Wonderful research and photos mate, great stuff. Love the old trains and it's amazing to see how the landscape and buildings have changed. I remember the old Spencer Street from the 80's and 90's and as a kid I was fascinated by the big mural on the wall. I hadn't been to Melbourne for a few years and by then "Spencer St" had become "Southern Cross", I couldn't believe it was the same place. It's kind of sad but I guess that's progress.
I was a Guard on the suburban trains from 1980 to 1990. We did our safe-working training upstairs in the station building. There were about 20 of us in the training course and there was an ash tray on every desk. I think all but one of us smoked. Amazing looking back on it.
The railway network and infrastructure is one of the oldest standing pieces of history we can still see today (Churches is another) - interesting how smoking was a social thing !
As a kid in in the 1970 i was at Spencer Street Station many times. There was a Café on the frist floor and you had a good look over the station. Today this station ist not a nice place to stay
I have to agree, it would appear that a certain group within society have moved from the Flinders Street Station to the Southern Cross forecourt and surround with anti-social behaviour often on display
I didn't note it, but I also forgot about the full size carriage / art sculpture that's on an upright angle on the NW corner of Spencer and Flinders St's
What ever happened to the beautiful scale model EMD (diesel electric) locomotive that was adjacent to the northern entrance at Spence St Station, circa 1980?
wow never knew that ... didn't really use Spencer St station as a kid much; always got off at Flinders St ... hopefully it's on display in a museum for public viewing somewhere !
They were my pre-teenage years and I thought even then, the station at Spencer St was lacking in any design and function; more a case of it being slapped together and ''she'll be right'' attitude ... but that's just me !
Great photos from the old Spencer Street station. I don't like the new "Southern Cross" at all. Nonsensical name, expensive roof that traps all the diesel fumes, platforms further away from the entrance than previously, takes longer to get to them due to multiple up and down stair/escalator rides. Old subway worked much better. The new station costs hundreds of millions and is not an improvement over what was there previously
History is lost when some like a "shiny penny" ... I would have liked if they kept or at least reproduced the old ticket and food / refreshment store fronts and maybe had a permanent exhibit of a steam engine !
I think the whole idea of the expensive roof was specifically to dissipate all the diesel fumes. I'm no engineer so I can't say whether the principle is valid or not, but I assume it does the job expected of it.
@@philroberts7238 It might have been a great idea on paper. But in reality it doesn't work at all. Not only does it trap the fumes, the new design of the station forces passengers and workers at the stores on the higher levels up into the area where there are more fumes, closer to the roof. The old design allowed people to go under the platforms, for a quicker journey and with less exposure to fumes.
@@jdillon8360 Don't agree, I spent a lot of time at the new Southern cross station during my last 3 years working for metro and fumes were not a problem at all.
@@mendocinobeano I'm glad you had a good experience working there and the fumes weren't a problem for you. I find as a transport user that I can definitely smell and see the smoke. I still maintain that in many aspects the new station gives a poorer experience than the old one. But I'm glad you had no problems there.
"Southern Cross" Station,is still Spencer Street Station to me,thank you!.
absolutely, it is name we have today but many reminisce when it was called Spencer St Station
@@urbanaerialexplorer1885 Ditto
Here here ...... agree 100% & don't be afraid to call it that instead of the other name.
Wonderful research and photos mate, great stuff. Love the old trains and it's amazing to see how the landscape and buildings have changed. I remember the old Spencer Street from the 80's and 90's and as a kid I was fascinated by the big mural on the wall. I hadn't been to Melbourne for a few years and by then "Spencer St" had become "Southern Cross", I couldn't believe it was the same place. It's kind of sad but I guess that's progress.
Interesting how one looks at history in Victoria, the you soon discover how the rail network and infrastructure plays a significant role
cracking aerial photo at 4:50 - exactly how I remember that part of town
it wasn't pretty, but a functioning part of town as I remembered it as a kid
Yeah, everything was better in the olden days. Till Footscray became western Bulldogs, south Melb became Sydney, and Spencer became southern cross.
@@servantofgod5642 and Museum became Melb Central
@@a7128 yeah and I became a museum
I was a Guard on the suburban trains from 1980 to 1990. We did our safe-working training upstairs in the station building. There were about 20 of us in the training course and there was an ash tray on every desk. I think all but one of us smoked. Amazing looking back on it.
The railway network and infrastructure is one of the oldest standing pieces of history we can still see today (Churches is another) - interesting how smoking was a social thing !
I still refer to it as Spencer Street Station,thank you!.
Me too
I dreamed of getting inside that model in the early 70's.
That model of B60 is now preserved out side the front of the admin office at Progressive Rails Newport workshops
As a kid in in the 1970 i was at Spencer Street Station many times. There was a Café on the frist floor and you had a good look over the station. Today this station ist not a nice place to stay
I have to agree, it would appear that a certain group within society have moved from the Flinders Street Station to the Southern Cross forecourt and surround with anti-social behaviour often on display
Any mention of the big model diesel loco that in the olden days was at the entrance from the car park?
I didn't note it, but I also forgot about the full size carriage / art sculpture that's on an upright angle on the NW corner of Spencer and Flinders St's
What ever happened to the beautiful scale model EMD (diesel electric) locomotive that was adjacent to the northern entrance at Spence St Station, circa 1980?
wow never knew that ... didn't really use Spencer St station as a kid much; always got off at Flinders St ... hopefully it's on display in a museum for public viewing somewhere !
Damn spencer is so cool 😎
I'm not sure if it was cool - but definitely different to most stations !
Can we go back to 1970s plz I want to be inside that world 🌍
They were my pre-teenage years and I thought even then, the station at Spencer St was lacking in any design and function; more a case of it being slapped together and ''she'll be right'' attitude ... but that's just me !
Got renamed in 2005 for the commonwealth games was 2015 you say when it was officially changed?
It could have been a typo by the source I had researched - Thank-you for bring it to the attention for others that might also have concern 👍
Great photos from the old Spencer Street station. I don't like the new "Southern Cross" at all. Nonsensical name, expensive roof that traps all the diesel fumes, platforms further away from the entrance than previously, takes longer to get to them due to multiple up and down stair/escalator rides. Old subway worked much better. The new station costs hundreds of millions and is not an improvement over what was there previously
History is lost when some like a "shiny penny" ... I would have liked if they kept or at least reproduced the old ticket and food / refreshment store fronts and maybe had a permanent exhibit of a steam engine !
I think the whole idea of the expensive roof was specifically to dissipate all the diesel fumes. I'm no engineer so I can't say whether the principle is valid or not, but I assume it does the job expected of it.
@@philroberts7238 It might have been a great idea on paper. But in reality it doesn't work at all. Not only does it trap the fumes, the new design of the station forces passengers and workers at the stores on the higher levels up into the area where there are more fumes, closer to the roof. The old design allowed people to go under the platforms, for a quicker journey and with less exposure to fumes.
@@jdillon8360 Don't agree, I spent a lot of time at the new Southern cross station during my last 3 years working for metro and fumes were not a problem at all.
@@mendocinobeano I'm glad you had a good experience working there and the fumes weren't a problem for you. I find as a transport user that I can definitely smell and see the smoke. I still maintain that in many aspects the new station gives a poorer experience than the old one. But I'm glad you had no problems there.
The sheer amount of Vlocity sets nowadays makes me want to throw up, whatever happened to good old Loco hauled passenger trains :(
progress for better or worse !
Always will be Spencer Street Station to me,thank you."Southern Cross" is nonsense!.
I do prefer Spencer Street Station as it lets you know exactly where it is within the CBD