Talk:Outer Circle railway line

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Gah, I hate dealing with the Outer Circle.

Do you by any chance have the dates when the whole shebang was closed, before Deepdene reopened?

On seeing this, and my own notes, which are contradictory, I'm quite confused as to where Richmond Park and Waverley Road (the latter of which isn't mentioned here) were.

If my notes are right, Waverley Road was after Ashburton, and after that, it met the main line at Oakleigh - not East Malvern. As far as I understand, that was the end of the Circle. However, where I get confused is that I've put Richmond Park as being a couple of stations later, which really doesn't make much sense at all. *sigh* Ambivalenthysteria 08:32, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I think I found a map at one point, I'm trying to find it again. Anyway, the OC really is a bastard. I think it might be a better idea to list each 'incarnation' of the line, e.g. the whole Circle, the Deepdene bit, the early Ashburton section (with the old station names), as seperate lists to show the evolution and cutting and chopping the line suffered until the Alamein was all that was left. Thank god its Inner sibling was pretty straighforward! TPK 11:34, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I think I've got it all figured out. It went from Fairfield to Oakleigh, and only Waverley Road is past what is today Alamein. All the other stations to close were at the other end. And Richmond Park wasn't on the Outer Circle. I'll have to change this - I'm certain what's there is wrong now. Ambivalenthysteria 11:40, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Come to think of it, wasn't Richmond Park on the GW line near the current Burnley sidings? And was Waverley Road at or near the modern East Malvern? TPK 12:10, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Yes, AFAIK, you're right about both. I've left out almost any mention of East Malvern from this rewrite, because it didn't exist at the time, and tends to severely muddle things. Ambivalenthysteria 12:49, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Did the Darling branch come from Ashburton and go west along the current GW route (thus creating the Circle, as the Oakleigh connection only allowed trains to go to or from Dandenong, unless I'm wrong), or did the branch come some other way? It needs clarifting in the article where exactly the 'Circle' in the Outer Circle line existed. TPK 13:25, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

If I remember correctly (I'll double check in the morning, but I'm pretty sure), it passed through the site of what is today East Malvern - though that didn't exist at the time. Ambivalenthysteria 13:31, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Yet another fact to check up on: was Alamein station a part of the OC? I was under the impression there was nothing from Ashburton to Waverley Park until that was all closed and the electric extension was made to Alamein. Or was Ala. originally a steam station too? TPK 13:50, 15 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Once again, you are correct. There was nothing there until '48, when the electrification to Alamein was carried out, and so the station itself was never part of the Outer Circle. What I'm not sure about, however, is whether Alamein was built on the original Outer Circle reservation, or if it took a different route after Ashburton. Ambivalenthysteria 02:33, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC)

There still exists a linear park from Alamein to the golf course near East Malvern; there simply was no other way for the line to get from Ashburton to the (now) Monash Fwy, so yes, Alamein must be on the old reservation. the route from the Fwy to Hughesdale is more of a mystery. As is where the line officially ended, Hughesdale or Oakleigh? Was there a line to Dandenong beyond Oakleigh at the time? More questions, I know, but this is a very mysterious train line! I'm planning to take a wander along the old reservations and see what I can find, I think there are history placards along the trail. TPK 02:39, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Oakleigh. From memory, it's often referred to as the Fairfield to Oakleigh line, and that has been the subtitle of at least one book. Ambivalenthysteria 04:53, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Line guide

Outer Circle railway line
km Hurstbridge line to Flinders Street 0.0 Fairfield Hurstbridge line to Hurstbridge Fulham Grange Heidelberg Road APM Siding (not original) Yarra River (now used as Chandler Highway) Willsmere High Street East Kew Burke Road Deepdene Whitehorse Road (Maroondah Highway) Roystead (not original) Shenley Canterbury Road Belgrave & Lilydale lines to Canterbury East Camberwell (not original) | Belgrave & Lilydale lines Alamein line to Camberwell Riversdale ■ Riversdale Road Willison (not original) Hartwell (not original) Toorak Road (Burwood Highway) Burwood ■ Ashburton High Street Alamein (not original) Gardiners Creek (Kooyongkoot Creek) Monash Freeway Glen Waverley line Glen Waverley line to Darling Waverley Road (closed) Dandenong Road (Princes Highway) Bairnsdale/Traralgon, Cranbourne & Pakenham lines to Flinders Street Hughesdale (not original) Rosstown Railway to Elsternwick (dismantled) Warrigal Road 25.3 Oakleigh Bairnsdale/Traralgon, Cranbourne & Pakenham lines to Dandenong km

I've been reading some history of the line in Harrigan's VR to '62 which suggests that East Camberwell was a far more important station than the current line guide suggests (given that it doesn't even appear on the current guide). Here's a suggested update, which also notes the point at which the Glen Waverley line crosses the path of the old Outer Circle line. I realise it looks a little clunkier than the current version, but I think it's technically more correct. - Zzrbiker (talk) 10:26, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Outer Circle railway line/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

on the page that discusses roystead station, it mentinos about red brick with green painted iron bridges. i think its highly unlikely the bridges iron sectinos were painted green at the time id imagine they were painted green when the foot/bike track opend to make the area even more presentable and cover rust and dirt etc. green became the the theme for local councils in the area. i could be wrong but i assume they werent painted that in they heyday, look at any other bridge to do with a railway on the other train lines they dont bother painting anything...

Last edited at 01:44, 1 January 2012 (UTC). Substituted at 02:02, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Old Fairfield Railway Bridge and New Chandler Highway Bridge.

I went over the Chandler Highway Bridge with my mum on the 21st of May this year, and the highway now runs on its own bridge next to the old Fairfield Railway Bridge, which is now part of a pedestrian and bike path. Since original research and personal accounts don't qualify as a source, can anyone find a verifiable source that confirms this, so that it can be cited and updated here? Alope Ruby Aspendale (talk) 11:34, 3 June 2023 (UTC)