Spring Vale Cemetery railway line

Railway line in Australia

Spring Vale Cemetery

Tait train at Spring Vale Cemetery station

Overview
Status| Dismantled line
Owner| Victorian Railways (VR) (1904–1951)
Locale| Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Termini|

* Springvale
* Cemetery

Continues from| Cranbourne & Pakenham lines
Connecting lines| Cranbourne & Pakenham lines
Stations|

* 1 current station
* 1 former station

Service
Type| Former Melbourne suburban service
Operator(s)| Victorian Railways (VR) (1904–1951)
History
Opened| 7 February 1904 (1904-02-07)
Electrified| 11 December 1922 (1922-12-11)
Closed| 19 December 1951 (1951-12-19)
Technical
Line length| 2.650 km (1.647 mi)
Number of tracks| Double track
Track gauge| 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Maximum incline| 1 in 50 (2%)

Route map

Legend

|  |  |

|
|
|
|

|  |

| Cranbourne & Pakenham lines

to Flinders Street

|  |

23.3

| Springvale

|  |

| Cranbourne & Pakenham lines

to Dandenong

|  |

23.9

Dandenong Road (Princes Highway)

|  |

25.2

| Cemetery

(demolished)

|  |  |  |  |  |

The Spring Vale Cemetery railway line, in Melbourne, Australia, branched from the now Pakenham Line at Springvale railway station, for a short 1.87 km (1.16 mi) journey to the Spring Vale Cemetery. The terminus was a railway station of the same name.

## History

[edit]

The Spring Vale Cemetery branch line and associated station were opened on 1 March 1904 following completion of construction in December 1902.[1] The line was used to transport corpses, funeral cortèges and visitors to the Necropolis. Special hearse vans were constructed to transport the coffins and wreaths. The line was electrified in December 1922. Mortuary services ceased in 1943 and the visitor's service was suspended from 10 December 1950,[2] following the end of the statewide 55-day coal strike. Formal closure was only a book date, being 19 December 1951.

## Current status

[edit]

Throughout the first few months of 1951, the line was dismantled back to the western boundary of the Sandown Park Racecourse, and eventually back to the station side of Sandown Road. By the 1970s, the visible remains of the branch line included a short stub of the line, known as "Siding B", and an electrical sub-station near where the branch junctioned, as well as a short section of the alignment between Sandown Road and the racecourse boundary. A stanchion base could be seen at the end of the Downard Lawn in the Necropolis.

By 2010, the remaining track, overhead power lines and supporting stanchions had been removed, along with other sidings east of Springvale station. The electrical sub-station building remains, along with the rail reservation up to Sandown Park Racecourse, although it is now crossed by Sandown Road.

A commemorative plaque has been placed at the site of the former Cemetery platform, located in the grounds of the Eucalypt lawn of the Springvale Botanical Cemetery.

Plaque of location of former railway

Another commemorative plaque marking the location of the base of the supported electric overhead wires for the railway is located in the AC Downard lawn.

Plaque of base of former railway

## Station histories

[edit]

Station  | Opened[3] | Closed[3] | Age  | Notes[3]

|
|
|
|

Springvale | 1 September 1880 |  | 144 years |

* Formerly Spring Vale

Cemetery | 7 February 1904 | 19 December 1951 | 47 years |

* Also known as Necropolis or Spring Vale Cemetery

## See also

[edit]

* List of closed Melbourne railway stations
* List of Melbourne railway stations

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "SPRING VALE CEMETERY MORTUARY TRAINS TO RUN FROM 1st MARCH". The Age. 12 November 1903. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
2. ^ "Spring Vale Cemetery Line Closed". The Dandenong Journal. 13 December 1950. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
3. ^ a b c Anderson, Rick (2010). Stopping All Stations. Clunes, Victoria: Full Parallel Productions. ISBN 978-0646543635. OCLC 671303814.

## External links

[edit]

* Signal diagram of the station in 1942

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* t
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Railway lines in Victoria

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Tourist railways

| Operational|

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|

Former|

* South Gippsland Railway

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