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31Jul/150

Chasing the Maryvale Paper Train

Well, not really chasing, more like just being in the right place at the right time. It turns out they've flipped the schedule on this and the UP service now runs through to the CBD at around 2pm daily.

This is nothing short of perfectly timed. The steel runs down around 3 hours earlier... it's therefore good to go and stretch the legs when these services come through the area.

Malvern Station

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Armadale Station

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Toorak Station

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Hawksburn Station

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Just past Hawksburn

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South Yarra Station

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Just after South Yarra Station

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The curve after South Yarra, just before Richmond...

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Richmond Station

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Nice and colourful... no post processing on any pics!

19Nov/140

Melbourne August/September 2014

Only two months behind... here's the highlights from South Yarra over August/September this year.

Metro's Inspection Train

Metro have converted an old passenger car into an inspection vehicle. It's known as IEV102 has equipment for monitoring the lines it is dragged over. You'll always see it top-and-tailed by T classes.

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BG Steel with Green G

A green Pacific National G spent a weekend on the steel train.

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Steamrail to Eltham

Not quite South Yarra, but venturing out to see a steamer very early was rewarded by a surprise sighting of the other Metro inspection vehicle: IEV100.

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Railside in Cremorne

There is a pretty cool spot just before the Yarra river in Cremorne to take morning photos.

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Batman St Overpass: Cremorne

And then there's the Batman St overpass, but it's a little too under-the-level.

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Carpark ramp at end of Palmer Parade

If you keep wandering down Batman St and take a right on Palmer Pde, you'll find a carpark (that looks abandoned.) It has a ramp that gives you an elevated view towards South Yarra Station. Of course, you're then stuck in the wires and the shot Northbound gets a lens full of sunlight in the morning.

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Y class to Long Island

But then, something cool happened... BL Steel with a Y Class loco transfer! This supposedly happens once a year.. the loco gets swapped out for routine maintenance back in Dynon.

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Between Hawksburn and South Yarra

Turns out that you can get some pretty clean shots facing towards Hawksburn... although you really have very little time to get ready. Zero visibility doesn't give you too much warning.

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And the final steel for the month...

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17Aug/140

Hawksburn Station

Boredom made me hold the finger on the trigger....

Hawksburn Comeng

Who would've thought animated GIFs would ever be cool again?

15May/140

South Yarra and Hawksburn

South Yarra is a suburb of Melbourne located to the south-east of the city grid. It is a junction for the Sandringham line which splits from the Cranbourne/Pakenham and Frankston lines. Being two stops from Flinders Street Station (which may as well be known as 'Central' for suburban services) it sees a lot of traffic.

The next stop down the main line is Hawksburn and there's some fairly scenic spots along the line between these two stations. There's also a lot of traffic to be seen during daylight hours.

Most of this traffic is Metro Trains Melbourne's standard suburban stock of either the Siemens EMUs or the refurbed Comeng EMUs. Every now and then a V/Line V/Locity or N-Class hauled long-distance passenger service will come through.

Siemens EMU Comeng EMU at Hawksburn V/Line V/Locity at Hawksburn

N-Class V/Line Consist

Every so often, you'll see a freight train. There's currently four services that frequent the area:

  • Long Island Steel Train
    The first off the list has a scheduled path daily around 11:30am. It doesn't often hit this mark, usually much closer to 10:30am on weekdays and then midday on weekends.
  • Apex Gravel Train
    I've sighted the gravel train infrequently. It usually appears at around 8pm on weekdays and I've not successfully captured it during any daylight hours.
  • Morwell Paper Train
    The paper train has made an appearance in the steel train timeslots once or twice. I don't know it's exact schedule and that makes it even harder to spot.
  • Kensington Grain
    This train reverses via Caulfield or Pakenham every so often.

South Yarra Station

Everything south-bound comes through here. Heading north, you get 8 tracks towards Richmond. These tracks all cross the Yarra River at the same time on a very plain concrete bridge. Not very picturesque from afar, but there is a nice pedestrian bridge parallel to it on the east side. This bridge puts you within 2 feet of the bogies of anything southbound on the Pakenham/Dandenong line.

The platforms also provide a vantage point in either direction due to their length. There's a signal box and gantries that can provide good framing. The condos that are going up around the station also help.

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Hawksburn Station

This seems to be another one of Victorian Railways cookie-cutter station templates. 2 bi-directional lines pass through Hawksburn Station, one servicing Frankston and the other Cranbourne/Pakenham. The station was opened on the 7th of May 1879. You'll find that it is very similar to all other stations towards Caulfield.

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Locations

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See the map above for some great locations around the area. I've just realised I've left the bridge north of South Yarra Station off. Not too hard to find though.

Location A: My new favourite spot

Turns out there's a really nice S-Bend between South Yarra and Hawksburn which provides some great locations for capturing these services. The approach towards Hawksburn just before the Cromwell Road overpass provides a great angle to capture traffic from South Yarra with a good amount of scenery for framing. It's also very accessible, legal and, when it's not raining, has heaps of natural light.

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Wide shots allow great framing...

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Whereas the 200mm zoom on my NEX-5R nearly lets me get a good frame on the Jam Factory tunnel...

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Portrait shots work too...

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And if you're feeling game... you can also shoot backwards...

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Location B: Another spot on the way back to South Yarra

And, just in case you've been hanging for a service that hasn't arrived... you can follow the line back to South Yarra and, hopefully, not miss out on any shots. There's a little lane-way named Palfreyman Street. You'll want to be at the northern-most end of it. Once there, you're on the right-hand curve heading out of the Jam Factory tunnel. Depending on the time of day, the lighting can work here too.

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Location C: View from above

The Jam Factory carpark provides quite a good point for photos. You get to choose the elevation. Lighting is an issue though, especially at this time of year. As you are effectively looking east-west the sun will always be shining at you. Fortunately the condo in front of you can block the light (especially around freight-train-o-clock) and help with exposure.

I happened to catch the steel train here on the 17th of May 2014.

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Location D: No photos yet.

There's a few park benches on this grassy knoll; perfect for reading a book or a railway magazine and watching all 4 railway lines heading out of the city. You'll hear all the trains coming from the east as they approach the Jam Factory tunnel and slow down for the curve. You'll also hear anything in the other direction as they alert passengers via South Yarra Station.

I've not actually taken any shots from this location and have nothing to report. I'll do so at some point in the future and update this post.

Location E: Half-way between Hawksburn and Toorak Station

There's a pedestrian bridge half-way back between Toorak and Hawksburn Stations... The stairs on the north-side provide a good view of the rails coming from Hawksburn.

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