Frank Tate Building Melbourne University 1940. Originally part of Melbourne Teachers College. North end.
Corner entrance on Ballarat Road in 2019
Percy Everett architect
The Alexandra College, Hamilton.
The Government Offices.
Metropolitan Town Planning Commissions. Melbourne and Suburbs.
1891 Whitehead's map of Melbourne and suburbs
Collegiate Grammar School St Kilda.
In the late 1850's, a very enterprising businessman by the name of William Murray Ross started acquiring large parcels of land just south of Caulfield. His vision was to create a new suburb (Rosstown). and by 1874 he had acquired 925 acres for this purpose. The area known as Lemann's Swamp, in the vicinity bounded by what is now Glenhuntly, Koornang, Oakleigh and Grange Road was probably his last acquisition but proved to be the most contentious. The swamp was of great value to the surrounding market gardeners both as a water reserve and for its peat. All attempts at purchasing it by Ross was blocked at every turn. Ross wanted it so he could build his Sugar Mill for processing sugar beets and an associated reservoir for its water supply. Towards the end of 1874 public opinion turned in favour of Ross's project and he was able to acquire the remaining parcel of land for his sugar mill. The following year while the mill was being built he announced plans for a residential settlement and a private railway to serve the Mill. This railway was originally intended to leave the Brighton line just south of Elsternwick station and terminate as Ross's Sugar Mill at the corner of Neville Street and Koornang Road. In 1875, Ross began to seek government approval for his line but the proposal was rejected. It was around this time a railway to Gippsland was being negotiated and one of the starting points being considered was from the Elsternwick station on the Brighton line, owned at the time by the Melbourne & Hobson Bay United Railway Company (M&HBUR). Not wanting to deal with the private company, the government decided on Oakleigh as the starting point. In 1876, with the construction of his sugar mill well advanced, a new proposal was submitted by Ross, this time having the line extend past his mill to join at Oakleigh. Maybe Ross saw the benefit of having his line used as a connection to Melbourne and for his future proposal of an extension through Elwood to St.Kilda. Most of Ross's land acquisitions were financed and by 1877 his creditors were becoming concerned about his ability to repay. Writs were issued in December of that year and were attended to promptly by the Supreme Court, which ordered Ross to repay his debts. In 1878, work on his sugar mill ceased but the good news for Ross, the Rosstown Junction Railway Act was passed by the government. One of the stipulations of the Bill was that the line was to be completed in five years. Also decided at the time was the acquisition of the M&HBUR and the Melbourne connection of the Gippsland line.from Oakleigh to South Yarra. To finance his railway and to pay off his debts, William Ross started sub-dividing his land into residential allotments. One such area that has always intrigued me was an area just west to the newly opened Rosstown railway station. Rosstown station was re-name Carnegie in May 1909. In May 1879, 146 quarter-acre allotments with a rail line running through it was put up for sale. This rail line would have deviated from the government line on the Up side of the Rosstown (Carnegie) station and connect to Ross's Elsternwick to Oakleigh line at the Sugar Mill site. This is why Toolambool and Mimosa roads and further on, Truganini Road are shaped the way they are. These roads followed the proposed rail alignment with Railway Road later constructed on the former right-of-way. This loop connection never eventuated. Income from his two land sales, the other being at Oakleigh, did not seem to help his railway ambitions. In 1880, Ross tried to sell the land for his railway to the government owned Victorian Railways but they were only interested in another part of his estate for the construction of the Mordialloc Railway. In 1883 and with the five year deadline approaching, William Ross was able to secure a loan of £6000 to build his railway. In the space of seven weeks, the five mile rail line from Elsternwick to Oakleigh was completed, somewhat crudely and with little attention to detail. Ross had cut a few corners on matters of expense and Council requirements. Cheaper rails were laid with sleepers placed twelve feet apart. Level crossings were installed instead of bridges and the rail line between Koornang and Kooyong roads deviated to the south to avoid major earthworks. The intention was to have the whole thing overhauled and completed in a thoroughly satisfactory and workmanlike manner in due time but at present the rail line was completed under the terms of the Rosstown Junction Railway Act. A sticking point was the junction where the Mordialloc line intersected with the rail line. Ross had wanted a crossing at the level but the government rejected this. By 1886, an agreement had been reached where Ross would raise the level of the now Frankston line and carry it over the Rosstown line by a bridge. This bridge, made out of bricks and iron girders remains to this day. It is now used to connect Dorothy Road to Royal Ave. An extension of time was sought and given for Ross to complete the required work. After the government refused to purchase the railway, Ross sold it to a new company called the Rosstown Junction Railway and Property Company with Ross being one of the major shareholders. This company went about reconstructing the line to a proper standard including a loop line to the North Road station. North Road was renamed Ormond in August 1897. While the track for the loop line