Rail Geelong

Laverton Station

• Origins
• Explosives
• Further Growth
• Laverton Derailment
• Final Changes
• Location Events
• Diagrams
• Photos
• Sources

Origins

Laverton opened for passenger traffic in 1886, and for goods traffic in 1887. The station was built due to the actions of a private developer, CR Staples, who asked the Railways Department to build a station in conjunction with the township of Laverton he was marketing. The early years of the station saw very little traffic.

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Explosives

The Truganina Explosives Reserve was established in 1897 to the south-east of the station, on the shore of Altona Bay. Located on marshy paddocks belonging to George Chirnside, they were built to replace the Maribyrnong magazine which was now being encroached upon by both housing and industry. The reserve opened on May 1st 1901.

A jetty was provided at the new reserve, along with 26 magazines, and a 1 1/2 mile long 2ft iron railed, horse drawn tramway. The tramway originally ran from the south of Laverton Station, east along the railway line, then turning south to run along Merton Street, then east along what is now Queen Street, where it entered the reserve. A powder shed was provided in the goods yard at Laverton Station in 1900 for the transfer of explosives.

At some point after 1915 the tramway was altered to run to the north of the station yard, using an underpass of the railway line at Merton Street. The number of magazines also increased to 61, and the number of sidings to 9. The tramway to Laverton Station remained in use until World Way II when road haulage took over. The reserve itself remained until 1962, when a new explosives storage area was opened at Point Wilson.

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Further Growth

Crossing facilities were extended in 1912 with the provision of two extra dead end sidings. In 1928 they were extended again with the down end dead end converted into a loop, as well as the installation of ATC safeworking that allowed more trains to be run in the single line sections.

The next major changes followed in 1965 when the line was duplicated from Rock to Laverton, and the up end of the station was rearranged. In 1968 duplication towards Werribee followed, along with the provision of a second platform, located behind the existing one. Mechanical control of signals and points was replaced by an electric relay panel. A year later in 1969 a new station building was provided.

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Laverton Derailment

In July 10th 1976 a Melbourne bound train from Port Fairy derailed at Laverton, resulting in one fatality and a number of injured passengers. The cause of the derailment was later found to be excessive speed through a crossover at the up side of the station. The incident also resulted in a lower speed limit being applied to wooden bodied carriage stock.

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Final Changes

1983 saw the electrification of the Werribee line, and the end of railcars and diesel hauled local trains to Werribee In 1985 the signalling at Laverton was altered again, with the opening of the line to Westona. In 1986 remote control was provided from Newport.

By 1991 only a goods platform, loop siding, and short dead end remained of the yard. Construction of the parallel Standard Gauge line from 1994 removed these, with today only a single loop siding remains. This remaining siding is unelectrified and is currently unavailable for traffic. The parallel Standard Gauge line opened in 1995, running around the loop siding. The Princes Highway overpass required undercutting to fix the extra track.

In 2008 it was announced that Laverton would be provided with a third platform to permit the running of trains starting and ending at the station during peak times. It is intended for the new platform to be built on the loop siding, with the two main lines to be slewed to run between the new platform and the current island platform, eliminating sharp slews at each end of the station for the west (up) line. The dock platform will be the current southern face, with a new line constructed from it east to Laverton Loop on the Altona line. The Princes Highway bridge will require undercutting to fit the extra track.

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Events

Line Opened

Track Amplified

Safeworking

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Diagrams

NOTE: Diagrams are not to scale.

• 1899
• 1912
• 1928
• 1965
• 1968
• 1995

1899

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1912

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1928

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1965

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1968

Back to Year Listing

1995

Back to Year Listing

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Photos

9 of 102 images found displayed. These will open in a new window

New access gates for the new north platform	Work on relaying the west line	Down end crossover
West line minus track	Track removed from platform 1	Excavators removing ballast in the platform 1
Platform 1 minus track	Rewiring the traction power feeds from the substation	Signal power supply at the up end

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Sources

• Andrew Waugh - http://www.vrhistory.com/
• Hobsons Bay Heritage Study
• Light Railways Magazine - Issue 85, July 1984