pleasant line curve away into the grass. No sign of any recent traffic, passenger or otherwise. My earlier ambitions of simply crossing the (non existent) platform now seemed rather ambitious. The EST does not, apparently, run all the way through to the junction and actually terminates at the old exchange sidings slightly to the east, so it looks like I will be walking.

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15 minutes of walking along the overgrown track later I caught sight of something that lifted my near non existent optimism a little: the end of the overhead wires. Being a keen enthusiast of all kind of rail infrastructure I was eager to see how the tramway museum would go about maintaining and operating an electrified line.

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My higher spirits were short lived. After crossing a rickety bridge and climbing up onto the passenger platform, it was clear that this line was no longer in operation. The yard is overgrown, the uninspiring pebble mix station building deserted.

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Peering through the locked doors into the dusty waiting room did nothing to encourage me further, it might as well still have been the 1990's in there. The first sign that the heritage tramway was ever a going concern was a yellowing paper timetable taped to the window, time of last departure an hour ago.

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I considered my options. The next NEVR train to pass the junction was hours away, maybe I should consider booking into the local pub or inn.

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For want of something better to do I went for a walk around the overgrown yard. No luck for finding somewhere to stay, unlike civilized parts of the world there is not a pub every mile and the "town" (term used loosely) of West Grasslands consists of little more than a few streets and a general store.

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My attention was drawn to this unusual bit of trackwork, a single slip which also only uses single point blades. A bit unconventional.

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Once there had evidently been a fully interlocked mechanical signaling installation here, but all that remains is the foundations of the signal box. I am not used to seeing this level of infrastructure decay at the lines I normally visit.

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In the down direction the line crossed a moderately substantial bridge before disappearing into a tunnel. The post for the home signal still stood, the signals themselves missing.

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The bridge lacked both check rails and any sort of walkway, so I elected to clamber down the bank and cross the dry waterway at ground level.

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The tunnel is curved, length indeterminate. The sun was setting so I didn't feel the need to walk any further in this direction.

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The fluorescent platform lights indicated power was still up to the building at least. I made an inspection of the platform bench, though I can speak from experience when I say that platform benches are among the least desirable accommodations. Since, technically, I was to be granted access to all rail properties for inspection I'm sure a little breaking and entering will be overlooked. The waiting room doors were secured, but the bolt on the ticket office door around the back was no match for a swift kick.

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Fortunately for me the ticket office was not nearly as abandoned as I first thought, inspecting the fridge revealed the tramway preservation society had been here recently. After inspecting the quality of some beverages stored within, and the couch in the former staff room it was time to call it a night. Hopefully tomorrow will be more promising.
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by philipy » Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:42 am

Wonderfully evocative photos.
I think that once the Inspector is safely on his way to pastures new, we would all like a little background to the line please?
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Peter Butler » Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:59 am

Great story, well presented and illustrated with such excellent photographs, some could even be mistaken for a model railway !!!!!
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by BertieB » Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:04 pm

Melbournesparks wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 11:14 am "...no line can be allowed to escape inspection!..."
Blimey! I hope not... But what a wonderful set of pictures. The volunteer run heritage tramway looks amazing.

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by ge_rik » Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:33 pm

A wonderful set of photos of a forgotten corner of the continent.
I too was intrigued by that single slip - something you built yourself?

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Lonsdaler » Fri Oct 08, 2021 6:07 pm

This is good stuff! A really evocative set of pictures, with the hint of a back story to come. Though I must say I am deeply disappointed Mr IN Spectre resorted to physical force on the bolt. Surely his sonic screwdriver would have sorted it in a jiffy :lol:
Looking forward to the next instalment.
Phil

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Melbournesparks » Sat Oct 09, 2021 2:53 am

Thanks for reading so far! Apologies in advance this ended up rather long, part 2 is coming shortly
ge_rik wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:33 pm A wonderful set of photos of a forgotten corner of the continent.
I too was intrigued by that single slip - something you built yourself?

Rik
It is a conversion of a simple crossing, the single bladed points allow the curved route to have a larger radius than would be possible if it used double bladed points.
Lonsdaler wrote: Fri Oct 08, 2021 6:07 pm This is good stuff! A really evocative set of pictures, with the hint of a back story to come. Though I must say I am deeply disappointed Mr IN Spectre resorted to physical force on the bolt. Surely his sonic screwdriver would have sorted it in a jiffy :lol:
Looking forward to the next instalment.
Ah yes, maybe he left it in his case!
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Melbournesparks » Sat Oct 09, 2021 3:22 am

Part 2: The Journey

My somewhat improvised accommodation proved to be at least satisfactory, and better than the alternatives. I woke up with the magpies and kookaburras singing, and.. the unmistakable screech of flanges?

