Hi everyone, in some of my previous videos, you
may have noticed the occasional aerial photo. People usually assume these were taken with a
drone, and while that's true for some of them, what if I told you that some shots, like this
one, were actually taken hand held with my DSLR? Almost a decade ago back in late 2013, I briefly
had a job taking photos out of helicopters. This was done hand held out an open door, and when we
needed to shoot straight down, the chopper would bank in a tight circle tilting the doorway towards
the earth to allow a clear shot. While flying to and from the locations,
there was nothing stopping me taking shots for my own use, and of course that meant, tiny trains and trams. Unfortunately while
the flying part of this job was pretty amazing, every other aspect of it sucked and I quit
to pursue better conditions elsewhere, but I came away with some pretty interesting shots
added to my collection. In this video, I'm going to go through the images I took on two separate
flights around the Melbourne suburban area. We're going to explore what can be seen from these
unusual perspectives, and I'll point out some things that have changed in the 10 years since
these were taken. The first flight took off from Essendon airport, travelled up to Craigieburn,
then down past Footscray to Laverton before returning to Essendon. The second flight took off
from a helipad in Fisherman's Bend, and ran in a rough anticlockwise circle around the inner city. Let's take a look at the Essendon flight first. Shortly after takeoff, we get a couple of
views of the Moonee Ponds Creek viaduct, which carries the Albion-Jacana goods line as
well as the north-east standard gauge to Sydney. Continuing north we pass over the Jacana flyover where the standard gauge jumps over the
broad gauge suburban line to Craigieburn. That object on the right of the screen is the back of
another photographer's camera. You can see that most of the broad gauge
is still wooden sleepers here, but the standard gauge is all concrete. In this shot we're directly over the flyover, and I'm
looking straight down through the helicopter's skids. Now we're passing over beautiful Broadmeadows.. You can see the two suburban platforms on the left, as
well as the standard gauge platform on the right, which was still pretty new at the time.
Note the big mud hole on the standard gauge. Just beyond Broady station we see our first trains, in the form of a Comeng and a Siemens in the stabling siding. We then pass over Coolaroo station, which was only three years old years old
when this photo was taken. This flight was on a Sunday,
which explains the almost empty commuter car park, and we can see a Siemens
train on the Up line heading to the city. Continuing along the Craigieburn line we come to
Somerton, where you can see the disused branch line which once connected this line to Upfield. A pair of V/line Sprinter railcars can be seen running through Roxburgh Park station,
and they would be heading to Seymour. Here's a really wide view looking back over
Roxburgh Park and Somerton, and you can see some of the many industrial sidings that
exist in this area. Now we've made it to the end of the suburban line at Craigieburn,
and there's a lot to see here. We've caught up with a north-bound standard gauge freight
train, lead by a pair of CFCLA CF class locos. There's a Comeng sitting in the platform preparing
to return to the city. We also get a great view of Craigieburn workshops, and I can see a total
of 11 x 6 car Comeng sets out in the open, as well as – if you look very carefully and I
absolutely push the resolution out the window.. a single Hitachi set, which was right at the end
of it's service life, but not yet withdrawn. Heading back south, we overtake a Comeng
heading back towards the city. And then swinging around the other way, we get a great
view out east towards the Yarra Ranges, and in the foreground, Upfield station, where a
single Siemens set is stabled. You can see the remains of the line towards Somerton,
and where the sidings once went into the Ford factory. Back over Broadmeadows we get a better view of
the trains stabled there from a number of angles, then over Broady station where a Down Siemens
is just departing. Flying over Jacana, we get a good view of the station this time,
with the goods lines branching off to the right, and on the left you can see where the
Metropolitan Ring Road tunnels go underneath. Our last glimpse of the Craigieburn line is
