Train Derailments and the Romance of Disused Tunnels
I am a big fan of trains. My frequent choice to travel anywhere via train over driving has frequently perplexed my family and friends. I really do love driving (and now to extend *where* I drive thanks to my new tank), but I love trains more. I came across an old website this evening (the internet is old enough to have 'old' websites???) while looking for pictures of the wholly-built but forever unused Platforms 26 and 27 at Central Station. Have you ever wondered why the escalators going down to the Platforms 24 and 25, the Eastern Suburbs Blue Line (ie the Kings X line) are so steep and so lengthy? Its becuase Platforms 26 and 27 are directly above them!
Anyway, they were used for document storage but now they're empty, apparently. This is all that is mentioned from the CityRail website:
"The excavation was so deep [of the construction for the Eastern Suburbs line] that two additional platforms (26 and 27) were added on top of 24 and 25 for possible future use but remain hidden there today with no interconnecting tunnel."
Here's a photo from a modern CityRail accident:
and here is a really stunning photograph from 1969 when The Southern Aurora collided head on with a freight train at Violet Town:
Anyway, they were used for document storage but now they're empty, apparently. This is all that is mentioned from the CityRail website:
"The excavation was so deep [of the construction for the Eastern Suburbs line] that two additional platforms (26 and 27) were added on top of 24 and 25 for possible future use but remain hidden there today with no interconnecting tunnel."
Here's a photo from a modern CityRail accident:
and here is a really stunning photograph from 1969 when The Southern Aurora collided head on with a freight train at Violet Town: