The Abandoned Mont Park Railway Line!
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- 56 Years Ago, A Railway Line Ran To The Mont Park Asylum Facility In Melbourne's North East, Let's See What's Left Of It Today?
The Line Left The Hurstbridge Line At Macleod, And Served The Area For 53 Years.
Thanks for watching!
For any enquiries, contact: aussietrainman@gmail.com
Special thanks to Michael Sainsbery for the assistance!
Support me on Patreon, if you want :) = / the_train_man
Sources
1945.melbourne/
www.montparkto...
www.westonlang...
I do hope that you are still producing videos. As an ex railway worker, I still love trains and find out something new about the old lines. It's 42 years since I left, but it stays with you.
The first object is a wire anchor stay which would have been used to anchor the overhead. At the next staunchion there would have been weights to tension the wire
I've travelled through Macleod station for 40 years and always knew about the Mont Park line and always wondered exactly where it went. Now I know. Great to see photos of it too. Awesome job Train Man. Thanks for solving yet another rail mystery.
I was in Mont Park as I was being assesed for anxiety. I was suffering from Panic attacks. The worst nightmare was being there for 8 weeks. I had agonizing side effects of medications and after I left I stopped taking medication. Now many years on I am medacation free and dealing with Panic Attacks drug free. It was horrible , not to mention abuse.I beat the system though and started up a drama group in my ward which I think was Ward C. Other patients loved Drama class and the high class medicos introduced those on a regular basis. I'm glad it's closed down as it was pretty scary. Today I'm studying to be a caseworker and help people. I remember the station and where you were walking. I got swooped by a magpie where you were walking Lol. Thanks for the uplode.
Can just remember this line when visiting relatives who lived in the area. Vague memories of a red signal on the spur line.
Hi Max, another well done video. In 1958,59 I was involved in the duplication of the line from Heidelberg to Rosanna and Macleod. I worked on the installation of color light signals. At that time the Mont Park goods ran only once a week hauled by an E class electric loco. I had a couple of rides up to the end of the line. Those mystery objects were indeed part of the overhead. Cheers.
@
The Train Man , great vid, buddy, keep them coming !
hows the mornington line line going.
I was a Driver at Hurstbridge for 30 years, and from my early roster books from Hurstbridge it shows the Hurstbridge ABM providing the motive power to haul goods traffic on the line 3 days a week, from Hiedelberg. The 2 Hurstbridge Drivers manning the ABM.
When the "L" class electric loco's were purchased, some of the trials for Dynamic braking were conducted on the steep 1 in 30 gradients of this line.
A serious incident took place on these heavy gradients in the early 60's, when some youths released a series of handbrakes on some vehicles in the Mont Park yard, which rolled away, attaining a significant speed, before wrapping themselves an overhead power staunchen, in the McLeod yard. This would have been around closure time of the line.
Early photos, some you showed in your presentation, show an engine shed at Mont Park, but I sense this is unlikely, and that the line was serviced in the steam suburban days, by the Hiedelberg engine and crew.
Very interesting, especially finding hidden mysteries and forgotten histories in suburban parks.
It is the best feeling finding long lost pieces of railway, I recommend anyone give this walk a go!
@@thetrainman548 I am about to start on a video finding long lost pieces of an old farm house in Lysterfield Lake Park.
@@aspiewithattitude3213 That's pretty cool, I will make sure to give it a watch!
@@thetrainman548 Just this morning, I did premiere a video about this homestead site in Lysterfield, probably similar to your Abandoned Mont Park Railway blog. It's called "Walk With Me #7" on my channel.
Ripping - another obscure lost Melbourne railway line! Good work, Max.
Excellent Max..
Thanks John, happy to hear from you again, enjoying the video :)
Well done once again! Thanks!
Very interesting!!!!
The anchor point with the Hard eye thimble is called the Guying Anchor Point. Wire rope would be feed through a ferrule, looped around the thimble and back through the ferrule, pulling tight around the Hard Eye before the squashing the ferrule tight around the wire rope. this usually happens at both ends of a wire rope cut to the required length. This rope would be used to hard help hold steel structures in place. I hope this helps!!
