Re: [OT] Marvellous Melbourne (was Re: Railway Architecture)

On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 04:42:41 -0700 (PDT), Andrew Clarke
<ajc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Mar 28, 6:18 am, Ian Jelf <i...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

A couple of minor points Andrew,

A lot of Australia's railways were built as "development lines", often
to please the electors of the State MPs who proposed them. Some
serious pork-barrelling used to go on, of the "you vote for my line
and I'll vote for yours" variety. Lines were built that were never
opened, others never saw more than a weekly or even fortnightly mixed,
despite their parliamentary promoters dreams of flourishing new
country towns and thriving family farms. To save money, lines were
built without ballast and (e.g.) 40lb rail, which fatally reduced line
capacity (has anyone thought of rebuilding the Oxford-Cambridge line
to these specifications?). Sealed roads and cheap cars eventually saw
the end of these lines, although many stayed open, ironically, because
instead of promoting rural industries, they proved to be themselves
the main rural industry and source of employment in many a country
town.

In Victoria, nothing was built on less than 60lb per yard rail - even the
2'6" narrow gauge lines. I rode over most of these lines in Victoria by rail
motor and steam or diesel goods train, mostly in the Guard's Van or in the
cab of the loco. I had plenty of opportunity to stare at the rails and note
where they came from whilst shunting was being done or for a connecting
service.

http://www.brownfam.com.au/trainpics.htm

From what I can remember, most of the rail originated in places in the UK
like Sheffield, Krupps in Germany, and in the US. It was fine when the axle
loading didn't exceed 12T, but when diesels took over from steam in the late
60's and started running goods train services, rail breakages were not
uncommon.

Meanwhile, the main interstate lines are caught between the private
car (much cheaper and faster) and the airlines (much faster and a lot
cheaper if you get the discount fares). When the Hume Highway was
sealed all the way from Sydney to Melbourne, it was the beginning of
the end of the named overnight trains: once the four-lane highway was
opened, that was it. The lines themselves were not built for speed --
freight was always a priority -- and so even now, the railways will
get you from Canberra to Melbourne by road coach from Canberra as far
as Cootamundra or Albury, to avoid the steepish gradients and reverse
curves west of Goulburn.

What really killed the interstate passenger train was the freeing up of
airline regulations allowing air fares to be heavily discounted. This
resulted also in an incredible leap in air passenger numbers and flights as
well. Now Mascot airport (the main domestic and international airport for
Sydney and the main point of entry into Australia, is so clogged up that
planes circling in a holding pattern above for half an hour, is not
uncommon.

The Sydney to Melbourne air route is the 6th busiest air traffic corridor in
the world, yet the only plans to cope with further expansion have involved
more runways. Any serious effort to plan for a VHST which in this day and
age of fuel and environment concerns could provide the best option, is not
being considiered by Federal or State parliaments. Meanwhile, Sydney airport
made over AUD24 million profit on its carparks. I think too many vested
interests would rather there be no alternative..

A little belatedly, the railways did try to rationalise their
networks and concentrate on "freight centres" but as is usually the
case, customers found that it was quicker and cheaper to leave their
consignments on the truck and bypass rail altogether.

To be fair, though, the Metropolitan networks are comprehensive and
popular, at least in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.  

The real miracle is Perth, where in the 1970s they were seriously
considering closing down their suburban lines. These days they're
electrified, they're busy and at least one new line is under
construction. Hobart really was a terminal case, and its narrow gauge
diesel commuter railcars ceased to run in the 1970s.

(I was less
impressed by the Adelaide network and indeed by Adelaide's public
transport in general.   They all seem "intermodally disjointed" -
ghastly phrase! - when compared to Melbourne, though.)

Adelaide has just recently opened its new tramway extension through the
middle of the city. Embarrassingly enough for the State government, it's
proving very popular and further extensions are mooted. Meanwhile, Adelaide
people are wondering why they got rid of their trams in the late 1950's in
the first place when Melbourne kept theirs.....but that's another very
interesting story...

Everthing else is fairly accurate.

Les Brown.
(Melbourne)
.

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