Current mood:	tired
Current music:	'Sever' by Porcupine Tree
Entry tags:	melbourne, melbourne trains, photos, trains, victoria

A bunch of train photos.
So, I've caught the photography bug. Today, I had my first meeting with my contact at the Royal Historical Society, which went very well. I'll write more about what I'm working on once I know little bit more detail about the project. After the meeting, I figured I would go and photograph some trains and trams ... so I spent about thirty minutes doing that. It was all good fun. I'm such a nerd. Tomorrow, I'm seriously thinking of going and riding the Stony Point train, which is currently a diesel-hauled carriage train but I hear will be replaced by Sprinter railcars in the very near future. I want to ride it just during regular service, and since I've nothing else to do and would like to get out of the house, I might as well go tomorrow. It will give me a chance to do a lot of reading, including some of the details of the Royal Historical Society project I'm working on, and it will satisfy bot the railfan and the photographer within me.

So, in any case, I thought I would post some of my earlier photos of trains and get them out of the way before today's stuff and all the material I'm sure to take tomorrow. I've posted plenty of tram photos, but I hadn't gotten around to posting any I took of trains! These photos are from 25 January and 17 February and were mostly taken at Spencer Street Station in central Melbourne. My knowledge of Victorian trains is even more basic and rudimentary than my knowledge of the trams, so if I've made any mistakes, hopefully somebody out there can correct me!

	Comeng train at Royal Park A Comeng electric multiple unit (EMU) rounds the bend into Royal Park railway station on 25 January 2008.
	Comeng and X'Trapolis trains at Spencer Street Station I tried to take some overview shots of Spencer Street Station but I don't really feel they worked too well. This is an example of the rather unspectacular lighting. At left is a Comeng EMU and at right is an X'Trapolis EMU.
	VLocity railcar at Spencer Street Station These flash railcars, rejoicing in the name of VLocity, are pretty much brand new and run services from Melbourne to regional Victoria. At left is a rake of V/Line carriages for a locomotive-hauled regional service.
	Close-up of the VLocity railcar
	Y class locomotive at Spencer Street Station A Y class locomotive shunts a rake of wagons to a platform at Spencer Street Station for a regional service. At right are more VLocity railcars.
	Y class leaving the platform After shunting the carriages to the platform, the Y class locomotive pulls away. It's just a shunting locomotive; a more powerful locomotive, likely of the N class, will haul the train on its journey.
	VLocity and Sprinter railcars VLocity and Sprinter railcars to the north of the platforms at Spencer Street Station on 17 February 2008.
	Comeng train entering the Loop Melbourne has an underground City Loop under the CBD. One access point is from the north side of the Spencer Street Station platforms, and here, a Comeng EMU can be seen entering it.
	Rear of train entering the City Loop The rear of the Comeng train in the previous photo disappearing underground into the City Loop.
	X'Trapolis train at Spencer Street Station
	X'Trapolis entering City Loop The rear of the X'Trapolis EMU of the previous photo disappears into the City Loop. At left, a Comeng EMU can be seen approaching, while in the background behind the X'Trapolis, a number of VLocity and Sprinter railcars are stabled.
	Comeng train entering Spencer Street Station The Comeng EMU seen previously crosses tracks as it enters Spencer Street Station. At left, another Comeng train can be seen stabled in the distance.
	Comeng train arriving at Spencer Street Station And now the above Comeng EMU arrives at the platform. This was my Upfield line service back home - or at least to Royal Park, to connect with a tram.
	Comeng train departing Royal Park While I waited for my tram, I photographed this Comeng EMU departing Royal Park railway station for the city.
	Comeng train heading to city And to end the set, the Comeng EMU seen in the previous photo crosses Royal Park's train/tram bridge and disappears around the corner.