Archive for August, 2022

Photos from ten years ago: August 2012

Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is August 2012. Trains We start the month at Footscray station, back when there were only four tracks – not six. The reason for my visit – DERMPAV were due to pass through with their 1920s railcar RM58. I also made […]

Google Street View drives down the tracks

For the past decade Google has sent their Street View cars all over Melbourne, but a mate of mine recently spotted on in an odd place – going for a drive down the tracks on the Lilydale line. This doesn’t look like a road, does it? But in September 2019 whoever was driving the Google […]

How many train drivers does it take to drive a train across Australia?

Australia is a big country, with a transcontinental rail journey taking days – far long than an human can possibly stay awake. So how do these train keep running? Asking why I went down this rabbit hole after Philip Mallis asked on Twitter why The Overland stopped at Dimboola for a crew changeover, partway through […]

Australia’s train radio “break of gauge”

It’s pretty common knowledge that Australia’s rail network is a mess of different rail gauges, preventing freight and passengers from travelling across Australia without changing trains. But did you know that’s not the only incompatibility holding back rail in Australia – there is also a mess of different train radio systems. How we got there […]

Melbourne’s mysterious ‘City Circle’ train

The other week fellow transport Philip Mallis raised an interesting question – would the average Melbournian know what a ‘City Circle’ train is, if they were told to catch one? Philip Mallis photo The back story The City Loop encircles the Melbourne CBD, with train services from different lines taking different routes around it at […]