The Stony Point Line. Plus Metro trip report

admin · The Stony Point Line. Plus Metro trip report

The Stony Point Line.

Yesterday I went for my 1st rail and bus Photography trip in Melbourne. You all know me from my extensive collection Thai Mass Transport photos and topics. But here is a real change a set of rail pictures from Melbourne Australia taken by me.

I started at Box Hill where I met up with a well know rail fan from railpage. I traveled to Ringwood and rode the new route 901 to Frankston. Then rode the new sprinter DMU’s to Stony Point and back. After that we headed to Cheltenham and took a 922 bus to Sandringham and onwards to the new Hampton Bus Terminal.

The whole experience of taking transport photos in Melbourne was much easier than some people had made it out. There were no problems or any questions asked by anyone and staff where mostly friendly. I got the photos I wanted with no problems and feel happy about them. My recommendation for taking transport pics be nice to others and ask the staff and you will be pleasantly surprised they actually are helpful and will let you take the pics.

1. DMU number 7015 waiting on platform 2 at Frankston station about to depart for Stony Point. This is a recently upgraded DMU. Taken looking back along the platform.

2. This an image of a window that was damaged on DMU 7015. Note the bullet hole in the lower right side. This train still ran as normal. It seems some locals don’t like this new DMU.

3. An inside shot of the recently upgraded DMU 7015 at Frankston station.

4. This is a shot of DMU 7015 taken at Stony Point station. Taken from track level looking towards Frankston.

5. This an image of DMU 7008 taken at Stony Point station. Taken from track level looking towards the sea.

6. This is a close up shot of the engine control on DMU 7015 taken at Stony Point.

7. This is a shot of the Drivers cab on DMU 7015. Taken while waiting to depart at Stony Point.

8. This is a shot of a BL locomotive on a Hastings port cargo train. Unit number BL 34. Taken as it approached Frankston station heading to Hastings.

9. Another angle on the BL locomotives and the Hastings cargo train as it passes Frankston station.

Please leave some friendly comments about the pictures I have taken in Melbourne.

The Buses of Frankston.

While on the way to Frankston we rode the new route 901 bus and took photos at Frankston Bus terminal. Most of these buses are horrible low floor layouts but they do look nice from the outside.

1. This is the Route 901 bus we took from Ringwood to Frankston. Bus number 901 – 205. Taken as it waits to depart Frankston on a late morning trip to Ringwood. Bus type: Scania low floor air conditioned bus.

2. This is a shot of a Route 788 bus at Frankston Bus Terminal. Bus number 788 – 491. Bus type: Scania low floor air conditioned bus. Note this bus has 3 axles and is 14.5 meters long.

3. This is an image of an older non air conditioned Volgren high floor bus at Frankston station. Route unknown. Bus Number ??? – 301.

4. This is a shot of a Route 781 bus just after it has departed Frankston Bus terminal. Bus Number 781 – P344. Bus type: Merc low floor air conditioned bus.

Please leave some friendly comments about the pictures I have taken in Melbourne.

The New Hampton Bus Terminal + Sandringham Metro.

After returning from Frankston we headed to Sandringham. This is where we split up and the trip ended. After Sandringham I got down at Brighton beach station and took some photos around the station before heading back to view the new Hampton bus terminal.

1. The bus we used to get from Cheltenham to Sandringham. Route 922. Bus number 922 – 369. Taken while it waits to depart Sandringham bus terminal. Bus type Scania low floor air conditioned bus with some input from Volgren group.

2. This is a shot of the metro rail yard at Brighton Beach station. Taken looking towards the sea from the footbridge at the northern end of the station. The EMUs shown are older types made by Comeng group in the 1980s.

3. This is a shot of a more modern Metro train approaching Brighton Beach station. Heading towards Sandringham station. This EMU is made by Siemens. The same company that made the BTS and MRT EMUs in Bangkok. The layout in these EMUs along with the older ones is intercity seating not metro seating.

4. This is an image of the new Hampton Bus Terminal. This terminal replaced the larger 5-platform terminal. This new terminal has only 2 bus platforms and provides less protection from storms and icy wind than the old terminal.

5. This is a shot of a Route 708 bus waiting to depart the new Hampton bus terminal. Bus number 708 – 571. Bus type Volgren low floor air conditioned bus.

Concluding comments about the system.

· Most of these buses all though nice to look at and reasonable comfortable to ride are very infrequent at only every 30 or 60 mins.
· Again the EMU metro trains the seating layout is odd as its not longitudinal plus the seats are very dirty as is the floor inside the EMUs.
· The New Stony Point DMUs are very comfortable and give a nice fast and smooth ride. But the locals don’t like them as some have fired things at them damaging the windows on these DMUs.
· The Frankston Line metro service is very infrequent running at only every 20 mins on Saturdays instead of every 4 mins as metros normally do. Sandringham Metro also was similar as Frankston low weekend frequency.
· It is interesting that at some locations you don’t need to insert your ticket to open the barriers to exit the stations. This must greatly increase cheating of the fares.
· One very good thing despite what some people had told me on railpage about Mass Transport photography it was easy to do and trouble free in fact staff where friendly not aggressive.

Please leave some friendly comments about the pictures I have taken in Melbourne.

PNR5004

Ahhhhhh so glad I made the effort to ride down there back in the loco hauled days.
Even quite wrapped I scored a DRC at one stage. Wasn't to happy at the time though.

Brad