Autumn Afternoon

 A busy afternoon at Ballarat occurred on the 14th May 1984. At 2:45pm C510 rolls through no.2 road at Ballarat station with 9121 Melbourne - Adelaide Express Goods. B69 rests in platform 1 with the 8142 Up Ballarat pass. while S305 - T386 sit in the no.3 road on a block grain of GH's from Dunolly destined for the GEB terminal at Geelong.

At 2:52pm C510 on the 9121 Melbourne - Adelaide Express Goods powers up the grade out of Ballarat and across Doveton Street.

At 2:55pm B69 departs Ballarat for Melbourne with the 8142 pass. Once B69 clears the section Ballarat East - Warrenheip, S305-T386 will tackle the 1 in 52 grade of Warrenheip Bank on their way to Geelong.

B69 accelerates through Ballarat yard on the 8142 pass.

At 3:10pm Y152 departs Ballarat yard with the 85 Redan pilot. The train consists of VBBX-VLCX-VFAA-KMQ destined for the Guncotton warehouse. W250 potters around the yard making up the evenings 9170 Ballarat - Melbourne Through Goods.

At 3:12pm S305-T386 begins the climb out of Ballarat with the block grain of GH's to the Grain Elevators Board terminal at Geelong.

At 3:35pm T367 runs into the arrival and departure sidings and couples to a short rake of GY's loaded with superphosphate for Linton. 5 minutes later X40 long end leading arrives on the 239 Geelong - Mildura Block Oil. X40 will run via No.1 road where a crew change will occur.

At 4pm, T367 powers out of Ballarat on the 395 Ballarat - Skipton Goods. The GY's with super will be dropped at Linton and loco and van will run BONA to Skipton to retrieve a rake of empty GY's. 

At 4:12pm X40 accelerates through Ballarat North on the 239 Geelong - Mildura Block Oil.

At 4:45pm S308 pauses at 5 minutes at Ballarat on the Down Dimboola pass. 

At 4:53pm W250 departs Ballarat for Bunge's Garden City Flour Mill on the 97 Flour Mill pilot. Unusually there are no wagons to deliver to the mill this afternoon,  

12 minutes later W250 returns via the Up line with a short rake of empty GH's. These will be stored in Ballarat yard until required. 

At 5:15pm 952-934 roll into Ballarat on the 9127 Melbourne Adelaide Express Goods, just as Y152 returns with the 96 pilot from Redan. 

Y152 runs into the arrival and departure siding. The lourve vans and flat wagons with shipping containers will be added to the rake of wagons in the adjacent siding to form the evenings 9170 Ballarat - Melbourne Through Goods.

Y152 detaches from the wagons and will run to Ballarat East Locomotive Depot to stable for the evening. A lemon twist 8300 guards van brings up the rear of 9127 Melbourne - Adelaide Express Goods.