V.R WW1 Military Trains

Historical Research

– Looking for the Evidence By Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )

Victorian Railways - WW1 Military Trains

And Other Areas of Service

Research Disclaimer : Please note that This Research was done many years ago now :

so the information contained may now be out of date , photos gone missing or web links broken

My apologises : But It has become an impossible task to try and keep it up to date - Jenny

Victorian Railways - WW1 Military Trains And Other Areas of Service

Victorian Railways took part in WW1 in a number of ways

Recruitment Trains
Troop transportation to and from the Military Training Camps and to Port Melbourne for boarding on to ships going overseas
Advertisement of War Loans
Manufacturing of Motor repair workshops, Ambulances and Mobile Operating Theatres for the AIF
The Victorian Railways Unit ( to read more about them see this page )
Transportation of Returning to Home Troops

Below are photo image Gallery of some of this work that Victorian Railways did.

1914

An AIF Battalion entraining at the railway station probably the first stage of its trip to overseas service.

1914

Seymour ?

AWM Photo H18421

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H18421/

Casterton, Vic. 1914-09-16. Volunteers to the AIF wave farewell from train windows to their friends and relatives who stand next to the railway track, as the volunteers depart, probably for Broadmeadows military camp where they would undergo training prior to their departure for service overseas. One of the volunteers on the train is 58 Private Charles Gustus (Gus) Greenham, 14th Battalion, who later died of wounds on 2 May 1915.

16 Sept 1914

AWM Photo P00858.006

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P00858.006

DECORATED STEAM LOCOMOTIVE FIRST AUSTRALIAN TROOP TRAIN 10TH OCTOBER 1914

TRAIN AT BROADMEADOWS OCTOBER 1914

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 2969

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_2969

MILITARY TRAIN FIRST CONTINGENT 19TH OCTOBER 1914

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 4076

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_4076

PORT MELBOURNE 1914-18 EMBARKATION OF TROOPS

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 2885

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_2885

The 5th Battalion, AIF, moving along the Port Melbourne railway pier to embark on HMT Orvieto (A3).

October 1914

AWM Photo C02490

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C02490/

Victorian infantry embarking on HMAT Hororata (A20), at the Port Melbourne pier. At left is HMAT Orvieto (A3), the flagship of the convoy. Note the train on the rail tracks beside the troops marching along the pier.

October 1914

Australia: Victoria, Melbourne, Port Melbourne

AWM Photo C02491

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C02491/

14TH DECEMBER 1914 RECRUITING TRAIN AT SPENCER STREET

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 4071

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_4071

RECRUITMENT TRAIN AT SPENCER STREET STATION FOR FIRST WORLD WAR

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 5540

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_5540

RECRUITMENT TRAIN AT SPENCER STREET STATION FOR FIRST WORLD WAR

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 5529

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_5529

1915

MELBOURNE, VIC. SWANSTON STREET ENTRANCE OF FLINDERS STREET RAILWAY STATION BEARING SIGNS ADVERTISING THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 7TH WAR LOAN

AWM Photo H02355

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02355/

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. MOTORISED TENDER BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOPS CONSTRUCTED FOR THE AIF. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

1915.

AWM Photo H02338

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02338/

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. INTERIOR OF A MOBILE OPERATING THEATRE BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

1915.

AWM Photo H02339

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02339/

MELBOURNE, VIC. 1915. TWO MOTORISED AMBULANCES BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

1915.

AWM Photo H02340

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02340/

H02341

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. A MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOP BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR THE AIF. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02341

H02342

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. A MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOP BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR THE AIF. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02342

H02344

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. A MOBILE OPERATING THEATRE, BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02344

H02346

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. A TENDER TO A MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOP BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR THE AIF. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02346

H02347

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOP BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT FOR THE AIF. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02347

H02343

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. A MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOP, BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT, SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF THE REAR OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE AND THE EQUIPMENT CARRIED INSIDE. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPRARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02343

H02345

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. A MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOP BUILT BY THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT, SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE AND THE EQUIPMENT CARRIED INSIDE. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02345

H02443

MELBOURNE, VIC, 1915. A MOBILE MOTOR REPAIR WORKSHOP BUILT BY VICTORIAN RAILWAYS FOR THE , SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF THE REAR OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT CARRIED INSIDE. (DONOR VICTORIAN RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT)

www.awm.gov.au/collection/H02443

1916

TROOPS BOARDING TRAIN AT LANG WARREN CIRCA 1916

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 5151

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_5151

"2nd Squadron AFC arriving at Laverton Station." The men are travelling via Laverton to Port Melbourne to embark HMAT Ulysses (A38) later that day for overseas service. (This photograph is from the album of Captain James Brake, No. 2 Squadron, AFC. See P10814)

25 October 1916

AWM Photo P10814.016.001

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10814.016.001

"Engine that brought 2nd Squadron from Laverton to Port Melbourne pier on day of sailing." The men are travelling via Laverton to Port Melbourne to embark HMAT Ulysses (A38) for overseas service. Messages and images have been drawn in chalk on the side of the train. (This photograph is from the album of Captain James Brake, No. 2 Squadron, AFC. See P10814)

25 October 1916

AWM Photo P10814.016.003

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10814.016.003

1917

Members of the 7th Reinforcements, 10th Machine Gun Company lined up along the railway tracks on the wharf next to a railway carriage prior to boarding HMAT Ballarat (A70). There are two railway workers in the group, one standing with his hands in his pockets in the centre and the other one to the right turning around. There is a train porter to the right and perhaps a station master standing to the far left.

19 February 1917

AWM Photo PB0210

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/PB0210/

WW1 Victorian Railways Unit

AWM Photo PB0218

Australia: Victoria, Melbourne, Port Melbourne

19 February 1917

Members of the No 2 Section, Railway Unit prior to boarding HMAT Ballarat (A70). Identified third left is 672 Private (Pte) Edgar Albert Uren, a railway fireman of Melbourne, Vic. Second left of the standing row is an unidentified Company Sergeant Major (CSM) Warrant Officer II. On the embarkation role there are eleven CSMs listed and all are railway station masters. The soldiers sitting in the front row are holding a large banner which reads 'Australia will be there'.

( to read more about them see this page )

WW1 Victorian Railways Unit

1918

A2 CLASS STEAM LOCOMOTIVE No.1001 DECORATED FOR GENERAL PAU VISIT IN 1918

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 1533

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_1533

A2 CLASS STEAM LOCOMOTIVE DECORATED PEACE 1918 WORLD WAR 1

VPRS 12800/P1, item H 4629

http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/VPRS_12800_P1_H_4629

1919

References used

Victorian Public Records Office - Public Transport Corporation: Photographic Collection of Railway Negatives

http://prov.vic.gov.au/index_search?searchid=41

Australian War Memorial - Photograph Collections

https://www.awm.gov.au/

The Victorian Government Gazettes.

The Gazette published a list of railway employees every three years between 1880 and 1929

Information given in the lists is:

Name
their employee number,
date of birth,
branch they worked in,
position,
date of entry (that is date on which they were permanently employed) and sometimes to
and rate of pay.
sometimes station at

Where to find the Triennial List of Railway Employees in the Government Gazette (1880 – 1929)

The list was discontinued after 1929.

Victorian Railways Employee Records

1st Published : 8th Feb 2016 11 Feb 2016 Page Updated: 13 Sept 2020 © Looking for the Evidence : Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )

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