The Mornington railway line, in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, was a rural railway branching off from the
Stony Point railway line
The Stony Point line is a greater-metropolitan railway line in Melbourne, Australia. The line extends from the Frankston line and is part of the city's suburban passenger railway network, and the Myki integrated ticketing system (Zone 2), but i ...
at
Baxter. The line had a life of 92 years, opening in 1889, and closing in 1981.
History
Opening
A branch was opened of the
Gippsland Railway
The Gippsland V/Line rail service or Bairnsdale Line is a passenger service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia between Melbourne and the Gippsland region including the regional cities of Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, Sale and Bairnsdale. It ...
from
Caulfield to
Mordialloc
Mordialloc is a beachside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Mordialloc recorded a population of 8,886 at the . ...
in 1881 and
Frankston in 1882. This line was extended to
Baxter in 1888 and branches were opened to
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
and
Mornington in 1889. The line from Baxter to Mornington was officially opened on 10 September 1889.
When opened, the line had two stations: the terminus of Mornington and intermediate station Moorooduc. Between 1920 and 1930,
Rail Motor Stopping Place (RMSP) 16 was opened at
Nepean Highway
Nepean Highway runs south from St Kilda Junction in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, close to the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.
History
Originally known as A ...
(known as Point Nepean Road at the time) in Mornington, closing again by 1940.
Between 1930 and 1940,
Mornington Racecourse station was opened on the Melbourne side of RMSP 16, approximately halfway to Moorooduc. Between 1960 and 1970, Mornington Racecourse was renamed to Tanti Park, and between 1970 and 1980 RMSP 16 was reopened.
[ RMSP 16 had 2 small passenger platforms, one on each side of Nepean Highway. The Nepean Highway level crossing was fitted with flashing light signals in 1939, which replaced a Wig Wag signal at the location.
]
Closure
The passenger service was cancelled during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, being reinstated between Frankston and Mornington in September 1966.DERM
The Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM) was a railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways of Australia.
History
Originally built as a petrol electric rail motor (PERM), they were the longest-lived rail motor on the Victorian Railways, wi ...
used on the line was replaced with the Walker railmotor
The family of Walker railmotors were a type of diesel railcar operated by the Victorian Railways in Australia.
After World War II, the Victorian Railways undertook a major rebuilding program known as Operation Phoenix. One of the first tasks was ...
RM22 in November that year. On 10 December 1978, RM22 left Mornington at 7:20pm and returned to Melbourne. The transport minister acceded to local demand, and a rail service, run by RM55, was reinstated on 9 April 1979, running the passenger service for more than two years.
On 29 February 1979, a special race train was introduced, hauled by T388. That was to be the last special train allowed to operate along the line by VicRail. 300 protesters prevented the train from departing, forcing it to remain in Mornington until the following afternoon.
In the wake of the Lonie Report
The Victorian Transport Study, better known as the Lonie Report, was an extensive study of freight and passenger transport within the state of Victoria, Australia. The study was set up on 13 June 1979 by the Government of Victoria, and the repor ...
in 1981, VicRail prepared to abandon many passenger services and close many stations along the Mornington line. The last summer Sunday service to Mornington ran on 19 April 1981. On 16 March, the Association of Railway Enthusiasts (ARE) ran a steam tour to Mornington and Stony Point, which was hauled by K190. That was the last steam train to travel to the original Mornington railway station site. The last rail service to Mornington ran on 20 May, conducted by Brian Higgins using RM55. The last scheduled train departed from Mornington at 1:23 pm that day, but suffered engine problems, requiring the use of a replacement bus service. RM55 was taken to Melbourne after arriving at Frankston on the last service.
On 6 June 1981, a railway enthusiast group ran a special service from Crib Point
Crib Point is a town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Crib Point recorded a population o ...
to HMAS Cerberus, Mornington and Stony Point, using RM59. On 12 June 1981 a Hastings Primary School train ran a return trip from Hastings to Mornington. This was the last train to run between Baxter and the original Mornington station site. Three days later, the Mornington line was officially declared out of service and a new bus timetable was established. The line remained disused until 1989 when the termite infested Mornington station building was abruptly demolished. The line between Nepean Highway and Mornington was removed in 1991 and, in 1999, the infrastructure at Mornington station was demolished, with a shopping centre being erected on the site.
Re-opening
The rest of the line lay idle until 1984 when the Mornington Railway Preservation Society was formed with the long-term ambition of restoring a tourist railway service along the line. They restored a K class Steam Locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
and in 1991 leased the line between Baxter and Nepean Highway. In 1997, their rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
was transferred to the current base at Moorooduc, with tourist trains currently operating along the line connecting Moorooduc and Mornington.
References
Closed Melbourne railway lines
5 ft 3 in gauge railways in Australia
Railway lines opened in 1889
1889 establishments in Australia
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