Had no idea there was a line to mont Park,thanks for infor Train Man
Wow! I love abandoned places
Same here! Thanks for watching
Thank you for the effort you put into your presentations. You bring history alive!
Great video Train Man. Good to see a young person like you putting his talents to good use.
So the item you asked about looks to be an overhead guy wire anchor that would have attached to a structure with tension weights to stop it falling over.
Thanks Robert, I am almost certain it is that after much assistance. I wonder why it was left in the ground?
Abandonment programs sometimes leave things behind. Those anchors are still in the network today with gradual replacement. One recently succumbed to life expiry at Mooroolbark. The structure arrangement has since been replaced. Up until recently where I moved into occupation management I was the MTM EWNO production manager for overhead.
Nice Video Mate! I always love Learning about stuff I didn't know Existed.
Same with me, I didn't know very much about the line until a week ago, so I'm glad I can learn myself, and give others like you the opportunity to learn as well :)
Dear Max the Train Man,
I walked along the Mont Park line about eight years ago. The feature of the line which struck me was the size of the embankments - the fact that such a short line involved so much work for the navvies. If you give me a pre-digital-age mailing address I will send you copies of rail enthusiast excursion brochures dating back to the 1960s, and colour photocopies of tickets for such excursions and of old tram tickets.
My line and l never knew Max. Brilliant and educational as usual. Thumbs up 👍
Good one train Man. I was a frequent user of the Hurstbridge Line and therefore Macleod Station, so it was very familiar to me. Also i remember Mont Park. (the asylum...not the station. 😁)
The book is "Return to Rosstown " by D.F .Jowett and I.G. Weickardt. 1978. Cheers Lou.
Love your work.i hope you keep it up.
I will certainly keep it up, Year 12 this year, and then who knows, endless possibilities!
Just when I was wondering why Macleod was named .. here you are, answering my questions.(Had to look up Mont Park Hospital tho)
Never knew about this! This was truly incredible! Thank you so much 😁
Hey Train Man thanks for your presentation. I am starting to catch up on the history of the Melbourne train system especially the abando ed ones.
Well done Train Man !
Damn pretty cool. I might have to check it out since I live pretty close by
I certainly recommend taking a visit, so, so cool! Thanks for watching mate
Thanks. This is a great video and very informative. Love your work
By the way, well done on another great video.
I reckon you're getting closer to earning your Cert 1 in Railway Archaeology!
Okay, I just made that up. But if there was such a course at Uni, you'd breeze through.
Looking forward to the next mini doco.
With the benefit of hindsight and new information, maybe revisit some old lines you've covered before, but in a more detailed study.
Thank you guys, I am always grateful for the support.
I will certainly need to revisit some of the places I've previously done, some of my videos are not at a great standard haha. A rail archaeology course would be cool wouldn't it!
Awesome work Train Man. You def were already all over this one when I mentioned it to you. Also, nice new hair cut lol
Hi Train Man, About the three rails cemented into the ground. I’m pretty sure that the VR used to use old rail for overhead posts on sidings and lesser lines. I think you'll find that the outer two rails only went up about a third of the height of the post. The VR did something similar on country lines for telegraph lines where they crossed roads and needed extra height for clearance. A bit of a tip when you’re filming your videos. Slow down the side to side movement when panning and keep the view wide, then zoom in when you’ve finished panning if you need to. At the moment it’s a bit head snapping at times. But keep them coming. You’re doing really good. Cheers
I really enjoy your videos! Keep it up! :)
I remember the abandoned station from the days when I worked at Mont [Park. Legend has it that the train struggled to get up the steep incline and made quite a ruckus
Well done Max another very interesting history lesson on Melbourne railways a credit to your research. Thank you!!
Many thanks Andrew, it was good fun retracing and researching the line, I'm glad you enjoyed the video :)
Thank you for your research and video. When I was a kid, they casually or cruelly called it 'The Mont Park Luny Bin.'
Glad you enjoyed the video, I don't know what to say about that nickname though aha
Train Man, I think I've just found the perfect line to explore - and a lot of it is still there, lights, bells and all!
Check out the Webb Dock line along Lorimer street between the Bolte Bridge and the Westgate Bridge.
