The Stony Point line.

Hello Vinylepea, the closest F209 would get to Frankston was Flinders St. It was used in lieu of an E1103 class to dock/shunt the Eastern Pass into/out of the Collingwood Sidings, and also as the Brake Block Pilot between Jolimont Shops and North Melbourne Wagon Shops. The F class were too slow to be used on the Mainline (unlike the E1103 class, which could maintain a Spark schedule; after all, the E1103s were electrically equivalent to a Red Tait Motor, and the interior was complete with cyclone wire fencing ! ). The Y class diesels were generally used on Suburban Goods, replacing the previous E1103s, which were getting rather old and tired. Nice work though, and most F class diesels retained their English air whistle. Many a time I looked out for a preserved steamer (D3 639 Commissioner's Engine), only to see the F diesel shunter instead. Your Frankston station also looks good, and cleaner than I remember. Best wishes and regards, Echidna.

 

HelloVinylepea and others, 1 / whilst I had not seen a P class / 1000hp with HEP ( rebuilt 1st series T / 870hp ) on the Stony Point shuttle, I was more familiar with a B class / 1500hp on that run, and later, an A class / 2250hp with HEP ( rebuilt B ) . The shuttle was rostered with a DRC / Diesel Rail Car & Trailer, but they frequently overheated in summer ( or even on a warm day ! ), hence the loco and carriage replacement.

2 / Whilst I cannot recall the B class number in question, there was a young lady who had an emotional, and physical, attraction to a particular B class locomotive, and followed it to Frankston, and if I recall it correctly, was included, with a photo not showing her face, in an article in The Age newspaper, which is a morning daily paper for Melbourne, discussing the phenomena of "object attachment". Obviously, she was well known to the loco crews, and I later heard that she was particularly distressed when the locomotive in question was withdrawn. Coincidentally, I became aware of "object attachment" as a result of a three or four part BBC series shown on ABC TV, where the estranged adult son of the main mother character used to seek out LT RT & RM buses that had a fast idling diesel that caused the bus to vibrate both physically, and aurally.

3 / re the P class diesel, I have seen the Auscision / Bendigo Rail Models HO scale V/Line Pass Mk 1 Red, with White and Blue highlight livery running on a club layout, very nice. Currently there are 5 in service, 2 stored, and 6 stored, and none scrapped. As these locomotives now are 69 years old, with the VR from 1955-1984 / 29 years as a 1st series T class, 1984 -2018 V/Line Pass / 34 years ( 63 years ), with only the B class of 1952 - 1953 being older ( 72 years ), says something for the original design, and quality of manufacture, and you can still get new replacement parts from EMD ! I doubt that the current generation of high tech diesel electrics will last the course.

4 / Nice work Vinylelpea, regards to all, Echidna.