45 minutes at Little River

March 2025 will see the end of loco hauled passenger trains to Geelong, and beyond to Warrnambool, with the much unloved Vlocity diesel multiple unit sets taking over all services.

Like Bairnsdale, the last of the loco hauled trains on the line are those that are stabled at the country cities overnight, and like Bairnsdale, once stabling facilities ( basically just a floodlit fenced security compound) are, or were in the case of Bairnsdale completed, the Vlocitys will be allowed to sleep over.

As it currently stands, there's three evening services out of Southern Cross, the 16:31 Geelong, 17:06 Warrnambool, and last for the evening, the 19:15.

In the up direction, the 06:10 and 09:24 departures are the loco hauled services from Warrnambool,  while the 05:34 Geelong is the last loco hauled commuter service in the state - and perhaps the country?

I've taken a reasonable number of shots of these trains over the last couple of years (See my post Chasing Dinosaurs), possibly foolishly not travelling far past Geelong for any photos, but at this late stage, that's not likely to change.

I've decided that I'll try and get a last few shots this week, before other commitments see me heading interstate for a poke around.

Monday 17th March was a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne, after a damp Grand Prix the day before, so I took my camera gear with me to work intending to head out to get some shots I'd been thinking about for a while.

Little River is a small town between Melbourne and Geelong, boasting a pub, church, service station / shop and a handful of houses.

It's also served by the Geelong line trains, with a lovely bluestone station on the Geelong bound side, and less inspiring facilities against the impressive bluestone goods shed on the Melbourne bound side.

While this would be an unusual setup in the suburbs with those waiting to go to the city getting better facilities then those heading home after work, there is a reason. The Geelong line was originally opened in 1857 as a single track with crossing loops at key stations. It was duplicated in fits and starts, from both ends, Werribee to Little River in 1970, then the final double track link to Lara was finished in 1981.

Heading out through Laverton, the sky looked dark, not in a nice spectacular way, more flat and grey.

I thought about not bothering, but in a month's time there won't be the option, the locos just won't be there, so kept going to see what I could get.

I arrived at Little River station just as a Geelong service was departing, and wandered up on the platform to see what possibilities there were for a shot along the verandah for an oncoming train.

Playing around with a couple of lens options, my 70 - 400 wasn't going to work, so I ditched it in favour of the 24 - 105, which gave me room to move and fit in some key elements I was looking for.

So, lets start the clock…

At 17:15, the first train to be photographed was the 16:31 loco hauled Geelong. I framed this through the verandah for something a little different.

The 16:31 with N453 ( City of Albury) races through Little River with a train load of commuters.

Following behind it at 17:31 was the 16:49 South Geelong Vlo, ( I think I missed the 16:46 express  Waurn Ponds).

Tuned out at the end of the day, I wonder what the commuters on the 16:49 South Geelong are reading, or listening to?

Prior to the 16:49 departing, the screeching horn of an approaching Vlo from the Geelong direction sounded, this being the 16:58 Waurn Ponds - I managed an ordinary record shot of both trains passing at 17:35.

As the 16:49 South Geelong disappears behind the shrubbery, its opposing number, the 16:58 from Waurn Ponds crosses the Little River, express through the station.

A bit of dithering saw me miss an up standard gauge train, before setting up on the up platform.

I witnessed the arrival and departure of the 17:25 ex South Geelong at 17:48, and set up for the next 'prize', the 17:06 Warrnambool, which ran express through at 17:51.

Clean and simple. N462 (City of Shepparton) on the front of the 17:06 Warrnambool passes the elegant bluestone Little River station, with its ornate VR coat of arms on the end wall.

Four minutes later, another up express VLO, this time the 17:23 Waurn Ponds. It had barely sailed out of sight towards Melbourne when the pedestrian gates at the end of the platform started again, this time with the 17:12 Waurn Ponds, photographed at 17:56.

The 17:23 ex Waurn Ponds rattles through Little River, while the platform screen tells of the imminent departure of the ex Melbourne 17:12 Waurn Ponds train, running a few minutes late.

I wandered along the platform to have a bit more of a look around this interesting old station, as a down standard gauge crawled towards the crossing. Once the booms dropped, the pair of NRs were notched up, and the train accelerated through, and off into the distance. That was 18:00, and I called it quits for the evening, having shot my fill of Vlocity's and the next loco hauled train, the 19:02 Warrnambool nearly two hours away.

NRs 12 and 63 pick up speed with 2MA5, a mix of containers and empty wagons in tow.

While there's plenty of trains on the Geelong - Melbourne corridor - as there should be with a lot of people commuting every day, the scene for photographers is going to be a bit of a yawn come April when the locos are gone, the Vlocity trains are ok for what they're doing, (although that's questionable on long distance traffic), but they don't inspire a lot of excitement.

Let me know what you think about the changing scene in Victoria in the comments!

Regards,

Scott