Unfortunately the big yard just under the Westgate was pulled up only a few years ago (although Marcus Wong 'wongm' managed to get a few pics of the yard before it was pulled up), but a lot of the rest of the line is still in situ, and may even possibly be reopened sometime in the future, but that remains to be seen.
The concrete bridge that took the line over the Yarra is now a footbridge, part of the 'Capital City Trail'.
You can take your bike, or walk the whole route - around 7 km - and then catch a bus (235 or 606) from the Fisherman's Bend terminus on Wharf Rd near where the track finishes back to civilization.
And yep, Weston did take a few good pics of the construction and trains on the line - including a steam special! Check it out.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webb_Dock_railway_line
Train Man,
You're wrong about the track being removed in the 1960s.
I travelled to Hurstbridge with my Dad in 1985 one sunday and I can assure you the Mont Park rail line was intact then and it branched off just before Macleod station heading north.
I saw the line to the west going into the forest.
Mont Park station had been removed but the line was still there.
1985!!!!
Great video once again, the Carlingford line here in Sydney closed in January this year to be replaced by lightrail, i think one of the stations "Dundas" will be preserved unfortunately like most other line closures there will very little evidence of its existance in the not too distant future
Good work lad. I live in Rosanna and I'll look out for it.
02:37 that’s also a wiring thing 03:09 that’s a post of that stick
The literal “crazy train” 😀
Would've been very fun...
Great Video Train man. at 2:31 what you are looking at is a connector for the the overhead cables to the ground.
Thank you for watching, glad you enjoyed! Also thankful for the information on the mystery item, the rail community has certainly helped me gain some knowledge in the comments :)
@@thetrainman548 You will see this connector usually at the end of a line or a terminus station.
I really like your video on ghost stations. Can you do one on Williamstown Pier?🙂
@@verboten82 I included Williamstown Pier in my Williamstown video :), however I visited the wrong spot, my apologies for that
@@thetrainman548 thanks champ. I have to admit i may not have paid attention to it. But will have a look now!. Love all your insights!
It’s still possible the line could connect to the university if it was reopened so it could allow for students to more easily access the campus and for fright to be transported to the campus via the line! :)
Great video Max. I've known about the line but never saw it. As other posters have mentioned , there are plenty of former lines to visit.How about the Former Outer Circle) I walked it from Fairfield back in the 60's when I wasn't much older than you. Hope you do well in your exams. What do hope to be in the future?
You mention the Eltham tressle bridge and it jogged a memory for me. There used to be 2 safety platforms so if people were walking across the bridge when a train came they could run to the platform. (you had to run to get there sometimes.) But it was not good to be on the platform at about 4 pm. (mid 1960s) There used to be blue trains and the sliding doors were always fully open and if someone was trapped on the safety platform, the kids from the front of the train to the back would spit on the man on the platform. One day a man on the platform went balistic and chased the train to the station to get the kids.
What a story haha, cheeky kids that is for sure, but a little silly maybe to go along the bridge, although it would be very cool.
I did visit it a few weeks ago as apart of The Hurstbridge Line filming, so be on the lookout for that :) thanks mate!
@@thetrainman548 Also about 1962 one of the kids fell out the train and got killed. That was just out of Eltham towards Diamond Creek. He fell from an old red train with the sliding doors.
And about 1965 the train got derailed before Greensbough station. Some kids put some heavy metal things on the track. I was on the last carriage and that carriage stopped at the point where the things were on the track. 3 kids about 12 years old were hiding behind a metal box. They did not run away but just gave their names to the train guard.
Also, at the Diamond Creel graveyard there is an old grave of a railway worker who got killed and all his friends got an expensive headstone for him. I think it was around 1920?
Super job mate
Hey Train Man you said that the line might be reopened one day. I am thinking of a line from Macleod to Reservoir via Latrobe University. It could be built using a cut and cover system and be double track.
Ah Mr Train Man, you did it. Thank you. Bet you didn't get any photos or left over signs of the railway coz there aren't any. SAD!
Thank you Jacinta, yes, other than the images I used in the video, there isn't any photos of the signage, which is a shame.
One Of The Train Hobby Publications Books On Railway Stations Greater Metropolitan Melbourne Shows A Picture Of Mont Park Railway Station Taken In The Late 1950s Or Early 1960s?🙂🏚️🛤️🚇
That long thing was the metal that picked up the overhead electricity.