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I rushed out onto the platform, almost not believing my eyes at the sudden appearance of a little 4 wheel tram and bogie trailer arriving from the direction of the hills! Apparently my pessimism about the continued existence of the tramway preservation society was unfounded.

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Passenger loading is done on the non platform side, the rollingstock being unsuitable for the high level passenger platform.

I immediately sought out the crew and introduced myself to driver Erin, conductor Malcom and shunter/pointsman/whatever Steve.

"Oh.. you're THAT mr. Spectre! We were definitely expecting you!" Steve was saying
"what"
"we were?"
"It was in the weekly notice"
"you know I don't read those"
"I had notifications turned off"

I noted that the timetable taped to the window of the station building did not seem to match reality.

"Yeah that is actually the public holiday timetable" Malcom was saying.
"Though we normally would have run yesterday, but SOMEONE had to work"
"Some of us also get paid to drive trams."

I inquired as to when the return trip was to depart, as soon as we finish shunting apparently.

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I observed with interest as Steve pulled the coupling pins. There did not appear to be any continuous braking system. Erin ran the tram down to the stop board and swung the trolley pole while Steve changed the points. With the interlocking and point rodding long gone apparently the preferred method is a crowbar!

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A handful of intending passengers milled around the yard, apparently zero attempt is made to separate passengers from rail traffic here.

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Normally I would be highly critical of allowing passengers to board while shunting was in progress, riding on the steps, lack of proper point locking and several other points, but apparently all of those things a rather more relaxed for a tramway.

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I inquired as to the lack of a continuous braking system. I observed that the tram and trailer were actually from two completely different Australian systems and the straight air brake on the tram was incompatible with the Eames vacuum brake on the trailer.

"Yeah it is a bit of an improvisation" Malcom admitted.
"We always have problems with capacity as traffic starts to pick up this time of year. We don't have enough qualified crews to run more frequently."

"what would you do if the set became separated?" I asked. This seemed highly improper.
"I'm not leaning on this handbrake wheel for looks" Steve said.
"It isn't any different to operating a passenger tram with handbrake only which is perfectly allowed"

I conceded that might have been technically correct ("The best kind of correct!") but nevertheless I elected not to ride on the trailer!

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Erin answered Malcom's right away with two bells and we're off.

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As we roll along through the weeds Erin is giving me a rundown on the line.
"The tramway took over the former Mt Pleasant line in the early 1990's, it is now one of the longest heritage tramways in Australia. We usually operate three return trips a day on weekends, more on public holidays. The main traffic is tourists, tramway enthusiasts and bush walkers"

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"This is one of 5 tunnels on the line" Erin was saying as we headed into the darkness.
"This part of the line is pretty flat, but there is a significant climb up into the hills."

I remarked that I would like to inspect the tunnels and other permanent way infrastructure in some more detail.

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"We assumed you would. You might be in luck today, as well as us the other guys are doing a test run their EMU set today, you can probably get them to stop wherever you need to"

The what?

"We share our depot with some privately owned rollingstock, they're not part of the tramway preservation society."

Malcom is announcing the first timetabled stop of Grasslands Loop.

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The loop clearly had not been used in many months, and I found the quantity of spiders in the primitive platform shelter to be excessive.

At this point I thought it prudent to inquire about the safeworking system

"It's actually a staff system" says Erin, gesturing to a collection of staffs hanging from the handbrake wheel.
"unless it is the public holiday timetable or specials are running the loops don't get a lot of use, so we just take all of them with us. It is technically staff and ticket, but without a written ticket. For following moves the staff is carried on the last tram, driver of the first one just has to sight it"

That seemed rather improper.

"Line of sight only for following moves is standard for a tramway"

I would have commented further, but my attention was rather diverted by the condition of the track as the tram rolled from side to side.

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"This is the best bit!" Erin said a little defensively, swinging the controller to full parallel as if to prove it.
"they did 1 in 4 steel sleepers back in heavy rail days, this section is good for 80km/h.

Needless to say I was horrified, even if this tram set was not capable of anything like those speeds.