of Glenroy, which was a pretty unremarkable shot at the time, but is now changed completely
with the line sunk in a concrete trench here. In our next shot we can entirety of the
Flemington Racecourse line. The racecourse it's self is on the right,
with the Melbourne showgrounds on the left. A couple of X'traps and a Comeng
can be seen stabled at the terminus, then further along we can see
Showgrounds station, then the junction with the Craigieburn line is just over
here behind the historic substation at Newmarket. And if we dive in stupidly far, I can just see a
Siemens set running on the mainline. In the far background we can see the big sweeping curve on
the Upfield line as it passes through Royal Park. The helicopter is now approaching Footsray
and we have a great view over to the CBD. Down here is the Maribyrnong River, and you
can clearly see the Regional Rail Link under construction, which was still about 18 months
away from opening at this stage. We can also see North and South Dynon,
with a variety of diesel locomotives in attendance.. Look, there's X31! Here we get a great view of the
newly constructed RRL flyover, and you can clearly see where the Werribee
line was slewed to pass underneath. Now we see Footscray station, which is a big
construction mess. A new pair of platforms are being built which will
become the newly aligned Sunbury line, while the RRL will take over it's former platforms. You can also see the entrance
to the Bunbury Street tunnel there, which is used by freights and standard gauge passenger trains
to dive under Footscray and over towards Dynon. A little further on we can see the other
end of the tunnel, where the line passes over the Maribyrnong. And most Victorian
railfans will know exactly what *this* is. We can also see the Motive Power
Centre, with several NR class present. And here's just a nice view over the docks towards
the city, no trains involved at all. Except for this pair of 81 class on a grain train.
And we can also see a bunch of ships. Next up we come to Newport, and there's a great view out over
the railway workshops to the bay. Just this side of the station is a three car Siemens in
the Williamstown shuttle sidings, and we get a good view into the neck of the workshops. We now fly over Goninan's Spotswood maintenance facility, as usual there are numerous NR class present,
and I can see two special liveries: there's a loco painted for the Southern Spirit,
I think it's NR84 and there's also the old blue version
of the Indian Pacific scheme. Over the other side
I can see one of the short lived XRB class locos, which are a cab-less 'B unit' version of the XR class.
I believe they're all in storage now. Here we get a better view of Newport Workshops,
there's obviously loads of stuff to spot here but I'm going to point out a few interesting things. I can see two G class, one in SCT colours
and one in PacNat livery. There's a Comeng trailer car that
seems to have been split from the rest of its set. There are quite a lot of V/line Z cars sitting
around, and that's because around this time a lot of them were temporarily withdrawn due to cracks
in their bogies, so these would be ones awaiting repair. There's a pretty trashed looking Hitachi set here. There's all manner of stuff sitting
out the front of East Block as usual, and over here at West Block
we can see the heritage area, with a lot Steamrail and 707 Operations
rollingstock sitting about, including a number of T and Y class diesels T413 is sitting there
with some of the ex-Vinelander sleeping cars. Next we get a view over the oil refinery and out to Altona. You can see Altona Junction there with
the main Werribee line heading off to the bottom right. And there's Paisley station, which closed in 1985. We're now heading over towards Altona,
and you can see the Altona line meandering across the coastal marshes there.. and you can see
the bright pink pigface flowers everywhere. This is Westona station, and there's a Down
Comeng in the platform waiting for a cross. The second set has advertising
on the side of the M cars, during the brief period where ads were
allowed to be put over the windows. We now get this slightly wonky shot showing
most of Altona, and if we zoom in we can see Westona down there bottom, Altona in the middle and Seaholme in the far distance. We then swing around past Laverton, and then over
past the Laverton SCT depot, and then that other intermodal terminal which I think was being used
