Hi all, Here are a couple of additional notes: - I say at both 0:51 and 9:43 that Route 96 trams turn south onto Fitzroy Street from St Kilda Station. They actually turn south-west. - At 11:57, I say that the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant closed down in 2020. It actually closed down in 2018 due to safety concerns. - At 7:51 I talk about how the Middle Park Station building was retained when the line was converted. I did not mention that the original building was destroyed by a fire in February 2018, and was rebuilt. - At 8:17 when I talk about St Kilda Station, I completely forgot to mention that St Kilda was the junction for the St Kilda - Windsor railway line, which originally connected the Sandringham line at Windsor to the rest of the railway network, and fell into disuse when the direct route via South Yarra to Richmond was built in 1860. I'll add additional notes if I find any more errors, or if anything changes in the future.
A couple of points I might add: 1. The station building at Middle Park suffered a fire, I can't remember the date, but it was in the last couple of decades. It was rebuilt with a shortened awning, as opposed to the full-width design like the one at Port Melbourne 5:48. 2) You didn't mention the rail link between St Kilda and Windsor stations. Great video 👍
@@rus0004 I didn’t realise that there was a fire at Middle Park, thanks for pointing that out. Also, I completely forgot to mention the St Kilda-Windsor link. Glad you enjoyed the video!
It's Bridport Street in Albert Park, not Birdport. Fascinating video as I grew up in Port Melbourne and Graham was my station. Very few people actually travelled beyond Graham. I remember vividly the politics of the time when the Liberals planned to close the lines and convert them to light rail. John Cain and Labor campaigned to save the lines and we were excited when he won. Of course, eventually he changed his mind and we accepted the inevitable. I'm surprised the announcement was in 1983 as Labor only won office the year before. I thought it came after their re-election in 1985. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!
Thanks for the good video. I travelled on the StK line to go to Melb Uni when I was 18-20 (1985-87). It was a good line that quickly (10 mins, StK-Flinders St; PM line was only 7 mins) got people into the city and in connection to the rest of the train network, in a way that the light rail does not (the frequency was less though). There was much public opposition to its conversion to light rail (nicknamed, "lie trail" by some). One reason was LR's lack of accessibility for disabled people. As a solution, there was for many years afterward, a small public bus that ran around Middle Park etc, operating as a sort of private taxi service for disabled people who couldn't use the light rail/tram. I heard at the time that some people in wheelchairs had chosen to live along the RW lines because of their accessibility, which makes sense given that most of Melb's inner suburbs have mainly trams. I don't know why the bus doesn't run anymore but maybe its service was taken over by disabled taxis. There was also a proposal at the same time to extend the light rail to Elwood but this obviously did not proceed (there was opposition to this plan too, which, conveniently, the govt did take notice of). A few years later, there was a proposal to convert the Upfield line to light rail (and use part of its reserve for what became CityLink) but that scheme got knocked on the head (ironically by the Kennett govt, which didn't like PT much).
1:19 This photo was most likely taken in 1985 or early 1986 as the Rialto building that was opened in late 1986/early 1987 can be seen in a mostly completed state and took three years to build. It was also the tallest building in Australia until the Q1 tower was completed.
As a kid in the 1960s, my Mum would take us for a day in the city during school holidays. We would walk to North Port and take the train - classic Melbourne Red Rattlers. Great days 🥰
It is a shame that the tramcar restaurant shut down, as I never got the chance to go on it. Certainly a unique experience, and I hope they do reinstate it.
Great video. Thanks for sharing. When first moving down here in Melbourne from Sydney back in 1981, I remember traveling on the trains on the Port Melbourne and St Kilda lines. Many years ago, cable trams used to run to Port Melbourne via a different route, which later became operated by buses.
Yes, that is more likely the bus route that replaced the cable tram. It is a pity that they didn't keep the cable tram routes for Port Melbourne and Collingwood as they were, as they would be quite a tourist attraction these days. Both cable tram routes were replaced by buses.
Its a bit disappointing that Melbournes original train lines were closed. Though converting the line to lightrail was probably at the right time as if it was left for Jeff Kennett, it would probably be a bus service and probably no Montague Street Bridge to decapitate trucks. But as long as trucks continue to crash into it, im good as even man with a van didnt have a plan to avoid getting his truck scraped by Monty which is due for another victim
Light rail was probably best for those lines as they were the two shortest lines on the network. And it is good to have a laugh whenever Monty claims another victim (any day now...).
@@tekkies-transportI believe it was less the shortness of the routes and more the inability to use the City Loop - but I'm happy to be corrected on that point.
@@beasts4life_99, Sandringham can theoretically use the Loop and if I recall correctly has at some point used the Loop on weekends. Ironically, the Sandringham trains generally through routed with Port Melbourne and St. Kilda
Hi all,
Here are a couple of additional notes:
- I say at both 0:51 and 9:43 that Route 96 trams turn south onto Fitzroy Street from St Kilda Station. They actually turn south-west.
- At 11:57, I say that the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant closed down in 2020. It actually closed down in 2018 due to safety concerns.
