victorianrailways.net gone offline

grazlash

Route Builder
I was dismayed today to find my favourite source of signal diagrams and grades has gone offline :(:eek: (the site says temporarily, but that is not usually the case). At the moment it's hard to do without it, as I am trying to build the Serviceton to Horsham part of the main western line. If anyone on the forum knows someone associated with the site, could they please get them to get in contact with Powweb. (message from site states: 'If you manage this site and have a question why it is not available, please contact us directly.) This site is a fantastic resource for the history of the Victorian Railways and would be a shame to lose it. Apart from signal diagrams and the 1923 Grades book, there is a wealth of historical info, mechanical drawings, steam locomotive maintenence cards and photos. :'(
Graeme.
 
Victorian Railways Site Gone?

http://www.victorianrailways.net/

Above site appears to have gone into limbo, shame as it was a fascinating archive of gradient profiles, track plans, timetables and other technical information. Just wondered if any of our resident contributors knows the webmaster or why the site has gone dark?

Hopefully the Wayback Machine has caught most of the data but moral of the story seems to be, if you see a site with valuable information - grab it and make your own archive.
 
Mark has probably gone on Holidays and hasn't re-new subscription yet as he pays for the server.

Cheers.
 
Three of us started on the Beechy way back in time and the route exists end-to-end, I have also made a lot of the buildings and trackside items and all the locos and rolling stock, including the Garratt.

I have to confess that the project stalled due to my loss of interest, it was too soon after creating the DHR route.

Another problem that was becoming evident, the route needed trees, lots of them, none of the early primitive Speed trees were suitable and generally it looked as though it would be a very jerky ride. Another thing we considered was that VR only ran one train a day in later years while going back in time to when they were more active would have meant more trees. Was all the work warranted for one train a day travelling at ~10 to 20 mph.

It is quite probable that in T:ane it would work well if tackled by a dedicated team. Get some people together, at least six and I will ask the other team members if they would be happy to make the route available to someone else to finish off. Don't forget, this is ~50 miles of single track, a lot of work but not much of interest. I might get involved again, no promises.

There is another Beech Forest route on the DLS if you can find it. Nothing like the prototype

Peter
 
Thanks for the background on Beech Forest, Peter. Teamwork isn't quite my thing so if I did have an attempt it would probably be along the lines of a solo/generic effort. TANE also out of the question for me as it doesn't like the laptop, more likely TS12. Gum trees still an issue in both TS12 and TANE, of course, very much in short supply compared to Northern Hemisphere trees and some of the older type ~TRS2006 era suffer from horrible transparency.

Anyhow I'm getting a bit off topic so back to the matter in hand, I will at least grab all the gen via the Wayback Machine when I get home later.
 
Just checked Wayback Machine... Unfortunately the archiving is a bit patchy, none of the profiles are available under gradients and the location index is a bit hit and miss. Let's hope the proper site returns soon.
 
Unfortunately, Mark's website has been offline for a few days. It's not the first time it's occurred, so hopefully we might see it back soon.

For anyone needing Aussie/VR signal diagrams, another fantastic source is this site: http://www.signaldiagramsandphotos.com/

Regards
Zec
 
Thanks for that Zec. A useful backup until Mark's site (hopefully) comes back.

He also has quite a range of diagrams that Mark is missing (and vice-versa), so a very handy little resource.

Another handy one is http://www.vrhistory.com/

Although not specific signal diagrams, he has a range of 'history' notes from tours that include various yard and signal diagrams, including diagrams that show the changes over time. Was very handy for the Healesville route's Mooroolbark and Lilydale yards.

Zec
 
Thanks for that Zec! It's good to know that there are alternatives, although I expect Mark's site was the only one that has a grades book.
Graeme.
 
A post on FB about the site

Spoke to Mark today. He is changing his web site host and site should be back up within 48 hours.
He is not so sure about the forum however.
Regards, Rob

Cheers.
 
...and down again. Account suspended message. I guess Numurkah to Picola branch will just have to wait,plenty of main line to keep going with.
Graeme.
 
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