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Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company
Geelong Terminus
Overview
Headquarters
Melbourne and Geelong
Locale
Victoria
Dates of operation
1853–1860
Successor
Ballarat and Melbourne
Technical
Track gauge
Broad Gauge, 5ft. 3in.
Electrification
1952
Length
38.5 mile
The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. Alexander Thomson, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, introduced and mentored a bill to incorporate the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company.[1] On 8 February 1853, the operation of Melbourne and Geelong Railway Company and Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company was approved by the Victoria Government.[2] Thomson was one of the directors and presided at the first shareholder meeting.[3] Work began at the Geelong end in 1854 but progress was slow due to a labour shortage caused by the Victorian gold rush,[4] so the Victorian government hired out 100 prisoners to the company at a daily rate of five shillings each. They were housed in prison hulks moored in Corio Bay.[5] English engineer and surveyor, Edward Snell, undertook the survey and design of the line, including a station and extensive workshops at Geelong, and a number of bluestone and timber bridges.[6]
Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was one of the first private railway companies in Victoria.[2] It was the first organization to offer the country line to connect the two major cities in the colony and supporting gold mining via cooperation with Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company.[7] The company's establishment could be considered as a response to the fast-changing economy of Melbourne and Geelong during the 19th century.[8] The company claimed to complete the line with low cost and rapid constructing time but the first service provided in Newport was 18 months behind schedule and constructing cost doubles the initial plan.[9]
On 25 June 1857, the company opened the line from Geelong to a temporary terminus called Greenwich, on the Yarra River at Newport, where passengers had to transfer to a steam ferry for connection to Melbourne.[4] In 1859, train services were extended through from Newport to Spencer Street station after the Victorian Railways opened the Williamstown railway. However, the company continued to operate at a loss, and in June 1860, was sold to the Government of Victoria for £800,000.[4] The Geelong-Melbourne railway then became part of the network operated by the Victorian Railways, which undertook extensive repairs and refurbishment of the line and its infrastructure.[10]
Geelong and Melbourn Railway Company Drawing 1Geelong and Melbourne Railway Drawing 2
^"Prospectus of the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company". The Argus. 29 September 1852. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
^ ab"Victorian Railways History 1839 – 1899". Australian Railway Historical Society Victorian Division Inc.
^
Serle, Percival (1949). "Thomson, Alexander". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
^ abc"Geelong & Melbourne Railway Co". Museum Victoria. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
^Harrigan, Leo J. (1962). Victorian Railways to '62. Melbourne: Victorian Railways Public Relations and Betterment Board. p. 31.
^Snell, Edward, The life and adventures of Edward Snell, Tom Griffiths (ed), Angus & Robertson and the Library Council of Victoria, Melbourne, 1988.
^"Rail Geelong – Geelong and Warrnambool Line Guide – Home". Rail Geelong. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
^"Advertising". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957). 29 September 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
^O'Shanassy, John (1859). "Melbourne and Geelong Railway purchase: speeches of the Chief Secretary (the Hon. John O'Shanassy) and the Attorney General (the Hon. H.S. Chapman) in moving resolutions authorizing the government to treat with the company for the purchase of the line". State Library Victoria.
^Harrigan, Leo J. (1962). Victorian Railways to '62. Melbourne: Victorian Railways Public Relations and Betterment Board. p. 37.
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