Wow, sparkling new East Pakenham station.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

Certainly is 😀😀👍

Great video

@driver667

3 ай бұрын

Glad to hear you enjoyed it 👍 😀

I remember staying at my sisters place In Narre Warren for 3 weeks when I was 16 and catching the Warragul to Melbourne commuter to work, was always hauled by an L class except one time had a B class up front.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

The L class were good locomotives 👍😀

Great video can’t wait for next instalment.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

Very happy to hear you enjoyed it 👍 😀

Looks like that down line coming into Warragul from Drouin goes up and down a bit compared to the up line!

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

The'down' line is the original line when it was single line. The up line was built with better grades for the loaded coal trains when the line was duplicated. 👍😀

oh good this gives me an update how skyrail is doing

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

It is coming along, that's for sure 👍😀

👍

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

👍😀

Did my 1st rail journey to Gippsland in February 2024 for 28 years!Last time l caught a train in Gippsland was on a comeng train from Warragul to Melbourne in 1996,when the line was electrified,certainly was different riding a suburban train through the green fields of Gippsland

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

It's been quite a while since a Comeng has run to Warragul. Hope you enjoyed your trip. 👍😀

Happy Easter Day. 31/03/2024. 🏳‍🌈

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

Thank you, happy Easter also. 👍😀

🤓👍

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

👍😀

Good stuff. I was wondering how Pakenham East station construction was going.

@zoomosis

4 ай бұрын

Oddly enough it looks like the main access road to Pakenham East station (Ryan Road) is still unsealed. Not many people live nearby. It's going to be an odd place for a terminus.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

@@zoomosis I think the idea was plenty of room there to get rid of the bottle neck that is Pakenham. 👍😀

@zoomosis

4 ай бұрын

​@@driver667 I had no idea there was a bottleneck there. I can see on old Google Street View photos that the track configuration is pretty suboptimal for passing V/Line trains. I assume that's what you're referring to. I assume the new overpass at Pakenham only allows for two elevated tracks to keep costs down, then passing loops will be added at Pakenham East, where there's room as you say, but also importantly no level crossings nearby.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

@@zoomosis the problem with Pakenham is there is nearly always a suburban train in the platform and two vline trains needing to stop there with only one platform available. Pakenham East will have two platforms and two bypass tracks allowing vline trains to pass suburban trains easily. The skyrail remains two tracks. 👍😀

Did you ever get to drive the Comeng down to Warragul? Always wish I could've seen it.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

Yes I did, quite a number of times. 👍😀

I like that the conductor says what side the doors will open on at each station. Very handy for people like me with a vision impairment, and not something you seem to hear a lot on trains here in Australia.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

Quite a few conductors do say that. I just hope they always get the right side 🤣🤣👍😀

@wezza60

4 ай бұрын

​@@driver667😂😂😂

@therealsammyvee888

4 ай бұрын

​@driver667 Yeah you'd hope so, especially for stations where trains don't always stop at the same platform in either direction. And I didn't know others did it too. I haven't heard any other V/Line conductors do it. I have quite a bit in videos of suburban trains up in Queensland though.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

@@therealsammyvee888 I've heard a number of conductors announce it but not all. It is handy for passengers to hear. 👍😀

@therealsammyvee888

4 ай бұрын

@@driver667 Interesting. And I agree.

Funnily enough, I did the journey between these two stations both ways just this past Thursday.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

You would have seen first hand how it's coming along 👍😀

@therealsammyvee888

4 ай бұрын

​@@driver667It is quite interesting how the upgrades are going. Can't wait for the new station at East Pakenham and to see how that and the Skyrail Pakenham station go once opened.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

@@therealsammyvee888 hopefully it will run smoother. 👍😀

@therealsammyvee888

4 ай бұрын

@@driver667 Hopefully. I'm just wondering whether V/Line trains will stop at East Pakenham or continue to use Pakenham like someone said online.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

They will continue to use Pakenham station. 👍😀

See some of the catenary is still there along with the substation just out of Bunyip.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

That was left as a monument for what used to be. 👍😀

@wezza60

4 ай бұрын

❤​@@driver667

Very disappointing they never duplicated Bunyip to Longwarry when they had the chance.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

Always talked about, never done. 👍😀

Do you like driving with the suburban trains around you or is it annoying as you catch up to them due to you being express through most station

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

It would be nice to have a clear run. I could get the passengers to where they wanted to go much quicker. 👍😀

Is becoming driver or guard Easier

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

We don't have guards 👍😀

Work on the upgrade nearly done

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

Almost 😀👍

I will never understand why they ripped up the electrics past pakenham

@zoomosis

4 ай бұрын

If Wikipedia is correct the line was electrified to Traralgon in the 1950s only for briquette traffic, not actually passenger services. The line was then progressively cut back to Warragul in 1987 and Bunyip in 1998. Though It doesn't say if there were ever regular electric passenger services to either. There don't seem to be a lot of photos from back then of Comengs or Hitachis out that far. Keep in mind the Harris, Hitachis and Comengs' passenger seating wasn't designed for longer distances. Most people would be pretty uncomfortable sitting for over two hours to Traralgon on any of Melbourne's electric trains, even a Siemens. So I suspect it would've been uneconomic to keep the wires up (especially to Traralgon) without suitable passenger (electric) rollingstock. Electrifying to Geelong and Melton still makes sense as the distances are shorter.

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

It was pulled down due to the cost required to rehabilitate the overhead. The L class electric locomotives were old and it was decided diesel was more cost effective at the time. The overhead was provided in the 1950's for the coal trains. L class electric locomotives hauled the coal trains and the passenger trains. When the overhead was cut back to Warragul, comeng trains ran passenger services to Warragul. Traralgon trains were diesel hauled. Eventually the overhead was cut back to Pakenham. 👍😀

@justinwright4833

4 ай бұрын

@zoomosis yeah that makes sense actually altho I'm pretty sure that passenger services did operate to traralgon

@justinwright4833

4 ай бұрын

@driver667 I'm a bit of a fan of the L class so thats how i knew it was electrified all the way but i wasn't sure why they got rid of it

@driver667

4 ай бұрын

@@justinwright4833 they sure did. The L class locomotives hauled the passenger trains. Comeng suburban trains only ever ran as far as Warragul. 👍😀