by QR National back then? Then we're back over Goninan Spotswood,
where some of the locos have moved since our last pass and a second Indian Pacific unit has appeared. We also get a slightly
better view of the XRB. Continuing back towards the city
we pass over Spotswood station, and get a view over to the docks, there's Seddon, and back over Footscray – this time
we're looking out along the Sunbury line towards Middle Footscray, and once again you can
see the realignment taking place for the RRL. And then finally on this flight, we get this long
view out along Tottenham yard towards Sunshine, and you can see the newly rebuilt West
Footscray station down the bottom. So our second flight takes
off from Fisherman's bend, and here we have a view over towards the Westgate
Bridge, with Williamstown in the distance. Slicing through the middle of this image is the
former railway line to Webb Dock, which was only used for 6 years in the late 80s and early 90s,
but is still fairly in tact today. Down the bottom here this building proclaims to be
'Australian Home of the 777,' which is a bit of an odd thing to say about
a place with no runway. But I believe it's a Boeing
research and development facility. We're now heading over towards Port Melbourne,
and we can see Princes Pier – or what's left of it - and Station Pier, which were both served
by rail in the past. The Spirit of Tasmania is in town,
which of course has only just become historic as of 2023, as it now departs from Geelong. Looking to the left slightly we can see
the Port Melbourne station building, which still exists despite this line being converted
to a tram line in the late 80s. There's a C class tram in the terminus,
and another one waiting to enter the single track. It's kind of nuts they still haven't built a second platform here. Here we're looking down on the remains of Princes Pier,
which.. seems to be missing something. And here's Station Pier,
where you can still make out a few bits of track. Now this has got to be one of my favourite shots –
we're coming over St Kilda, and we're looking past the pilot's ear down towards Luna Park. You can
see the Great Scenic Railway, which is the world's second oldest operating rollercoaster – it was
101 years old at the time of this photo. You can also see a plinthed W class tram in amongst the rides.
Over here are a couple of D2 class trams on Route 96 which were displaced from this line by
new E class not long after this photo was taken. Moving north, we get a view of St Kilda Junction,
with a couple of D1s and a Z class present. Then we head past South Yarra station, no trains,
but I can see a Z class tram on Toorak Road. We get this great view looking south-east, I can
see a Siemens on the Up Through line – which would be an Up Frankston train, then we can see all the
way up to Hawksburn and Toorak in the distance. Now we pass over the Yarra River, and this was
very well timed with a three-car VLocity right in the middle of Cremorne Bridge, on an Up
Traralgon service. And in the background we can see a
Z class on the Church Street bridge, Zs don't run on Route 78 any more it's all As now. We're now coming up to Richmond station
which you can see in the bottom left, and there are three trains visible, all different types:
there's a Siemens on the Down Sandringham, an X'trap on the Up Burnley Local, and
a Comeng on the Up Caulfield Local, which will be holding up that VLocity
we saw a moment ago. And here's a lovely clear shot of Richmond with that Comeng
just departing towards Flinders Street. From this angle we can see East Richmond, as well
as tram Route 70 running along Swan Street, with an A and a B class visible. Note how those three trains have only moved
a short distance since the first view of this spot, which gives some idea
of the speed of the aircraft at this point. We're now continuing north onto the first bit
of the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines, and in this view you can see West Richmond station, as well
as the little gap between the two tunnels here. This is North Richmond, and if we zoom in to
the entrance of Victoria Street you can see the Victoria Street Gateway was still under
construction, with a C class tram passing through the works site. In the distance we can see
the Carlton United Brewery and the Yarra River. For our final view of this line we are looking
north to Collingwood and Victoria Park, with the Yarra and the Eastern Freeway in the background.