"Oh we've gone faster for test runs, though it was a little exciting" Malcom was saying.

What rollingstock does the tramway preservation society have that is capable of those speeds?

"the steam railcar."
"The steam tram motor"
"haha allegedly!"
"Don't you want to test it? They supposedly did that on Bondi expresses back in steam days."

Clearly this was going to be one of THOSE operations.

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Fortunately my fear for my life was short lived as Erin applied the brakes.
"Malcom, we're stopping at Gang Gang"

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Apparently informally stopping like this for bush walkers is standard practice, though technically this is a request stop.

Malcom gives the right away and the set picks up speed quickly on a short falling grade.
"See those hills?" Erin says, pointing ahead at where the grade pitched up like the roof of a house.
"1:20 average grade all the way to Falls Loop from here"

I observed this was an extremely steep gradient, i have criticized other lines for less!

"no problem for electric traction" Erin was saying, controller to full parallel again.

What about adhesion?

"That is.. generally no problem, when it is dry. Except for that spot" She said stepping on the sand button as the sound of the traction motors rose suddenly.
"We do have problems with squashed plants on the rails sometimes, you'll have to have a look at the scrubber car later"

Would it not be better to just remove the vegetation?

"what"

Nevermind.

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We made it into Currawong Loop, the main intermediate crossing loop on the line. Facilities are once again appreciated by spiders much more than me.

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The line twists and turns on the climb up to Falls Loop.
"Don't worry only 25km/h for this section" Erin was saying, sensing me eyeing the rough track and precarious looking wooden trestle bridges. I noted that other lines I had recently visited in the Dandenongs had substantially better constructed bridges!

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The vegetation is also changing, the dry open bushland giving way to rainforest in the deep gullies.

Suddenly the lights flickered off and the tram came to a stop. What was that?

"lost the pole" Erin said, leaning out the doorway and pointing at a branch sitting on the overhead which had caused the trolley pole to dewire. "Can you please get that Steve"

"It is a thing that happens down here sometimes, we're pretty reactive with the vegetation cutting. I'll note it for the track gang later."

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The shriek of flanges echos off the cliff faces as the tram set climbed higher into the hills. After doubling back along the ridge, the line curves back again into
"Tunnel 2, the longest tunnel on the line" Erin was saying.
"Curves through more than 90 degrees, and a significant radio dead spot."

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Another short tunnel is encountered just after the Mt Galah request stop.

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The rock walls of the cuttings were almost close enough to kick from the open doorways, I observed that the loading gauge was very restricted for a former heavy rail line.

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Finally the top of the grade came into sight and we clanked over the points into Falls Loop.

I asked if all the passenger facilities on the line were of this condition.
"Yeah they're not great" Malcom admitted.
"we only have so many staff, and you know, priorities..."

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Soon after tunnel 1 was encountered, and the waterfall from which Falls Loop took its name.

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Erin brought the tram to a stop.
"Here we are at Mt Pleasant! I have to go and operate the crossing though"

I was interested to observe the arrangements here.

"One of only two level crossings on the line" she was saying as she walked across to the control cabinet.
"Annoyingly the roadway requires a height clearance far higher than our maximum overhead wire height, so we need.. this arrangement."

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Erin operated the key switch and the overhead wires dropped into position.
"Such a pain, but it was the only way to get it to work. We're hoping to automate this in future."

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Finally the tram set rolled into the Mt Pleasant passenger platform. Most of the passengers wandered off to see the local sights and the crew busied themselves shunting the set for the return trip.

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I am told that this is where the line's depot is and I am keen to see just what sort of rollingstock the tramway preservation society maintains. Despite the unpromising start it is looking like I still have a lot to see!
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by philipy » Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:26 am

Fantastic. Can't wait for Part 2.
Thanks.
Philip

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by ge_rik » Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:16 am

What a fascinating narrative. I love the arrangement for the overhead wires at the level crossing - presumably based on a real prototype??

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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by Peter Butler » Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:34 am

Fascinating storyline beautifully illustrated. I became so engrossed I felt I was there.
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by gregh » Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:52 am

What a fantastic railway.
Thanks for the enjoyable narrative, but the pictures just take over and I can't move on.
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Re: The Great Garden Railway Inspection Reports

Post by GAP » Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:20 pm

A masterful piece of story telling backed up by some excellent pictures made for an enjoyable read.
Very well done on the line.
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