railways – Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society

Now and Then 2021 – Bridge Street Light Rail Crossing

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 2, 2021

Bridge Street Light Rail Crossing (2021). Photo: David Thompson, PMHPS Collection. The light rail service from the city to Port Melbourne opened in December 1987 replacing the railway that had operated along much the same route since 1854. In that year the Hobson’s Bay Railway Company opened the first rail service in Australia from the city to the beach. They were…

Now and Then 2021- Beacon Cove Towers

Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 2, 2021

Shrouded in Controversy Apartment Towers at Beacon Cove (2021). Photo: David Thompson, PMHPS Collection. This peaceful waterfront has been a centre of controversy many times since it was first occupied by Europeans in 1836. Surveyor Darke’s Camp, Sandridge. Watercolour by W.F.E. Liardet (1875) State Library of Victoria William Darke was one of the surveyors given the task of surveying the district…

Meeting – Mon 28 March 2016, 7.30pm

MeetingsFebruary 22, 2016

Peter Fisher will be our special guest at the March meeting. Peter has stories to tell us about Sandridge conflicts such as the ‘white-hot competition’ between Town and Railway Piers and the community’s problem with the Melbourne & Hobsons Bay Railway. PMH&PS meet on the fourth Monday of each month except December in the Council Chamber, Upstairs at Port Melbourne Town Hall, 333 Bay St,…

Port Melbourne Railway Line, Casino Site, Sept 1993 by Brian Cleveland

Brian ClevelandDecember 6, 2015

Port Melbourne Railway Line, Casino Site, Sept 1993 by Brian Cleveland View of the Port Melbourne railway line from September 1993 where Crown Casino now stands.

Centenary Bridge, Port Melbourne, March 1991 by Brian Cleveland

Brian ClevelandDecember 3, 2015

Centenary Bridge, Port Melbourne, March 1991 by Brian Cleveland In March 1991 Brian recorded many views of Centenary Bridge just as preparations were being made to demolish it. The staircase leading from Centenary Bridge to the Port Melbourne railway station.

Centenary Bridge & Station Pier, March 1991 by Brian Cleveland

Brian ClevelandDecember 3, 2015

Centenary Bridge & Station Pier, March 1991 by Brian Cleveland In March 1991 Brian recorded many views of Centenary Bridge just as preparations were being made to demolish it. Centenary Bridge from Station Pier. The 'third leg', on the left, leads up to the conventional section of the bridge. The railway tracks on the pier lead under the bridge to Port Melbourne station.

Port Melbourne Railway Station

Places, Planning & Preservation, Port Melbourne HistoryDecember 12, 2013

This week a Planning Panel has been meeting in Port Melbourne to hear submissions on the planning future of 1 - 7 Waterfront Place. The relationship between the proposed development of that site and the Port Melbourne Railway Station is one of the matters being considered. The building is on the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) which lists places of significance to the…

Foundation stories

Places, Port Melbourne HistoryOctober 10, 2013

PMHPS finds it endlessly fascinating that it is still possible to 'read' the shaping stories of Port Melbourne in its street layout - the influence of the Lagoon and the Railway in particular. Township of Sandridge 1860, State Library of Victoria This is well explained in this report: "Perhaps the most significant element of Port Melbourne's infrastructure in terms of its ability to…

The first Australian railway

Places, Port Melbourne HistorySeptember 12, 2013

Flinders Street Station c1854. Australia's first railway. Sketch by S.T. Gill showing the first station buildings and the single line from Sandridge.: Culture Victoria 'Yesterday was memorable in the annals of Victoria and of Australia, for the opening of the first Australian railway' (The Argus 13 September 1854) On 12th September 1854, the first journey on the first steam railway in…

Maskell and McNab

People, Port Melbourne HistoryAugust 1, 2013

Maskell & McNab Memorial What is a monument to railwaymen doing on the foreshore so far away from trains? The monument commemorates engine driver Frederick William Maskell and fireman James McNab who, along with three passengers, were killed in a rail accident at Windsor in May 1887. Maskell was 46, McNab 21. One hundred and fifty four people were injured. Mr Maskell…

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians