Doubling up, a Sunday outing.

After a stinking hot February Saturday, (23 February) was supposed to be a bit cooler, and, apart from some potential storms, nicer.

With an empty SSR grain out of Appleton Docks in the early afternoon, and a loaded one in, we decided to head up the Northeast for a few photos, and lunch at a winery, most likely Fowles, not far past Seymour.

Some late news this morning had the southbound still sitting at Yerrong Creek, well north of Albury, but Pacific National's (PN) Sydney - Melbourne container train 7SM7 was likely to pass the northbound grain at Wallan.

Leaving home at half past 11, an hour before the train was due out, gave plenty of time to get over the Westgate, and heading onto Citylink. Hoping to get a look at what locos were on the train, it was already snaking out of the yard, much better than running hours late, and all the better for lunch plans!

First stop was Summerhill Rd., between Cragieburn and Donnybrook. Until recently, it was open paddocks, with the line climbing out of Cragieburn, and over a vertical curve at the crossing, before dipping down the other side.

It can give nice views of the city on a good day.

The area is under intensive industrial development, so I'm glad to have got some shots there over the years.

Out near the crossing, we were being followed by a Metro Trains Signal Maintenance ute, which could really only mean one thing, a signalling fault.

We look after the broad gauge system from the crossing back to the city, and our people are great at what they do, so I wasn't too worried.

Parking and walking to where I wanted to be, an ARTC ute came over the crossing, and down the access track past me. This now had me wondering, they look after the standard gauge, so there must be something going on impacting both sets of lines.

The signal just past the crossing for northbound trains was at proceed, so it was a case of settle in and wait. And wait. And wait…

Some big storm clouds rolled in over Melbourne, and there was a bit of lightning, which might have provided a nice backdrop, but it passed through fairly quickly, well before any trains arrived.

The Albury passenger train should have been through shortly after we arrived, eventually, lights could be seen at Cragieburn, and the train came through very slowly, about 30kmh. As it was approaching, a second Vlocity could be seen on the Broad Gauge at Cragieburn, and, at a similar speed, crawled up the hill, and through the crossing on its way to Shepparton.

The lunchtime Albury Vlocity crawls over the hill to Summerhill Road, while the headlights of the broad gauge Shepparton service can be seen in the background.

I was able to get a photo of the Albury with the Shepparton way off behind it, so two trains in the photo which I thought was a bit of a novelty.

With the slow speed of the trains, the crossing had been down a while, and, after the Shepparton went through, it stayed down.

A Melbourne bound Seymour train came into view, also travelling slowly, which allowed me to get a couple of shots of the two trains passing.

Shimmering in the summer heat, the late running Shepparton passes an equally late running Seymour to Melbourne service between Cragieburn and Donnybrook. The signal is for the standard gauge, showing yellow over red, or normal speed warning. This gave me a good indication our grain train was still on its way, and would likely pass the PN train at Donnybrook.

Second set of two trains in a photo, happy with that!

I then received a tip off the Albury Pass, and PN train would be crossing at Kilmore East, which would then have the SSR grain and PN containers crossing at Donnybrook. That seemed like a better option than where I was!

The idea of heading north for lunch was fading as time ticked away, so some alternative plans were discussed as we headed up the back road to Donnybrook.

I hadn't been to Donnybrook for few years, and was staggered by the amount of housing development - and as with a lot of these outer fringe suburbs, burnt out cars and household rubbish dumped on the roadside, not very attractive or encouraging!

Finding a location at Donnybrook wasn't too hard, after exploring a couple of options in the now suburbs, I settled on the station carpark, and went for a walk down an access track.

The PN train was already sitting there, and the signal for the grain was at proceed, so hopefully it wouldn't be too far away.

NRs 42, 102 and 22 sit at the front of Pacific National’s 7SM7 container train from Sydney to Melbourne at Donnybrook. The clouds parted for some sunlight on the back half of the train, but the front didn’t get any love.

I found a spot where I could get a decent view south, and would be ok for the passing shot, as long as the cloud held, and aside from a couple of small sunny patches, there was no indication it wouldn't.

Eventually, the grain swung into view, crawling as the previous trains had been, which allowed me the luxury of moving a couple of times.

It was overcast enough to get some reflections off the rails as SSR 101 and 102 bring the grain into Donnybrook.

The standard gauge line swings around the back of the broad gauge platform, as it does on most of the stations on the line to Albury.

A couple of approaching shots, then of the two trains, and finally the PN train crawling south, we called it a day, and headed to Brunswick for a very late lunch.

The empty grain has the main line as PN’s train waits its turn to continue south.

With the grain in clear, the points will soon run, and give the PN crew a path.

A splash of sunlight on the NRs as they slowly draw back onto the mainline.

Three sets of shots, with two trains in them on the one day isn't something I've ever achieved before outside of a metropolitan area, so a happy day out!

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Scott