I was just watching a drivers view clip from flemington racecourse towards showgrounds station and noticed a disused rail and platform of to the left just before the start of the showgrounds station maybe this is something you could investigate further
Great idea Rob, I believe they are sheep sidings (or something like that) but I am certainly interested to investigate soon, thanks!
Do a secrets video on the hurstbridge line. Don’t forget about us ahaha
Haha, I haven't, it'll be within the next 4 videos :)
Filming tip. Don't swing camera around to find area. Swing yourself around and use camera as a pivot point, keeping camera steady in one spot as you change direction of filming. Results in a smoother image. Vest wishes.
Cheers for the tip, the trusty phone certainly gets a workout!
Thanks for the great video. I lived about 1/2 km from this line while it was still operating. The line was rarely used for some time before the official closing date. I remember trains in 1960 but after that, very few. The last train trip would probably have been to collect the remaining coal wagons which had been left at the Mont Park end. The rails were removed in 1969. At the time the workers told me the rails were going to the Puffy Billing line. I think it was a goods only line as plans to upgrade it for passenger service were never carried out - but I could be wrong. Great archival photos too.
Well done.
Thank you very much :)
Mr Train Man, the Lancefield line!
And maybe do a video of the North Carlton station which still exists. North Fitzroy doesn't however I did have the pleasure of seeing North Fitzroy in 1986 before it was dismantled.
The Lancefield Line is a great shout, might be a little longer for that one though, I still have so much in Melbourne!
I have done a video on the Inner Circle Line, including the beautiful North Carlton station building, and will certainly revisit the area when I do the Fitzroy branch :)
Nice... Mate ! .....good work
Great work, keep em coming. That first object you were wondering about would have been a stay that keeps tension on the pole to stop it from falling over, look at power poles and you'll see similar wire coming from the top of the pole to the ground.
Thanks Steve, I did wonder if that was the case, but didn't want to end up looking like a fool! Interesting that it was left in the ground after nearly everything else was removed.
There was an old 'C' guards at Healesville years ago and the glass was missing from the windows, leaving only the metal bars (that are, ironically supposed to protect the glass from being broken in the first place!).
I told a friend who didn't know much about railways in Victoria that the guards van was an old carriage from the Mont Park line and that's why there were bars on the windows, to stop the crazy people from escaping.
His eyes kinda popped out of his head until I couldn't hold back laughing anymore and told him I was kidding.
As far as I know, the Mont Park branch was only used for goods to supply the hospital. I think the only pass trains along there were specials - with crazy railfans!
No way. I cant believe theres a video on this, parts of the old tracks are still there in the forest area between macleod and into mont park...
It's a hidden gem this line, and I love it!
This is good mate
Thank you Neil, glad you think so 😁
Nice one, this one is interesting. When are you filming the western railway line? I can’t to see the Werribee and Sunbury line video mate. :)
Werribee will be my next video, it's just a matter of when I film, exams are everywhere over the next 2 weeks :)
It’s ok, but I can’t wait to see it. Good luck on your exam mate! :)
is this your shortest video
Not nearly, my Princes Bridge video in 2 minutes, 58 seconds, and very bad haha
Respect, Max! Another little video gem building up your library on Melbourne’s lost rail lines. I loved seeing you rooting through the undergrowth for relics, just like I’ve always liked doing! Enjoyed the aerial photos and that neat trick of overlaying the modern and older maps too. Once again, the UK had several long-gone branches serving asylums and hospitals just like Mont Park, but until your video came along I’d never heard of yours! Keep up the good work, mate, I’m most impressed.
Many thanks again Barney!
It is so fun looking for old rail treasures, on of the best things in the world. The aerial image is found at an amazing website.
1945.melbourne/
It has nearly all of Melbourne in 1945, and how it looks now, incredible it is!
The Mont Park Line is very hidden today, even from many train fans, I am happy to bring it to the light again!
Thanks again Barney
@@thetrainman548 Great, I'll take a look!
Just discovered your vids. Very well presented and researched. Next project "the rosstown line". A book was written by two railway men and provides excellent historical data.Will try to get authors names.