was in place, it was never physically connected to either of the two lines.The completion date set by the government was the 14th of November 1888. Penalties would apply if this was not adhered to. With this in mind, the story goes that Ross organised two carriages and a locomotive to run a passenger service from Elsternwick to Oakleigh and back to Grange Road on this very same date. This would prove the line was ready and capable of handling rail traffic. After this one-off train ride, the selected passengers got out and adjourned to Mr. Ross's nearby home where they dined. Strangely, not one of the Melbourne daily papers, nor any of the local weekly papers mentions this run. Reconstruction was completed by May1891 but no penalties were applied. It was around this time Ross started promoting his St.Kilda to Elsternwick extension of the Rosstown Railway. With the newly constituted Standing Committee for Railways recommending the construction of the line, the Government at the time was in no position to fund this very expensive project. The Rosstown company offered the use of the Rosstown line to the Government with the option of purchase. Unfortunately economies were being introduced on the Victorian Railways and there was no place for the Rosstown line in the Government system. The Victorian economy was in an accelerating state of collapse as were the fortunes of the Rosstown Railway. Between 1891 and 1893 many court cases relating to the financing of the line sprang up resulting by default, the National Bank of Australasia coming into possession of the Rosstown Junction Railway. Anticipating the possibility of ownership of the railway, the bank had a mortgage document drawn up by which the railway, formerly the property of successive Railway Companies, reverted to Ross personally. Ross was never able to repay the debt but he did try to again sell the railway to the Government in 1895. From 1897 onward. practically every attempt to revive and operate the railway was based on proposals for Government purchase. Although such a course was seriously considered several times between 1896 and 1916, it never came to fruition. William Murray Ross died in August 1904. His rail line was in limbo and his sugar mill never opened. It remained derelict until its demolition in 1908. The National Bank again tried to sell the railway in 1906 resulting in a no sale. Proposed tram routes for the area in 1907 appear to put the final nail in the coffin of the Rosstown Railway but for some unknown reason public agitation for the line to re-open heightened in 1912. The Garden Vale and East Elsternwick Progress Association and both the Caulfield and Moorabbin Councils wanted the line opened. The Moorabbin Council called for a cross-country line between the Mordialloc and Dandenong lines incorporating part of the Rosstown line between Elsternwick and Ormond and a new line from Ormond to Dandenong. This line would run via Bentleigh and Heatherton. It is the reason why for many decades afterwards, a Railway Place was located in Heatherton on the eastern side of Warrigal Road at the end of South Road. This road was on the alignment of the railway proposed by the council.. This and the re-opening of the line never eventuated. In 1916 an Act to repeal the Rosstown Junction Railway Act and the Rosstown Junction Railway Amendment Act was passed. The rails were pulled up and sold to the Emu Bay Railway Company in Tasmania. From 1910 to 1946 the National Bank slowly disposed of their land holdings along the line with the Caulfield Council being one of the purchasers. Very little evidence of the rail line remains to this day. Almost the entire length of the former private railway has been replaced by roads, except for one section west of Grange Road. The Rosstown Railway Heritage Trail covers the former Rosstown Railway line and is managed by the Glen Eira Council. The accompanying diagram shows how the Rosstown railway looked after its completion in 1891. It is not dated as such otherwise Carnegie station would be named Rosstown and Hughesdale station wasn't established until 1925. Leila Road, just south of the line was named after Ross's first wife and Grange Road was named after his estate which was bounded by Grange, North, Leila and Wild Cherry roads. William Ross had two sons, Claude and Roderick both of which served overseas during the First World War. Unfortunately only one returned. Roderick Ross went onto become a successful and respected engineer. He passed away in 1971. During the War he was at the scene when the fabled 'Red Baron' was shot down over France. There is a book by D.F. Jowett and I.G. Weickhardt called Return To Rosstown. It gives a fascinating and at times an unbelievable story of William Murray Ross, his ambitious railway and the astounding wrangle over the connection of the Gippsland railway to Melbourne. Other chapters include the proposed tram network, Land Boom companies and the unscrupulous people involved, Oakleigh station and the Sea Beach extension to St.Kilda. Source: Return To Rosstown (D F Jowett & I G Weickhadt)
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We couldn't find a date on this anywhere, but I've never seen a wooden caboose before. It was B&O Railroad, I found that on the undercarriage, but no date. BEST VIEWED LARGE
village life, cottages, countryside, quaint, quiet, charming, by gone era, peaceful
I'm getting closer to realizing my trip to California (I won't really realize it until I pack a bag on Monday night and wake up horribly early on Tuesday) and am getting the casita set up for weatherproofness for the two weeks it will be sitting untouched. Actually it's been rather untouched since I got…
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George Street, Hastings
