Afternoon arrivals

 

Late afternoon at Ballarat station could be busy with a steady procession of goods and passenger trains plus pilots serving the industrial sidings around the city.  On the afternoon of the 25th September 1984, the following trains were observed arriving and departing Ballarat station.

 

Y152 departs Ballarat on the 85 Redan pilot at 15 10. The pilot has 4 GY's with Barley for Elliot Magill Maltsters.

At 15 25 T388 grinds to a halt in the arrival siding in Ballarat yard on 239 Geelong - Mildura block oil. This train will be held in Ballarat yard until 16 45. Y170 sit in the adjacent siding on goods to Pittong. 

At 16 00 Y170 departs Ballarat on the 395 Goods to Pittong, with 4 open wagons with shipping containers for loading with Kaolin. Sections of the Skipton line have a 15km/h speed limit so it will be a slow journey along the branch.

With a fresh crew, T388 departs with the 239 Geelong - Mildura block oil train goods at 16 45. 

At 16 40 X50 crosses over from the down mainline to the No.1 road with the 8146 Dimboola pass. 

After a pause for 5 minutes, X50 departs Ballarat on 8146 Dimboola pass  

At 16 53 W250 pushes a rake of VHGY's on 97 Flour Mill pilot.

96 Redan pilot returns to Ballarat at 17 01. Y152 load consists of 4 empty GY's from Elliot Magill Maltsters and a single empty VTQY from the Alba (Ampol) siding.

 

At 17 15 C507 rolls into Ballarat via the no.2 road on the 9127 Melbourne- Adelaide Express Goods. 

W250 returns from Ballarat North on the no.98 Flour Mill pilot. The load consists of 4 empty GY's and a VPFX loaded with flour for Williamstown. The flour hopper will be attached to this evenings goods to Melbourne.

At 17 38 T361 rumbles through Ballarat station on an Up block grain with a long rake of empty GH's. This train will load at silos on the Kulwin line.

At 18 00, A73 slows to a stop at Ballarat station on the 8121 Down pass. 8121 runs express from Spencer Street to Ballarat via North Geelong. Its unusual for Ballarat pass to have a D van attached.

Whilst passengers are disembarking from 8121 pass, 9133 Melbourne - Adelaide Express Goods rolls through Ballarat station via no.2 road non stop behind 952 and C505. The Express goods had been held at Warrenheip awaiting the pass to clear the section Warrenheip - Ballarat East. Once no.2 road is clear, A73 will run around the cars to form 8150 pass to Melbourne scheduled to depart at 18 45.

Based on observations by Frank Strik on 25th September at Ballarat and observations I recorded the same day at Parwan (at the old station which at this stage had been replaced by the loop).