Waking up in Geelong

Today is Horse Slaughter Day, so let’s jump on a train to Flemington Racecourse.

On the train

Trains start at Flinders Street Station.

First stop Southern Cross.

Then North Melbourne.

Then takes the high level tracks towards the Craigieburn line.

Passing over Moonee Ponds Creek.

Trains to the Showgrounds and Flemington Racecourse run express through Kensington and Newmarket stations.

Where they branch off from the Craigieburn line.

Heading past the Showgrounds.

Until they reach Flemington Racecourse.

Where you can make your way to the track.

Past a massive bank of Myki readers.

Because everything seems to go wrong

A whole lot of drunks onboard a train are a recipe for disaster.

So Victoria Police and Authorised Officers keep an eye on the situation.

Armed with a supply of vomit bags.

As a high profile event it’s also a magnet for protests. On Melbourne Cup Day 2017 refugee activists abandoned a car on the tracks in order to stop trains.

ABC News photo

So in the years that followed Metro Trains staff and a backhoe loader keep an eye on the Ascot Vale Road level crossing.

Equipment failures can also cause problems, such as Oaks Day 2008 when equipment failures shut down trains, stranding thousands of passengers.

The Age photo

So to avoid a occurrence, signalling and track gangs are now on standby, ready to respond.

But the weather is always a hazard, with trains stopped in 2018 thanks to flash flooding.

Metro Trains Melbourne photo

Which required an expensive fix – digging up the tracks to install an upgraded drainage system.

And what about the rest of the year?

The railway to the racecourse doesn’t sit empty all year – trains also serve minor race meets at Flemington.

Running from platform 8 at Southern Cross Station.

And empty trains also stable along the line outside of peak times.

A second life during major works

Flemington Racecourse has also used as a interchange location for rail replacement buses during major works, such as the Regional Rail Link project back in 2011.

Temporary steps linking the platform and bus interchange.

Where a fleet of buses was waiting.

And unexpected visitors

Finally, the Flemington Racecourse line is a popular destination for railfan tours, such as this 1999 outing with the restored Tait set.

Weston Langford photo

In 2009 steam locomotive R707 paid a visit on a 707 Operations mystery tour of suburbia.

I visited Flemington in 2012 aboard railcar RM58 on a tour run by DERMPAV.

And Steamrail Victoria visited in 2013 with steam locomotive K153.

But that isn’t the only unusual visitors to the line – diesel locomotives have used the line to assist during trackwork.

And finally in 2020 I found a High Capacity Metro Train waiting at Flemington Racecourse – completing testing before their entry to service.

Footnote: some history

The Flemington Racecourse line was opened by the Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company in February 1861, as a branch from their railway to Essendon.

The company failed three years later, with the railway laying idle until 1867 when it was taken over by the Victorian Railways and reopened.

The line was electrified in 1918 for testing of Melbourne’s brand new electric trains, with the first train running in October 1918.

PROV image VPRS 12800/P0001 H 2547