Glen Huntly Road has re-opened to traffic and trams following the level crossing removal, though trains are still a few weeks from resuming.
I’m watching this one because it used to be my usual station, and I still live not too far away.
In this post are a few photos showing recent progress, but I’ll start with an old one found at the Public Record Office Victoria. It’s looking east over the crossing, I’m guessing late-1920s. If you zoom in, there’s some fascinating detail. The tram line is single track, but presumably to be duplicated soon as it’s double on the crossing itself. A girl is crossing the railway line. The car in the foreground is parked where the third track is now.
In the background: the chemist was still a chemist until about 15 years ago. The newsagent next door (advertising The Argus and The Leader) is still a newsagent in 2023.
Also note the Estate Agent office on the left – this building is now a drycleaner (plus other stuff, trading under the name “One Place, All Services”) – watch for it and its distinctive roofline in the photos below – it will help if you’re not familiar with the area.
How it was just before major works: on 27th April from a similar angle to the above photo. In the last couple of years, the tram square was not in very good condition, so both trams and trains would slow to a crawl. This didn’t prevent trams from derailing on the crossing.
By late May, the road was closed, but trains continued to run. In this photo from 29th May, we’re looking west-ish. The drycleaner is at the right.
By 10th June (looking east again) they were busy putting in the piles for the sides of the trench for the trains to use to run under the road.
Another view, about a week later on 17th June.
By 7th July the railway station building was starting to go up, and work on the tramway and platform stops outside the station was also proceeding.
Another photo from 7th July: the second crossing at nearby Neerim Road had been replaced by a bridge, with the rail trench towards Caulfield taking shape.
16th July: the road opened on the 15th, and trams were running again, with the platform stops in operation.
Work on the station continues.
…though someone didn’t get the memo about the spelling change.
Post by @danielbowen.auView on Threads
Trains are expected to resume in early August. I’m sure I’m not the only one looking forward to their return.
Finally, I tried to get a comparison pic of the 1920s photo and now.
(Apologies for the photos of trams showing blank destinations. This is due to the scan rate of their LEDs. It’s fixable using a DSLR, but I haven’t yet found a reliable way using an iPhone.)
11 replies on “Glen Huntly grade separation progress”
If you’re willing to give up a bit of resolution on iPhone photos, you could record them as videos and then picking the best frame for LED shots. It’s not foolproof though.
It’s interesting to see and a good platform stop installed. Clearly a trench was the only way to go through Glen Huntly. I never thought I would see this, and I expect I will say the same about Kooyong Station. Riversdale, maybe too late for me.
I was in your neck of the woods today for an appointment and where the train used to travel is still marked by a rise in the road. I would have caught the train, but no trains until a not yet stated date in August. I parked in Nicholson Street and while there weren’t trains, I could hear station announcements coming from the station. Maybe they were saying ‘Go away, there aren’t trains, get a bus’.
I found a mural to photograph too.
I don’t know the locality at all but it looks interesting enough to visit by train for a relaxed investigation and coffee.
You might already know this but I thought I’d mention it: when viewing a Live Photo on an iPhone, if you tap “LIVE” in the top-left you change it to long exposure. This works for stationary PIDs where you have held the phone steady for the duration of the Live Photo (10 seconds both sides of the shot, I believe.)
Of course, it would not help in a situation with a moving tram and Arfman’s is probably the only OOTB solution.
Also, you can take a burst of rapid fire photos by sliding the shutter button to the left. Of these, you will hopefully have at least one with the PID visible.
Thanks Arfman and Darren. I did try Live Photo for these, but the Long Exposure was too blurry to use in most cases, particularly where the tram is moving.
I notice Live Photo includes a short video, so as per Arfman’s suggestion that might provide a frame that can be used. Will check.
Good idea on rapid fire too… in the past I’ve found that can work with the LEDs used on B-class trams, though not E-class trams. Will try that again.
Ideally what I’d like is an equivalent to a DSLR’s TimeValue (aka Shutter Priority mode). So far I haven’t found it, even in third party camera apps.
Would be good to see the trench from the Glen Huntly bridge but it’s all locked up behind wooden boards.
Fun fact – there is a viewing platform on the old bank chamber on the corner but it’s booked out.
Out of interest, why was it not possible for trains to operate to Caulfield on the Frankston line for so long? Although services to Caulfield are resuming before the new station opens, the MATH stations have had several weeks of replacement buses. Has the work involved trackwork as far away as the platforms at Caulfield?
@gxh – they’ve been rebuilding the Frankston tracks over the pedestrian subway at Caulfield, so it’s been unavailable for terminating trains.
@Marcus, yes, but the subway works didn’t seem to affect Pakenham/Cranbourne trains to the same extent? They were operating for at least some of the time that the Frankston (to Caulfield) trains weren’t.
I believe they’ve just left the subway on the Dandenong side of Caulfield station for now – so look forward to a few weeks of bus replacements when they decided to fix up that side!
I am one of, I guess few people, of who will miss this crossing.
It was fun going across the tram track here.