Ooo Hurstbridge line, a line I havent ventured on yet but I am excited cuz of the trestle bridge at Eltham hahah
Same with me, can't wait to film there in a couple of weeks, so majestic!
Mr Train Man, here's one..........the old Red Hill line on the Mornington Peninsula.
I second that! Another excellent video here Train Man :)
Fantastic idea, when I visit the Mornington Line this summer, I will definitely give it a look, I camp near the Red Hill Line :)
Nice
How did you know there’s 9 remains of it?
Someone documented, and walked the line, check the 2nd link in the description and scroll down to the bottom :)
@@thetrainman548 ok
Don’t bother going to University……. You have a job in journalism guaranteed. Just keep making videos my man.
Please do secrets of the mernda line
i l9ive there
Dude we use to ride our trail bikes through there in the mid 70's and the commonwealth police would chase us.
well, i didn't know about this. in your last release i mentioned the 1945/melbourne site. i see you've used it in this video so i was telling you what you already knew. the thing at 2:34 is likely to be an anchor point and is used to stop power poles from falling over. if a run of poles comes to an end or turns a corner, the end pole will be pulled in towards the others. this device will be set at about 45 degrees and connected to the top of the end pole by cable. it will be connected to a big lump of concrete under the ground. i've got one out the front of my place.
Wow! Awesome video! I had a couple more requests (hope I'm not being annoying lol)
Pic Nic railway station
Montague railway station
and Williamstown Racecourse railway station
They all seem super interesting! I'd love to learn more about them. I really like your style of video, please keep it up!
Edit: Oh and Altona Beach Station please!!!
Thank you!
Great requests, not annoying at all :)
Pic Nic station was talked about in my Belgrave video, near the start, I am sure I'll touch on it again in a later video.
Montague is looked at in my Port Melbourne Line video, the very first station on that line!
And the other stations, along with the several others, will be covered in a 'Ghost Stations Of The Werribee Line' coming very, very soon (most likely in 2-3 weeks!)
@@thetrainman548 oh awesome! I'm kinda new to your channel so I think it's time for a binge!
Do you ever do vline stations?
In your ghost stations of the Werribee line video are you covering the original Altona line (the one that the second Williamstown racecourse and Altona beach was on)?
I haven't done any V-Line yet, and the Altona Line, where it was will most likely be included in both the Werribee Video, and the Ghost stations video, not sure yet :)
@@thetrainman548 ahh ok
If you ever get a chance, the Geelong to Ballarat (or Ararat if you'd prefer, they're both unique)is pretty much abandoned. The overland still utilised the Geelong to Ararat part but the to Ballarat line only receives the occasional freight services. I'd love to learn more about the stations on the line and stuff like that.
Picnic train station was located about 50 metres east of the tunnel/overhead line at Burnley.
It had two platforms as the line only had two platforms in the 1890s.
I wrnt to school at the new Burnley Primary school in the 70s and the Picnic station was close by (the location).
Montague station I remember well as I took a train to Port Melbourne one sunday in the early 80s.
Montague, North Port & Graham stations all had wooden planks for platforms and didn't really feel stable while standing on them.
Montague and North Port were both elevated above street level.
I used to ride my bike Thomastown to the Austin hospital. I had no idea I passed where the train station was. Keep cycling ALL your life train man.
Austin Hospital? Was there a station there? I don't remember that
Thanks mate, what a great ride that would have been! I am sure I have passed pieces of rail evidence several times over the past few years without even knowing! I love riding my bike, my Dad does it 24/7! Thanks again!
Austin Hospital, situated right next to Heidelberg station :)
@@thetrainman548 are you sure its right next to it? And why mention Heidelberg station? Its not abandoned. Its still there!
Didn't you know there was a station at Heidelberg? Its been there for over 120 years!
Didn't the line close,as I have just found out,in the early 1960's?.I thought it was closed in the late 1940's.
Nice! 😃
Very nice 🙌
Mean that they could rebuild the line to Latrobe University if the land and is still there I wonder if thahey still have the railway right of way
I Remember Back In The 1990s This Fella I Use To Drink With Who Was In His Late 60s At The Time Referring To Mont Park Asylum!🤔🏥
i think the concrete rail are electrical posts
Good video train man do the Werribee line
Thanks Jake, the Werribee Line should be my next video :)
Cool or the Melton line
I'd make one suggestion, get a tripod so you don't have to keep bending down. The tripod can lift your camera up to your standing height.
