Buy an individual print copy of February 2021 Newsrail here
Our February 2021 edition cover photo shows the last ever train to travel via the Bungaree Loop, a 13km track that has finally been replaced as part of the Ballarat Line Upgrade. The Bungaree Loop was once the main line to Ballarat and part of the main interstate freight and passenger network. But, as our concise history tells, this line’s long history began in 1879 as a sleepy branch line out of Ballarat that ran just two return trains per day!
Andrew Blair, who has produced some magnificent photo essays of adventures as a teenage railfan in the 1950s, has penned an article on a far more recent item of rail history: the short-lived use of Sprinter rail cars to run services to Albury-Wodonga. Andrew explains the background to these services, and how community action forced the Kennett government to reverse its decision to replace some Albury train services with buses. There are wonderful photos from the V/Line red and blue era.
On the very same day that the last trains ran via Bungaree, history was being made in Melbourne as the new High Capacity Metro Train carried its first passengers. We present photos and first impressions from some passengers, as well as discussing some of the advanced features that mark these new trains as a step change from previous suburban train designs in Melbourne.
We also have a beautiful centre page spread with photos by Darren Hodges who was on hand to capture the last trains to use the old 1888 Avon River bridge at Stratford in Gippsland, and the first trains to use its new $95 million dollar replacement.
- Tramways
- PTV service quality
- General Works
- Preservation
- Where is it?
- Taildisc
