My local suburb is increasing in density, and (not entirely disconnected from that) it’s also interesting to see how the retail strip is doing. The shopping centre has grown around the railway station, which is still the epicentre, though the east side of the tracks is where most of the busiest shops are located. The ... [More]
After the big 37 day Frankston line shut down, the trains are back, and the new shiny Mckinnon station has re-opened. The other two stations, Bentleigh and Ormond, will open late in August. Here are some pics from Mckinnon from the past month… 28/6/2016 – the station had been closed since 25th March, a couple ... [More]
It’s the last day of July, so here’s my monthly post of pictures from ten years ago, from July 2006. Cooking a stew on my ancient stove, with my cast iron pot. Delicious, as I recall. I really should do this more often. All the other photos below were snapped with my then brand new ... [More]
With Ormond likely to get its tower (whatever the height might be), what of other nearby suburbs? The transition is already underway in Bentleigh and many other areas. Around the station, numerous developments are going up. And in principle, I have no problem with this. Melbourne’s population continues to grow. People have to live somewhere, ... [More]
Although it won’t reopen until the end of August, Ormond station has been coming along… Here’s how it looked on Saturday: Under the station building facing North Road is the deck for the concourse, as can be seen in the plans: But further north from that, a second deck is taking shape. It’s actually easiest ... [More]
I can be a bit of a pedant, so this photo caption in Saturday’s Age caught my eye: “Former NGV director Patrick McCaughey” pictured in 1986 — so was he the former NGV director back then? No — the article text makes it clear he was the director in 1986. There’s a simple way of ... [More]
I sometimes wonder if motorists driving in and out of car parks get irritated by pedestrians walking through. Often the pedestrians have no choice. These pictures are from Caulfield Plaza – with the major drawcard inside being the Coles supermarket. There is obvious pedestrian traffic from the railway station and the university campus to the ... [More]
I’ve written before about blockages on footpaths: overhanging trees, motorcycles, cars and real estate agent advertising. There’s at least been some pogress with real estate. It seems some agents, perhaps realising that blocking the footpath is illegal, have got newer, smaller flags. During my walk on Saturday morning, I spotted these: Buxton seem to have ... [More]
If you missed the front page story in today’s Age: Melbourne to go more than two years without a peak-hour train timetable boost See also: PTUA: Services packed while seven trains sit idle – where is the new timetable? To recap: Regional Rail Link separated out most V/Line services from Metro services, giving V/Line trains ... [More]
Brace yourself… a non-transport-related blog post. A couple of years ago I bought a Yamaha surround sound setup, which has been fabulous. I’d single out the sound track on Mad Max Fury Road in particular; very immersive. Heck, even later seasons of the West Wing had some subtle surround going on, adding to the viewing ... [More]
(With apologies to The Jam) While we endure the train replacement buses, work is moving along on the Bentleigh-Mckinnon-Ormond trench. It’s really impressive to see – I worked out you can see all three bridges from the Brewer overpass; with a zoom lens, that is. (This won’t be the case once the station buildings are ... [More]
It’s unsurprising that the closure of station car parks along the Dandenong line for the “skyrail” level crossing removals was highlighted by the media on Wednesday; at this stage it’s the major disruption impact that’s expected. But – perhaps because of the amount of space it takes up – it’s often incorrectly assumed that Park ... [More]