On March 1st - 3rd 2019 the biannual Australian International Airshow was held at Avalon Airport southwest of Melbourne near Geelong. To help transport thousands of people to the event V/Line runs extra trains to Lara station on the Geelong line, where patrons are then transported to the airshow using shuttle bus.
Filmed at the quiet Little River station on Saturday 2nd we see V/Line Vlocity DMU's operate the extra airshow trains, passing through the station at speed. We also see the regular V/Line Geelong line services, including N Class locomotive hauled services on Warrnambool trains. The first train we see is the down Warrnambool service which is the first train of the day from Melbourne towards Lara. Fun fact: the first weekend trains of the day towards Warrnambool are the only times Warrnambool trains stop at Little River.
The airshow trains used to be a mecca for railfans as V/Line would put on everything and anything to accommodate the large crowds. In the past V/Line would use push - pull N & P Class trains (with up to 8 H type carriages), 7 car N Class locomotive hauled trains with N type carriages, Vlocity and Sprinter DMU's. Here's a video from 2009 which demonstrates this large variety: • Avalon Airshow Trains ...
Unfortunately as more modern Vlocity DMU's entered service they progressively starting taking over the airshow specials, with fewer locomotive hauled trains each year. The last time V/Line used a locomotive hauled train was in 2015 when a single push-pull P Class train ran. From 2017 on wards all the airshow specials have been operated exclusively by Vlocity's. If anything this video is a testament of how a once great railfan event has become quite stale in terms of variety.
On the plus side though the Vlocities mean that V/Line can now run a faster service to and from the airshow. And there's no denying that the train is the best way to get to the airshow as the Princess Freeway clogs up with traffic. As I was driving home around 11:30am after filming this video the traffic had backed up all the way to Sneydes Road near Hoppers Crossing; well over 25km (15.53 miles) away from the airport!
I've also shared all the photos I took at the airshow on my Facebook page: www.facebook.c...
3 мар 2019
