Former Hawthorn - Kew Railway Line
Current day pictures along the alignment of the former short 2.4km-long branch line from Hawthorn to Kew. Opened in December 1887 the line was single track with an intermediate station 'Barker', south of Barkers Road. The line was electrified in December 1922 as part of the suburban electrification scheme.
From Hawthorn the line descended into a cutting on a tight curve with underpasses at Linda Crescent, Chrystobel Crescent, Mary Street and Kinkora Road. Level crossings with interlocking gates existed at Hawthorn Grove and Barkers Road, either side of Barker Station where the line rose to ground level. The end of the line was in a shallow cutting at Kew station near Denmark and Wellington Streets. See here for some pictures of the line after closure.
As a steam-hauled service it ran as through services to the city during peaks with shuttles off-peak. Electrification saw through services through routed to Fawkner. This presented a problem for the line in from Hawthorn as near-empty Kew trains were timetabled with much busier ones from beyond Camberwell. From 1930 off-peak services were reduced to shuttles to and from Hawthorn. A decade later the line was only operating as a peak hour shuttle with buses operating at other times. In 1952 all rail passenger services ceased with the bus service replacing it also fully withdrawn by 1956.
The line was dismantled in the late 1950's and the cutting filled to form a chain of parks and car parking for Glenferrie Oval. The site of Barker station became the California Motel (since closed and demolished after a period of abandonment) and Kew Station was developed as the head offices for the Country Roads Board (now VicRoads) in 1961.
Looking at where the underpass was located at Mary Street. It appears the pavement has been replaced across where the bridge was located with the bridge abutments still buried beneath the road.
Former Hawthorn - Kew Railway Line
Current day pictures along the alignment of the former short 2.4km-long branch line from Hawthorn to Kew. Opened in December 1887 the line was single track with an intermediate station 'Barker', south of Barkers Road. The line was electrified in December 1922 as part of the suburban electrification scheme.
From Hawthorn the line descended into a cutting on a tight curve with underpasses at Linda Crescent, Chrystobel Crescent, Mary Street and Kinkora Road. Level crossings with interlocking gates existed at Hawthorn Grove and Barkers Road, either side of Barker Station where the line rose to ground level. The end of the line was in a shallow cutting at Kew station near Denmark and Wellington Streets. See here for some pictures of the line after closure.
As a steam-hauled service it ran as through services to the city during peaks with shuttles off-peak. Electrification saw through services through routed to Fawkner. This presented a problem for the line in from Hawthorn as near-empty Kew trains were timetabled with much busier ones from beyond Camberwell. From 1930 off-peak services were reduced to shuttles to and from Hawthorn. A decade later the line was only operating as a peak hour shuttle with buses operating at other times. In 1952 all rail passenger services ceased with the bus service replacing it also fully withdrawn by 1956.
The line was dismantled in the late 1950's and the cutting filled to form a chain of parks and car parking for Glenferrie Oval. The site of Barker station became the California Motel (since closed and demolished after a period of abandonment) and Kew Station was developed as the head offices for the Country Roads Board (now VicRoads) in 1961.
Looking at where the underpass was located at Mary Street. It appears the pavement has been replaced across where the bridge was located with the bridge abutments still buried beneath the road.