Happenings at last week’s Meeting
This week we were back at the Sailing Club for our regular Dinner Meeting. Our guests were soon-to-be-member Peter Greenway, Andrew Swain and Joe Skinner from the Mornington Peninsular Tourist Railway (MPTR). Joe is the Railways President and Andrew was our Guest Speaker.
Bob was acting as President during Charles’ absence and called for the Toast and Invocation. He gave a brief introduction to Andrew and Joe before reading out a long list of apologies. (We normally don’t have a list this long until the middle of winter. (?) Ed.) He then handed over to our Chair for the evening, Ross Whitehead.
Ross elaborated a bit further on the background of our Guest Speaker and then called on Andrew to take the floor.
Andrew has had various roles within the MPTR and has been with it since its inception in 1984. His talk covered the history of the railways within Victoria before focusing on the MPTR. It was a fascinating talk which was “interrupted” by dinner and took up most of the evening.
The talk was divided into various stages (which I’ll summarise):
Beginnings.
- First Railway in Australia between Flinders Street station and Port Melbourne in 1854.
- Private operators were bought out by the Victorian Railways by 1883.
- Eventually any town with a population of 500 had a station.
Rapid Expansion.
- The Octopus Act of 1883, under the auspices of Minister Thomas Bent (Bent by name, bent by nature) created 70 new lines.
- Many of the new lines were closed or suspended during the Depression.
The Busy Years.
- Expansion of the railways allowed for the wider settlement of the State.
- The railway station, and its Master, were significant to each town.
- War increased usage but maintenance and upgrades were underfunded.
Scrapping’s and Closures.
- The transition from steam to diesel ran from the 1950’s to 1980’s.
- Out of 1500 steam locomotives, only 82 survived.
- Old carriages were destroyed.
Foundation of the MPTR.
- Formed in 1984.
- First locomotive found in a park in Frankston.
- Eventually ended up at Cerberus.
The Busy Years.
- In 1991, allowed to operate and maintain the Mornington line.
- In 1996, asked to vacate the Cerberus and moved to Mornington.
To Mornington.
- First train ran in 1998 after the platform was rebuilt and a water tank installed.
- Track was officially reopened in 1989.
Recent Developments.
- More rolling stock, and locomotives, has been acquired and restored.
- Obtained exemption to clear vegetation along the railway.
- Passenger numbers are up.
Recent Challenges.
- Volunteers are become scarce.
- Rolling stock requires extensive maintenance.
Opportunities.
- Possible expansion into heritage buses.
- Deployment of concrete sleepers will reduce maintenance.
What do We Need?
After this engrossing talk, Ross thanked Andrew and presented him with the obligatory pen.
The Meeting now quickly moved on to the Secretary’s Report.
Wayne also thanked Andrew and admitted that he is a “railways kid”. He also announced:
- There are discussions being held on the Venue and Purpose of the Committees Meetings. (Your Ed put in his two bobs worth.)
- There are some confusions around issue to do with the Tiny House Project.
- He will be away until the end of May.
At this point to Meeting was handed back to the acting President and it was declared closed at 8:15.