There are some X'trapolis sets stabled at Vic Park and a Comeng is departing on the Up. Comengs
were still fairly common on the Clifton Hill group back then. We're now swinging around to the other
side of the CBD, and get this view across to North Melbourne, and the docks. Looking down towards
V/line's Dudley Street yard, we can see several N class, including one in the old 'blood & bone'
livery, and over here is a three car N set, which would normally be extended by a Z car or two, but
as I mentioned earlier a lot of them were out of service with bogie issues at this time. Now we get this great view out towards Spion Kop, Dynon and Macaulay, and you can see all the way out to
Footscray and Flemington in the distance. You can clearly see the RRL being constructed all through
here. There's an Aurizon container train shunting at North Dynon, and lots of stabled
VLocities and Comengs. Looking straight down on North Melbourne, we can see a couple of Comeng sets and a VLocity,
which will be banished to the RRL in a few years time, and you can see the new dual gauge trackwork
going in on the ramp up to the flyover. Over here we can see some Metro works trains, back when they were operating them themselves
with locos hired from CFCLA. There's a B class coupled to IEV102
the old overhead inspection car which has since been replaced. It was very rare to see a B class
running with the IEV, I think it might have only happened once – so I'm not sure if that's
what's happening here, or if they've just been stabled together. There are also a pair of
T class there, one with a crew standing nearby. And up here is a rake of ballast wagons. Now we get this great view out over the sort of,
greater Dynon area. Down here is South Dynon
locomotive depot, and this is the Broad Gauge turntable where we can see a bunch of locos in
Freight Australia green, including three A class, which I think were already in storage awaiting
scrapping at that time. And there's a bunch of hood locos there too, some of them are Ys but
there might be some Ps and Ts as well. Over here we can see some V/line H sets, one with an N class
on point and the other with push-pull P classes. Over there is an RL and an 80 class I think?
There's also a pair of old Western Australian K class diesels which were stored there for many
years, actually might be there still? There's all sorts of stuff over here including a few
DLs, and a PacNat S class, pretty sure that's S306 which is now in the care of 707 Operations.
And over there you can see a loaded steel train. In this shot we're looking straight down
at the North Melbourne balloon loop, which was demolished fairly recently, and back
in the steam era this was the location of North Melbourne Locomotive Depot. There's another H set stabled there with push-pull P class. Over here you can see the crane where they
used to tranship the steel loading between broad and standard gauge trains, and you can
see some steel coils sitting on the ground there. And here is a really interesting detail that
I only spotted while putting this video together, that's tramway specialwork being put together, and
it wasn't too hard to work out where it was headed based on that geometry – those are replacement
points for the two entries to Essendon tram depot, which had some track renewal done
around this time. Now we're looking back towards Kensington and Macaulay, and if you watched my Kensington
grain train video this view is pretty much the diagram I used in that. So looking down at the
Arrivals Yard we can see a bunch of stabled VLocities in a few different liveries, and
note there are still some 2 car sets there, which were later all expanded to three cars.
If we go up to the Macaulay maintenance centre we can see three Hitachi sets, which had only just been
withdrawn at the time, but sat here for another few years after this. I photographed the last one
being transferred to Newport about 2 years later. If we go over here there's a mixed VLocity set on
the main line, probably an Up Bendigo or Ballarat, and under the freeway there's an N class and N
set sneaking along the high level suburban lines, probably an Up Shepparton. Up here we can see
the Kensington flour mill, and if we zoom in stupidly close, there's a G class sitting there on
a rake of grain hoppers, that's back when Pacific National ran the train. And down here that
Aurizon intermodal train is still shunting. We get a bit more of a side on view of Dynon here,
which gives us a different view of the Broad Gauge turntable and if we look back over here we can
see a bit more of the locos in this area, and there's a Y class there in V/line tangerine, not
sure which one that is. This DL is still carrying the green & yellow Australian National colours, I
believe that's DL48 which somehow managed to avoid a repaint well beyond every other member of the class. Now we're heading over towards the docks, and there are a few container trains and a grain
train sitting there. That's Appleton Dock, there are a pair of PacNat T class down there, which
I guess must have been on shunting duties. And then finally as we come back to Fisherman's Bend,
we get a few more views of the Webb Dock line. So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed
this little insight into what was going on in Melbourne in December 2013. It was certainly an
amazing privilege to be able to take these photos, and not something I'm likely to repeat
any time soon! Thanks for watching!