Don't you need a taller tripod? :)
Interesting facts you are a legend at making videos your UA-cam channel should be the historic train man
Haha, thank you Maryann, glad you enjoyed so much 😊
;)
2:30 - "This thing" is provides a counter force for when you have the end of section of overhead wiring. You'll no doubt have already noticed that when overhead wiring changes sections (because they got to the end of a reel), they don't actually join the two ends together. Instead, between two catenaries, they're duplicate the wire and then on the next span in either direction, the wiring will connection to the side of the catenary itself where it will turn vertically and be attached to weights to keep the wires at high tension. The wiring you found is attached to the other side and anchored in to the ground to counteract the immense tension of the overhead wiring trying to pulling the catenary towards it.
(railgallery.wongm.com/overhead-line-electrification/D535_3538.jpg.html) (image copyright 2005 - 2020 © Marcus Wong. Image used for illustrative purposes only)
Webb dock line when?
Those bits of old rail sticking up out of the ground look like the 'stumps' of the overhead wiring stanchions. These were cheap stanchions made of old rails welded together, and were common on electrified goods sidings - which is effectively what the Mont Park branch was.
You can see a similar type of stanchion made up of two old rails on the Fairfield paper mill siding just in front of T 392 in this Weston Langford photo from Feb 1992.
www.westonlangford.com/images/photo/118162/
Click on the photo for a closer look.
I see!
That makes sense, thank you very much for the information, and the photo of the old APM siding, I never thought about old rails being used for stanchions!
What do you use with the slider thing? The then and now pictures
1945.melbourne/
This is the website that uses the slider, I just record it, incredible website!
@@thetrainman548 Wow its so interesting to see melbourne back then.
RUN IT UP💯💯💯
since you've done secrets of Richmond, can you do history/secrets of Flinders Street station?
That video will be my biggest video ever, I'll be getting professionals to help me for that one!
@@thetrainman548 good luck! Remember to include the platform 11 refurbished thingy to a restaurant when the stk/pm lines were closed and Princes Bridge and the upgrade a few years back ;)
You'd think that, with the number of nutters running around Melbourne these days, there would be a pretty good case for reinstating this line and running regular barred-carriages services on it. 🤔
lost indeed. never heard of it
Same with me until a few weeks ago :)
wow
Has somebody told him they're pylons?
OMG TRAIN MAN!!!!
OMG 😉
Although he doesn't appear to have visited Mont Park during its heyday, or even towards the end of its time as an active line, the late Weston Langford did visit the site in July 2001 and took this photo of the former platform still in situ at Mont Park.
www.westonlangford.com/images/photo/126520/
Click on the photo for a closer look.
Very interesting again, rest in peace Weston Langford, incredible how much he did for rail photography, and how much he assists with images I use in my videos. I actually used the image you linked very briefly in my video, how amazing that the station was there as late as 2001!
@@thetrainman548 - So you did. I must have missed it the first time round.
By the way, I can't remember if I linked this before but another great source of old pics is the collection of the late Geoff Cargeeg, now looked after by the Geelong South Western Railway Historical Society (GSWRHS) on flickr. Geoff - like his contemporary Weston - took literally thousands of photos back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, not just in Victoria but all over Australia. And all on film! GSWRHS have been steadily scanning them onto digital format since the collection was left to them a few years ago.
Just click on the magnifying glass above the photo of K 160 and type in a search item and hit enter. I think you mentioned once that Williamstown was one of your favorite lines, so try that first. Enjoy!
www.flickr.com/photos/gcargeeg/
cool
very cool :)
👍👍👍
I never knew about this line before. Always great to learn about rail history!
As for that pole on an angle, I suspect that it was used as an anchor to hold a cable or a pole in position. Check this out -->
images.app.goo.gl/gErNJxF6mxXJaYxh8
Thanks Peter, glad you learnt something from the video!
After filming, I asked myself if it was an anchor for electricity cables/ poles, I appreciate the information though, and fantastic diagram too!
@@thetrainman548 It goes to show that we can all learn something from each other!