Friday, Facts and Fotos 48 Friday 23rd June 2023
West Block Southern Extension. Part 3
By doubling the length of the tracks to 600 feet through West Block (WB) into the extension, entry and exit of rolling stock whether for original construction or maintenance became far more complicated. This necessitated keeping the centre track through each bay in the front (original) part of WB as clear as possible so shunting moves to place or remove vehicles from the southern extension could be made.
The centre section of this jumble of roofs became the truck yard. All sorts of freight vehicles were repaired, including wheel sets & bearing replacement, body repairs and accident damage. This is the area where the 2016 arson attack did major damage to the roof. In the clean-up to make it safe, six sections of the saw-type roof had to be removed and in recent years, white ant damage has caused most of the remaining roof to be supported by acrow props. This is one of the reasons why VicTrack has fenced off all of the WB southern extension (often referred to as Lot 100) as sections of it are still unsafe.
The important southern wall of the truck yard facing Champion road is now also propped up. The deterioration of Lot 100 raises serious questions about the future use of this area. Various parts have huge historical relevance, while others could easily be removed with little effect on telling the story of how it used to be. With some visionary thinking and creative design, this area could easily become the main exhibition hall of a future Railworks development. This aligns well with the recommendations of the 2017 RBA report on the future use of the WB extension. VicTrack initiated this report, but have failed to act on it!
Check out the RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants 2017 report. It is a gold mine of historical information about this area of the workshops.
Eleven major studies about the future use of Newport have been done in the last 33 years. They all recommend the use of these historic buildings as a future rail heritage sites. The Government still has not recognised Newport’s huge tourism and community use potential.
Fortunately, R 700 was rescued from the WB extension before the current ban on entry. The class leader got a quick cosmetic cleanup and paint before the 2022 open weekend and hopefully may get a full restoration soon. The stripped-down remains of K 151 is under a section of the propped-up roof. Likewise, 201BT, 267M, 4BE and some other important rolling stock.
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