Climbing The Summit V/Line Video

V/LINE VIDEO Climbing the Summit. This is Heathcote Junction, the highest point of the Railway line between Melbourne and Albury. Here the line reaches a height of 349 metres to cross the Great Dividing Range. Trains travelling in both directions face a gradient of one in 50, testing the skills of train crews. The line opened in 1872 with the station opening in 1885 as Summit, the name later being changed to Heathcote Junction. Although no longer a junction, (the branch line to Bendigo that left from here was closed in 1968) the name has been retained. In 1962 the standard gauge line between Melbourne and Albury opened and dramatically changed rail operations between Melbourne and Sydney.
Tuesday the 20th of March, 1990 - a typical day for rail operations crossing the Great Divide. In the twelve hours of daylight from 6am, 34 freight and passenger trains passed by our cameras. Settle back and watch the variety of traffic "Climbing the Summit". As darkness closed in on Heathcote Junction, and the cameras were packed away, the trains kept rolling with another eight scheduled before midnight. And so, as it has for the last 118 years the Great Dividing Range at Heathcote Junction continues its daily battle with freight and passenger train crews as they "Climb the Summit".

[@woobyvr9654]

I would kill to go back in time to the 80s or 90s just to railfan

[@TrainsDirectVictoria]

QuebeC VR I agree 😁

[@alexthompson5275]

A66 is back in orange and grey now

[@gojivr369]

@@alexthompson5275 I know that.

[@jamesharding322]

Back then trains along this line ran to places like Cobram, Dookie, Bandiana and Moulamein. Not anymore :(

[@raybesserdin7542]

What a pity hey? Cobram was a great destination. Cannot fathom why they scrapped it.

[@raybesserdin7542]

Oh, what an awesome power blast video!😀😀 Some stuff there we miss nowadays but that film will be watched over and over. Thanks for sharing 👍😀

[@5foot3inches47]

What a brilliant production and how good is Bruce McLean's voice over! And always good to get a friendly toot from A66. Thanks for posting this.

[@woobyvr9654]

5 foot 3 inches everyone's favourite bulldog

[@RailfanDownunder]

You may not believe this, but it was a suggestion of mine to V/Line when I was a member of VicPol that led to this production - little did I know that I would end up living at Heathcote Junction some 25 years later (my own version of Climbing the Summit is not as slick but has similar interesting trains!)

[@PolarBear71169]

It’s amazing that a majority of all these locomotives are still running to this day even R761 (I think it was) still steams proudly to this day

[@TrickyMario7654]

I think X36 and G518 are literally the only locomotives in the video still not around today.

[@zanevoges3360]

And A77

[@geoffbarry9540]

What a fabulous reference for an exhibition model layout - every movement, details of every train, clear information about loco and consist, and all the data for a computer driven commentary over the train movements (oh, and of course, a great view in its own right, one of the best lineside coverages I've seen).

[@jessesands4099]

Love the old Crow perched above Heathcote Junction Railway Station at 9.43!🤗🐦

[@granthogden4732]

I remember in the early 90s that I went once or twice with a friend to his holiday house in Broadford. Watching this video I wondered if a young me could be on one of those trains. Or could be Watching some of them from the backyard

[@terryhesticles311]

Great video with fantastic sound. I know Bruce McLean from his 3MA and STV8 days.

[@alexthompson5275]

12:21. A66 is back in the orange and grey now

[@stef.b.m.lk1902]

5:08 both locos now in preservation

[@jeffr100rs]

Thanks for posting this Leigh, it brought back a lot of memories from the early eighties when I was a fireman at Benalla. So many engine numbers still remembered. The A class was new on the scene when I started. I realised that I was at the end of an era with semaphore signals and gaurds, wooden sleepers, and blokes in signal boxes. My career as a fireman was only about two years, but I fondly remember my fireman days. A few years ago I stopped a Chiltern rest stop on the Hume Hwy and wandered over to the tracks. I saw welded tracks on concrete sleepers with electric light signalling. It was all gone. Such is life.

[@terrymanning1556]

Who did you fire for at Benalla?

[@jeffr100rs]

Hmmm, I’ll have to jog my memory. Les Johnson, bob Hocking,..... the Moulday brothers........I can’t remember the name of my main driver....so long ago.

[@terrymanning1556]

I was a driver there till 86

[@jeffr100rs]

Terry Manning I probably fired for you too? Bob was my main driver’s name. He lived at Tatong if I remember correctly.

[@terrymanning1556]

Bobby Williams. Lived at Samaria

[@Chicken_3475]

the all-famous A66!

[@ThompsonSteamtrain]

20:40 I think the School children from Seymour catch a glimpse of R761. Steam locomotive. 🚂🤗

[@jimpikoulis6726]

Love EMD

[@jimcrawford5039]

Fantastic video! Riverina, NSW.

[@BillSaltbush]

What a great video. I thoroughly enjoyed that . . . thank you V/Line. It makes me want to head off to 'The Junction' with my point and shoot and do it all again. It was especially interesting to note the origin and destination of the various services. Thumbs up from me. 👍

[@stephenpickles2148]

Got this on VHS

[@jessesands4099]

Very Good Film of the daily arrivals and departures at Heathcote Junction Railway Station back in 1990 30 years ago!🤗🚆🚇🚃🚃🚃🛤️🌄🇦🇺

[@freeagent8225]

I never knew Heathcote Junction was so elevated😅.

[@jessesands4099]

Friend of mine has got this Video have to see if he can do a copy of it onto DVD for me! He actually lives in Heathcote Junction now!🙂🚆🚇🚃🚃🚃🛤️🌄🇦🇺

[@alexthompson5275]

8:29. G518 unfortunately she got scrapped

[@lostinvictory8526]

Those students would be around 42 years old now.

[@raybesserdin7542]

What a way to travel to school and home. Precious memories for them

[@sutherlandA1]

1990 and yet the old VR scheme still hadn't been change to the V line livery

[@adamtaylor7150]

I love this video. But why will no one help that poor X class? Lol, poor old girl.

[@matthewnorman9803]

The time when sky rails didn’t exist

[@christopher-2000]

A66 is still in service on the vline

[@VictorianRailHeritage]

christopher 2000 not anymore it isn’t

[@VictorianTransportSpotter]

Victorian Rail Heritage you realise the comment is two years old right?

[@csm101000]

Why was a steam train running on a Tuesday

[@mikeydynoncomedy]

Is that rail motor preserved or was it scrapped?

[@darylatkinson8802]

All 4 are preserved

[@mikeydynoncomedy]

@@darylatkinson8802 who by?

[@STYtrainspotter2007]

@@mikeydynoncomedy that's right answer I know one is at Seymour DRC 43 still in V/line and one at Daylesford Railway spa country DRC 40 don't know where the others are

[@NoBody-ht1oh]

Testing train crew skills??? How? Notch 8 and stay there

[@voidjavelin23]

you dont care about crisped motor and a wheelslip arent you?

[@DJP-ph7yj]

For all the nay sayers.....................I'll tell you this. THIS livery, and THIS livery ALONE, is the one that ONLY the worthy locos got to wear... OR, were designed to function in the era of pure need and fitted in seamlessly.......... A/N/G/P. No way you could say that of the VR blue/gold - you didn't have the A/N/G/P.... or in FA. after the fact......you didn't have the C, and were ham strung with other rubbish.

[@johnriley2721]

What if this loco broke down is there a back up ??

[@darylatkinson8802]

Yeah, about 30 minutes from Seymour