Rail Geelong

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The cement works at Waurn Ponds opened in 1964 by the Victorian Portland Cement Coy, and is now operated by Blue Circle Southern Cement. The works and sidings are located on the south side of the railway line. The accompanying limestone quarry is located on the northern side, with a conveyor crossing the line. The plant has a large silo complex located above a number of loop sidings branching from the main Geelong - Warrnambool line.

The sidings at Waurn Ponds were brought into service on March 22, 1963 with the points being secured by staff locks, and an Intermediate Electric Staff instrument was provided in the South Geelong - Moriac section.

On Friday 10th April 1964 a special train ran to the plant for the official opening, hauled by B63, with four AS carriages, dining car Avoca, and two CE brake vans. Initial freight traffic to the plant consisted of outbound cement, and from 1978 inbound gypsum railed from Nowingi and Cowangie.

In 1984 a two-position automatic signal with key switch override was provided at the up side of the Reservoir Road level crossing. Provided at the same time as the flashing lights, it prevents the crossing from operating when shunting the siding. The siding also had Annett locks in place of the staff locks previously provided. The number of sidings at the plant were rationalised from the initial layout sometime after 1985, with the down end siding lead being baulked in 2009.

The cement plant itself is more advanced than that located at Fyansford, allowing the company to continue operating in a more competitive marketplace.

In later years cement was the only rail traffic, with hopper wagons brought to the plant daily from North Geelong. The main destinations for the traffic is a cement mixing plant located at Lyndhurst in Melbourne's outer east, another mixing plant at Somerton in Melbourne's north, and a smaller volume to Mildura.

Rail haulage of cement from Waurn Ponds to Lyndhurst was discontinued in April 2009 due to Pacific National increasing freight charges. Rail traffic to Mildura and Somerton ended in December 2015, with trucks taking over.

In 2013 quarrying of limestone and clinker manufacturing ceased at the plant, with grinding of imported clinker due to be relocated to a new facility at the Port of Geelong towards the end of 2020.

On 31 May 2021 the siding was finally abolished, with the up and down end points secured with point clips to lie towards the main line, allowing the siding tracks and hand points progressively removed.

On 21 May 2023 the mainline points were finally removed, along with the two-position automatic signal at the Reservoir Road level crossing.

Events

Line Opened

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Diagrams

NOTE: Diagrams are not to scale.

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Photos

Nine of 38 images found displayed. Click them to enlarge.

Lineup of cement trucks outside the despatch yard December 25, 2020	Lineup of cement trucks outside the despatch yard December 25, 2020	Truck washing gantry outside the road despatch yard December 25, 2020
Siding at the down end of the cement works sidings has been rebranded for Boral November 23, 2019	Down end of the cement works sidings November 23, 2019	Three equipment cabinets at the Reservoir Road level crossing March 11, 2018
Boom gates at the Reservoir Road level crossing March 11, 2018	Looking east towards the cement plant March 11, 2018	Signal WPD28 for up trains approaching Waurn Ponds March 11, 2018

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Sources

• ARHS Tour Notes - 'South Western Steam Supreme' 1997
• Expert Witness Statement of David Barnes, Town Planner - Boral Waurn Ponds - Greater City of Geelong Amendment C395 (October 2019)
• Weekly Notice Extracts - Alan Jungwirth and Keith Lambert