Rewind 2023.

A look back into 2023.

2023 has been a largely successful year as whilst studying at RMIT University, managed to balance out photography as a hobby, whilst 2023 is largely focused on the railway side. This shouldn’t discount the street photography, aviation and other miscellaneous photography that is generally never shown that I’ve taken this year. (Those posts will be coming in due course).

2023 has been a year to re-focus my photography style more towards landscapes and how to capture that moment to feature the environment.

I would like to personally thank everyone for making this year a huge success and hope to see 2024 become an even more exciting year to come.

-Max

Rewinding the film stock… 2023.

Some casual facts of 2023.

1. January

SERIES: ALTERNATIVE WORKINGS | Documenting the various out of the ordinary movements as the City Loop closure continues. This resulted with the Northern Group using the Caulfield and Northern Viaducts to access Flinders Street Station.

STREAMLINERS | CLF1 leads CLP12, S303, C501 and CLF4 towards Melbourne Appleton Dock, with a fully loaded grain train. CLF1 has since been involved in an accident and been stored at Bendigo.

GREAT SOUTHERN | NR30-NR31 leads the Journey Beyond Great Southern towards Melbourne, as the two traverses through the vast and iconic Great Dividing Range in its exploration of iconic local produce and landmarks.

2. February

Hillside Comeng.

Comeng EDI (545M-1123T-546M), makes an unusual appearance into the Hillside network as part of preparing for an upcoming Xtrapolis 2.0 CGI internal train driving simulator.

Whilst the Hillside network is now comprised of Xtrapolis 100 trainsets, as this run was non-revenue. The Comeng is seen here curving towards Mount Waverley, about to make climbs once more before making the descent into Glen Waverley.

At Glen Waverley, the equipment was moved in preparation for the trip back to Melbourne.

The Farewell, Split and Union.

EVIE | P14-EV120-T386 powers onwards to Belgrave, passing Tecoma whilst heavy rain pours on the photographers awaiting to capture this shot. EV120 would also inspect the line before the split for three months.

L: Final Comeng to depart Mont Albert. R: Final Xtrapolis to depart Mont Albert.

After the last X’Trapolis departed at 2040, Mont Albert Station was officially closed down.

3. March

Bacchus Marsh Locomotive Hauled Services. The Start of Photographing NCL.

SYMMETRY | N453 ‘City of Albury’ runs around SSH28 (heading to Bank Siding), as it concludes its duties on the morning peak service from Bacchus Marsh.

This shot was the defining moment for me to make a trip out to Bacchus Marsh in March… it didn’t disappoint.

WILD WEST | N464 ‘City of Geelong’ and SSH set make ease of the descent into Bacchus Marsh (howling its Dynamic Brakes), before running an empty car to Maddingley Sidings for stabling.

In 2023, it was a defining moment as V/Line started to shift away from the H-Set locomotive-hauled carriages due to the influx of new VLocity units. As a result, Bacchus Marsh services were set to see rapid change.

POWERHAUL | G533 visits Victoria as part of its series of driver training on the Victorian Western SG line, in preparation for Aurizon’s reintroduction into the Interstate Intermodal Freight sector.

4. April

SIGNS OF CHANGE | Whilst that train departs and navigates through onto North Melbourne Flyover, a vast array of rollingstock from the locomotive-hauled trains are stabled and awaiting their next duties. In direct comparison to the VLocity and Sprinter units idle away, await to be whisked off to Victoria’s regional hubs.

CLOUDY MACEDON | V/Line Heritage A66 leads the special heritage diesel train to Bendigo for the Bendigo Easter Festival, whilst Mount Macedon looks on and breaks the slow clouds up.

THE KETTLES | LEFT: R707 makes ease of the downhill gradient to the railway town of Seymour. RIGHT: Steamrail Victoria’s A2 986, puts on a spectacular show of black smoke as A2 986 prepares to head back to Broadford Station as part of its photostop, for the final Australian Railway Enthusiast Charter.

FINAL KILOMETRE | N468 ‘City of Bairnsdale’ arrives at Warrnambool, the final stop on the line as the trainset concludes its service, before running around and heading back to Geelong.

5. May

Union Station Test Trains

TEST TRAINS | X’Trapolis 179M-180M takes the honours of conducting the various testing runs. Xtrapolis 179M-180M is first train to run between Box Hill and Camberwell, with the new Union Station ready to go on Monday morning.

FREIGHTLINER | G535 in Freightliner Powerhaul prepares to embark on its 776km trip back to Adelaide, South Australia, as the freighter departs Melbourne, descending into Bunbury Street Tunnel. The locomotive has since been rebranded into the new owner's branding since this photograph was taken. (Bunbury Street, Footscray)

AUTUMN COMENG | Comeng 664M and friends trundle through Beaconsfield at speed, conducting various tests along the Dandenong corridor.

6. June

(No images) :)

7. July

N Classes in the Goulburn Valley, as N460 ‘City of Castlemaine’ and N465 ‘City of Ballaarat’ heads to Shepparton. (Photos at Heathcote Junction, Murchison East and Toolamba).

A special movement was planned to transfer SSH27/28 to Shepparton as a part of V/Line's ongoing commitment to prepare for the future. V/Line originally planned to have two separate movements but due to a last-minute change, V/Line opted to have the two SSH sets transferred in one go.

A66 at Kilmore East. This could be mistaken as 1980s shot as the APEX Quarry train awaits to complete its loading at Kilmore East Quarry with various amounts of aggregate. Well actually, A66 awaits to depart as the special heritage train prepares itself for its return trip back to Newport Workshops.

As twilight starts to fade away into darkness, the two A Classes (A66 and A62) are being prepared for departure from Kilmore East.

A62 ‘Re-Launch’ was a defining moment for V/Line, celebrating 40 years since its introduction in 1983. Two eras lined up at Kilmore East as the photographers enjoy the return of V/Line’s Mk2 (Crimson Red, White and Blue livery).

ROYAL TRAIN | Meandering through the open fields, X31 leads the Royal Train and moves through the single-track section between Kyneton and Taradale before sprinting to Bendigo. (Malmsbury and Castlemaine)

8. August

ACROSS THE BORDER | As N457 ‘City of Mildura’ approaches with caution, to couple up with T387, PCJ493 and SN16 carriages. VS98 awaits to depart back to Melbourne, on the evening ex-Albury service. (Albury, NSW)

N457 would retrieve the SN set which belongs to 707 Operations, making way for their standard gauge operations in the coming year.

SUPERMAN CURVE | 12A leads the way as the train climbs the 1 in-40 grade back to Emerald. At this spot, the train gets a glimmer of open space, as the train curves around ‘Superman Corner’. (Emerald, Victoria)

9. September

(no shots)

10. October

October 2023, a trip to Sydney to photograph the various double-decker units and purchase some parts for a model train.

DEBUTS | Chumrail’s repainted 42105 in Northern Rivers Railroad colours and Sydney’s S Set S28, making its debut at the Transport Heritage Expo, returning to Central Station. (Tempe, NSW)

STREAMLINER AT CENTRAL | 42105 looks on at 3801 and 4201 at Sydney Central Station.

UNDER THE CLOCKTOWER | 3642 steams away as CPH set from Rail Motor Society Patterson awaits to move in position for its first shuttle of the day. (Sydney Central Station).

WESTCOASTER | N466 ‘City of Warrnambool’ departs Warrnambool as it starts its return trip back to Melbourne Southern Cross. Two hours later, R711 ‘Spirit of Bendigo’ arrives at Warrnambool, passing the photographer at Cannon Hill.

11. November

FAREWELL H-SET | A Scenic Farewell as N471 ‘City of Benalla’ hauls the special transfer of SSH27 to North Bendigo Workshops, SSH27 makes its final run on the mainline. (Woodend, Victoria)

WILD WATSONIA | A consist not seen for almost six years, P15 leads LH33 and P12 (in a push-pull configuration) heads towards Stony Point whilst passing the Wild Watsonia plants alongside the line. (Tyabb/Hastings and Stony Point).

NOTCHING IN WILDERNESS | T378-T382 notches through under the former Old Calder Highway bridge at Harcourt as the Royal Train continues onwards to Melbourne Spencer Street.

12. December

CROSSING BARWON RIVER | N464 ‘City of Geelong’ traverses over the Breakwater Bridge (crossing over Barwon River) in the inner suburb of Breakwater, in the City of Geelong.

EVENING RUNNER | N463 ‘City of Bendigo’ traverses outwards to Bacchus Marsh with SLH set in tow. (Caroline Springs, Victoria)

GOLDEN HOUR | Final Photo of 2023 as C506–4911-C507 leads the way through the Goulburn Valley, as the SSR Brown Rake heads back to Junee, New South Wales. (Kilmore East, Victoria)

That’s it for 2023.

Happy New Year and see you in 2024!