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Spencer Street looking South, 1880. The staggered 1859 platforms on the left are parallel to Spencer St. A few years after this photo was made, major alterations resulted in the platforms being at an angle to Spencer Street, rather than parallel to it as seen in this photo. This is very obvious today when viewed from the elevated concourse of the new Spencer Street. The two vehicles in the foreground are carriage trucks, (G class) the 19th century version of what was later marketed as "Motorail". These conveyed the horse drawn carriages of the landed gentry around the colony, loading being facilitated by the provision of deadend "carriage docks"at most country stations. Surviving examples can be found at Maldon and Trentham. A photo of the carriage dock at Stawell, without rails, can be seen by clicking here.
The locomotives are two of the four 0-6-0's supplied to the VR by George England & Co, Hatcham Ironworks, London in 1857. Known to the operating staff as "Slim Jims" on account of their slender boilers, they were classified "V" in 1886.A "Saddleback"2-4-0 lurks near the trainshed in the background, most likely bound for Williamstown. Official VR photo Below is an 1874 diagram of Spencer Street |
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