| Bendigo Workshops | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Built | November 1917 |
| Location | Bendigo, Australia |
| Products | Trains |
| Buildings | 31 |
| Area | 10.3 hectares |
Bendigo Workshops is a railway workshop in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the north of the city beside the junction of the Yungera and Deniliquin railway lines. The site covers 10.3 hectares of land and has 31 separate buildings, including a 10,000 sqm main workshop building and six kilometres of railway track. [1]
The workshops were opened in November 1917 by the Victorian Railways. It opened in response to political pressures from provincial groups for decentralisation, with the Victorian Railways preferring the cheaper option of expanding the existing Newport Workshops in suburban Melbourne. [2] Furthermore, unemployment had risen in both Bendigo and Ballarat due to a decline in mining operations. [3] The main work carried out was repairs and maintenance of existing wagons and locomotives, however during 1919-22 thirteen new steam locomotives were also built - eight DD class (1033 - 1037, 1047 - 1049) and five A2 class (1078 - 1082). [4]
From the 1950s onwards, numerous steam locomotives were scrapped at the workshops. During the years immediately following nominal dieselisation in 1968, they were, at times, cutting up locomotives at the rate of one every two to three weeks. [3]
The workshops were also the site of the first VR brass foundry, which was transferred to Newport by the 1960s. Also throughout 1965 VLX louvred vans were constructed at the workshops, at a rate of one a week. Other tasks included spring manufacture, construction of stainless steel footwarmers, and assembly of pantographs for electric trains, with a staff of 720 employed during 1966. By the 1980s, refurbishment work was also being carried out on Melbourne suburban electric multiple units.
The 1980s were also a time of restructuring, and on the breakup of the Victorian Railways the workshops passed to the State Transport Authority and then the Public Transport Corporation. With privatisation the workshops were closed, with the loss of 262 jobs. [5] In February 1996, the workshops were taken over by A Goninan & Co. [6]
In October 1999 the workshops were purchased by Great Northern Rail Services, with A Goninan & Co remaining as a tenant. [7] [8] In February 2001 A Goninan & Co vacated the site. [9] [10]
The workshops were redeveloped in 2002 at a cost of $6.5 million - $4 million from VicTrack, $2 million from the State Government Regional Infrastructure Development Fund and $500,000 by the City of Greater Bendigo. The redevelopment was officially opened in 2004, with Empire Rubber (a division of Nylex) the major tenant, producing rubber vehicle components until the company collapsed in 2007. [11] [12] [13]
Since 2009, the workshops had been leased to Southern Shorthaul Railroad, who use the site for locomotive and rollingstock maintenance for Aurizon, GrainCorp, Metro Trains Melbourne, Pacific National, Qube Holdings, Rail First Asset Management and V/Line. [14] [15] [16] In 2012 it built two BRM class locomotives at the workshops. [17]
Sunshine railway station is located on the Sunbury line in Victoria, Australia. Originally named Braybrook Junction for the convergence of the major railways from central Melbourne to Ballarat and Bendigo, it was renamed when the suburb of Sunshine, which it serves, took its name from the nearby Sunshine Harvester Works. With the expansion of the railway network in Melbourne's west, Sunshine grew in importance, with cross-suburban goods routes constructed to Newport and from the adjacent Albion to Jacana line. From the mid-20th century, it became an interchange for the main interstate routes to South Australia and New South Wales, when the through line from Melbourne to Sydney was completed, although the main line to Adelaide was later diverted. In the early 21st century, the station was demolished and reconstructed to serve the diversion of the main passenger route to Geelong and beyond. It has been identified as a possible route for a future line to Melbourne Airport and as an interchange for the orbital Suburban Rail Loop.
St Kilda station is a current tram stop and former railway station, located in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, Australia, and was the terminus of the St Kilda railway line in the Melbourne suburban rail system. It is one of the oldest surviving railway station buildings in Victoria. The building is currently used as retail premises, while the platform serves as stop 132 on tram route 96.
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in the Australian state of Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross railway station in Melbourne. It also provides bus services across Victoria and into New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia. In addition, V/Line is responsible for the maintenance of much of the Victorian freight and passenger rail network outside of the areas managed by Metro Trains Melbourne and the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
The 4D was a prototype double deck electric multiple unit built for the Public Transport Corporation in Victoria, Australia, for operation on the Melbourne railway system. It remains the only double deck train to have ever operated in Melbourne. The train's name stood for "Double Deck Development and Demonstration."
Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations. Most of the lines operated by the Victorian Railways were of 5 ft 3 in. However, the railways also operated up to five 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge lines between 1898 and 1962, and a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge line between Albury and Melbourne from 1961.
The South Gippsland railway line is a partially closed railway line in Victoria, Australia. It was first opened in 1892, branching from the Orbost line at Dandenong, and extending to Port Albert. Much of it remained open until December 1994. Today, only the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne remains open for use. The section of the line from Nyora to Leongatha was used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway until it ceased operations in 2016. The section from Nyora to Welshpool, with extension trail to Port Welshpool and a portion of the former line at Koo Wee Rup, have been converted into the Great Southern Rail Trail.
Southern Shorthaul Railroad is an Australian rail freight services operator in New South Wales and Victoria. The company also provides workshop services, such as rolling stock manufacturing and wagon and locomotive maintenance.
The Victorian Railways L class was a class of electric locomotives built by English Electric and operated by the Victorian Railways and later V/Line from 1953 until 1987 primarily on the Gippsland line. They were the only class of main line electric locomotive operated in Victoria.
The A class are a class of diesel locomotives rebuilt from Victorian Railways B class locomotives by Clyde Engineering, Rosewater in South Australia for V/Line in 1984–1985.
Great Northern Rail Services was a railway operator in Victoria, Australia. Great Northern Rail Services was incorporated in July 1993 and provided locomotives and train crews to other rail operators, ran general train operations and rail vehicle maintenance services in Victoria. The company was the first fully accredited and operational private rail operator in Victoria. The company ceased operations in November 2002 due to the increased public liability insurance costs.
The DRC was a class of railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways on its country rail network in Victoria, Australia. The cars were built by Tulloch Limited in New South Wales, and featured aluminium and steel construction, air-conditioning, and twin diesel engines with hydraulic transmissions.
The Sprinter is a diesel railcar built by A Goninan & Co in Broadmeadow, NSW for V/Line between 1993 and 1995.
The S class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Victorian Railways between 1957 and 1961.
The Newport Railway Workshops is a facility in the Melbourne suburb of Newport, Australia, that builds, maintains and refurbishes railway rollingstock. It is located between the Williamstown and Werribee railway lines.
The Newport Railway Museum is located on Champion Road, Newport, Victoria, near the North Williamstown station.
Ballarat North Workshops is a railway engineering facility in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It occupies 5.5 hectares of land beside the junction of the Mildura and Serviceton railway lines.
Jolimont Workshops was a railway workshop operated by the Victorian Railways beside Jolimont Yard, near the Melbourne CBD, Australia. Opened in 1917 and dedicated to the maintenance and repair of electric multiple units and locomotives, it was the first part of the yard to be closed and relocated, with demolition completed in 1994. The site is now part of the Melbourne Park tennis complex.
Jolimont Yard was an array of railway lines and carriage sidings on the edge of the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. Located between Flinders Street station, Richmond Junction, the Yarra River and Flinders Street they were often criticised for cutting off the city from the river, being the site of many redevelopment proposals. The Princes Gate Towers were built over part of the yard in the 1960s, which themselves were replaced by Federation Square in the 2000s. The rail sidings themselves were progressively removed from the 1980s to the 1990s with only running lines today, but the area continues to be referred to as the 'Jolimont railyards' by Melburnians.
The Victorian Railways E class was a class of electric locomotive that ran on the Victorian Railways (VR) from 1923 until 1984. Introduced shortly after the electrification of the suburban rail system in Melbourne, Australia, and based on the same electrical and traction equipment as Melbourne's early suburban electric multiple unit fleet, they provided power for suburban goods services and shunting for six decades.