- At 7:51 I talk about how the Middle Park Station building was retained when the line was converted. I did not mention that the original building was destroyed by a fire in February 2018, and was rebuilt.
- At 8:17 when I talk about St Kilda Station, I completely forgot to mention that St Kilda was the junction for the St Kilda - Windsor railway line, which originally connected the Sandringham line at Windsor to the rest of the railway network, and fell into disuse when the direct route via South Yarra to Richmond was built in 1860.
I'll add additional notes if I find any more errors, or if anything changes in the future.
A couple of points I might add:
1. The station building at Middle Park suffered a fire, I can't remember the date, but it was in the last couple of decades. It was rebuilt with a shortened awning, as opposed to the full-width design like the one at Port Melbourne 5:48.
2) You didn't mention the rail link between St Kilda and Windsor stations.
Great video 👍
@@rus0004 I didn’t realise that there was a fire at Middle Park, thanks for pointing that out. Also, I completely forgot to mention the St Kilda-Windsor link.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
It's Bridport Street in Albert Park, not Birdport.
Fascinating video as I grew up in Port Melbourne and Graham was my station. Very few people actually travelled beyond Graham.
I remember vividly the politics of the time when the Liberals planned to close the lines and convert them to light rail. John Cain and Labor campaigned to save the lines and we were excited when he won. Of course, eventually he changed his mind and we accepted the inevitable. I'm surprised the announcement was in 1983 as Labor only won office the year before. I thought it came after their re-election in 1985. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!
Thanks for the good video. I travelled on the StK line to go to Melb Uni when I was 18-20 (1985-87). It was a good line that quickly (10 mins, StK-Flinders St; PM line was only 7 mins) got people into the city and in connection to the rest of the train network, in a way that the light rail does not (the frequency was less though).
There was much public opposition to its conversion to light rail (nicknamed, "lie trail" by some).
One reason was LR's lack of accessibility for disabled people. As a solution, there was for many years afterward, a small public bus that ran around Middle Park etc, operating as a sort of private taxi service for disabled people who couldn't use the light rail/tram.
I heard at the time that some people in wheelchairs had chosen to live along the RW lines because of their accessibility, which makes sense given that most of Melb's inner suburbs have mainly trams. I don't know why the bus doesn't run anymore but maybe its service was taken over by disabled taxis.
There was also a proposal at the same time to extend the light rail to Elwood but this obviously did not proceed (there was opposition to this plan too, which, conveniently, the govt did take notice of).
A few years later, there was a proposal to convert the Upfield line to light rail (and use part of its reserve for what became CityLink) but that scheme got knocked on the head (ironically by the Kennett govt, which didn't like PT much).
1:19
This photo was most likely taken in 1985 or early 1986 as the Rialto building that was opened in late 1986/early 1987 can be seen in a mostly completed state and took three years to build. It was also the tallest building in Australia until the Q1 tower was completed.
It’s a good feeling when a new Tekkies Transport post is released!
T’is indeed…
As a kid in the 1960s, my Mum would take us for a day in the city during school holidays. We would walk to North Port and take the train - classic Melbourne Red Rattlers. Great days 🥰
I never understood why the colonial tramcar restaurant was closed, I absolutely loved it, great food and views!!
Apparently it was unsafe
It is a shame that the tramcar restaurant shut down, as I never got the chance to go on it. Certainly a unique experience, and I hope they do reinstate it.
@@tekkies-transport annoyingly though its super formal
Great video. Thanks for sharing. When first moving down here in Melbourne from Sydney back in 1981, I remember traveling on the trains on the Port Melbourne and St Kilda lines. Many years ago, cable trams used to run to Port Melbourne via a different route, which later became operated by buses.
Glad you enjoyed it. I assume the bus route that replaced the cable tram was the route 234.
Yes, that is more likely the bus route that replaced the cable tram. It is a pity that they didn't keep the cable tram routes for Port Melbourne and Collingwood as they were, as they would be quite a tourist attraction these days. Both cable tram routes were replaced by buses.
Its a bit disappointing that Melbournes original train lines were closed. Though converting the line to lightrail was probably at the right time as if it was left for Jeff Kennett, it would probably be a bus service and probably no Montague Street Bridge to decapitate trucks. But as long as trucks continue to crash into it, im good as even man with a van didnt have a plan to avoid getting his truck scraped by Monty which is due for another victim
Light rail was probably best for those lines as they were the two shortest lines on the network. And it is good to have a laugh whenever Monty claims another victim (any day now...).
@@tekkies-transport likely going to have to wait until March as the first hit for 2021, 2022 and 2023 was in March
@@tekkies-transportI believe it was less the shortness of the routes and more the inability to use the City Loop - but I'm happy to be corrected on that point.
@@jodij2366unlikely, sandringham doesnt use the loop either
@@beasts4life_99, Sandringham can theoretically use the Loop and if I recall correctly has at some point used the Loop on weekends. Ironically, the Sandringham trains generally through routed with Port Melbourne and St. Kilda
0:06 boomgate still not down as it crosses is a huge no-no. I hope they've fixed that.
No, they haven’t. It’s been broken for ages.