Black Thursday - Easter 1984

During the 1980's the Thursday before Easter was traditionally the busiest day for country passenger services in Victoria. In 1984, V/Line used a Friday timetable and ran a number extra services including additional services to Dimboola and Mildura.

To provide carriages for all these services, all spare sets were used, together with new N set N19, delivered just before Easter. With the significant reduction in the number of wooden bodied passenger cars still in service the number of extra services provided was less than in 1983.  Some trains were run with double sets or had their capacity increased with the addition of a spare carriage. 

Below is a summary of the passenger services on the evening of Black Thursday 19th April 1984 through Ballarat.

  

Time	Train No.	Train	Loco(s)	Consist
18:00	8121	Melbourne - Ballarat pass	B61	N3
18:45	8150	Ballarat – Melb pass	B61	N3
19:20	8135	Melb-Ballarat pass	X32	N1
19:40	8133	Melb-Dimboola pass	S310	213BS-5BZ-2BRS-8AZ-CD1
21:17	8145	Melb-Ballarat pass	B81	36BE-2BE-30BE--24CE
22:10		Dimboola pass (extra)	X48	(N5) 13BN-40BRN-15ACN
22:34	8141	Overland	934-X50	2PCO-Purpawi-Paiti-Allambi-No.1Club-Weroni-Tarkinji-Yanni-Nakuri-Nomuldi-Kuldalai-2AJ-4BJ-10BJ-2RBJ-6BJ-1CO
23:24	8143	Vinelander	X31-T331	VMAY20-VMAY22-Sleepers (No.16-1VAM-No.12-No.13)-3BS-6BZ-225BRS-6AZ-33CE
00:40		Mildura pass (extra)	B72	VMAY8-Sleepers (No.1-No.2-No.3)-57BEL-60BES-2BS-52AE-15CE

 

At 17;58 B61 glides down grade through Ballarat East on the 8121 pass.

 At 18:00 B61 arrives on time at Ballarat with the 8121 pass. The B will run around the cars via No.2 road to form 8150 pass to Melbourne scheduled to depart in 45 minutes.

Having run around the carriage set, B61 sits in platform 1 ready to form 8150 Melbourne service to Spencer Street. VBPY (or D) vans weren't common on Ballarat services. B61 departs Ballarat at 18:45 with 8150 pass, T359 and T370 on a Dunolly- Geelong grain will follow once B61 has cleared the section Ballarat East to Warrenheip.

At 1845 B61 snakes its way through Ballarat yard on the 8150 Ballarat - Melbourne pass.

At 19:20 X32 arrives on 8135 Ballarat pass with a consist of 32BW-44BW-8BW-40AW-42ZLP. The train is a scratch set of spare cars releasing the usual N set to form the extra service to Albury. 

X32 slows through Ballarat yard on the 8135 pass.

The X will run around via No.2 road and then shunt the carriages to the carriage shed. The X will stable at Ballarat East loco overnight and will be used on 8118 pass to Melbourne on Good Friday morning.  

X32 pushes the empty cars into the carriage shed.

At 19:40 S310 arrives at Ballarat on the 8133 Dimboola pass. Usually a N set on weekdays, tonight the service is formed by a Z set consisting of 213BS-5BZ-2BRS-8AZ-CD1. It's a colourful set in transition with CD1 (maroon), 8AZ (blue), 2BRS (orange with tea-cup logo), 5BZ (orange no logo), 213BS (orange with V/Line logo).

CD1 on the rear of the 8133 Dimboola pass rolls past T367 and T356 waiting in the Departure siding of Ballarat yard with the 9170 Ballarat - Melbourne Yard Fast Goods.

S310 sits at Ballarat station with the 8133 Dimboola pass. T321 waits in the no.2 road with the Horsham Block Oil Train. T321 will follow S310 west once 8133 has passed Ballarat D Box. 

At 19:45 CD1 on the tail of the 8133 Dimboola pass disappears beneath the Armstrong Street Bridge as S310 accelerates out of Ballarat.

At 21:17 B81 arrives at Ballarat with the 8145 pass with a consist of 75BWL-3BKL-1AS-17CW. The B will run around the cars via No.2 road and then shunt the carriages to the carriage shed and run to Ballarat East Loco to stable for the night.

B81 shunts 17CW-1AS-3BKL-75BWL into the carriage shed. 

B81 and X32 rest at the Fuel Point at Ballarat East Locomotive Depot.

At 22:10 X48 arrives at Ballarat with a Dimboola pass (an extra). This service is formed by set N5 (13BN-40BRN-15ACN). At Dimboola it will be combined with the Z set from 8133 pass to form the 8130 pass to Melbourne on the Good Friday morning.

At 22:15 X48 departs Ballarat with an Extra to Dimboola.

At 23:22 934-X50 accelerate up grade out of Ballarat and past Ballarat C Box with the Overland. Its unusual for 930 to lead, perhaps the crew prefer an Alco over an EMD. Consist is 2PCO-Purpawi-Paiti-Allambi-No.1Club-Weroni-Tarkinji-Yanni-Nakuri-Nomuldi-Kuldalai-2AJ-4BJ-10BJ-2RBJ-6BJ-1CO.

The signalman is about to hand the staff to the crew of 934 on the Overland.

At 23:40 X31-T331 run past Ballarat C Box and across the junction points and onto the Mildura line with the Vinelander. Consist is VMAY20-VMAY22-Sleepers (No.16-1VAM-No.12-No.13)-3BS-6BZ-225BRS-6AZ-33CE

Its after midnight when B72 on the Mildura pass (an extra) reaches Ballarat North. This service is  formed by a combination of air-conditioned and non air-conditioned sitting cars with air-conditioned sleepers. The extra has a consist of VMAY8-Sleepers (No.1-No.2-No.3)-57BEL-60BES-2BS-52AE-15CE.