APM Siding

---

title: "APM Siding" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["railway-stations-in-australia-opened-in-1919", "former-railway-stations-in-melbourne", "railway-stations-in-australia-closed-in-1994"] description: "Former railway station in Victoria, Australia" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APM_Siding" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former railway station in Victoria, Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox station"]

Field	Value
name	APM Siding
style	Australian closed station
image	Apm-siding-alignment-melbourne.jpg
image_caption	Looking south-east along the dismantled siding, towards the paper mill
coordinates
line	APM Siding
tracks	Dismantled
opened	29 July 1919
closed	1994 (?)
other_services_header	Former services
{{s-rail	title
{{rail line	col
route	APM Siding
previous
term1
{{s-note	text
::

| name = APM Siding | type = | style = Australian closed station | image = Apm-siding-alignment-melbourne.jpg | image_caption = Looking south-east along the dismantled siding, towards the paper mill | address = | country = | coordinates = | line = APM Siding | other = | structure = | platform = | depth = | levels = | tracks = Dismantled | parking = | bicycle = | baggage_check = | opened = 29 July 1919 | closed = 1994 (?) | rebuilt = | electrified = | accessible = | code = | owned = | operator = | zone = | smartcardname = | smartcardstatus = | status = | former = | passengers = | pass_year = | pass_percent = | pass_system = | mpassengers = | services = | other_services_header = Former services | other_services = | route=APM Siding | previous=| next= | term1= | other_services_collapsible = | other_services_state = | map_locator = | Melway = | web =

The APM Siding was a 1.125 km long private railway siding in the suburb of Alphington, Melbourne, Australia, that served the Australian Paper Manufacturers paper mill (later becoming the Amcor Fibre Packaging, before being closed in 2012). The siding branched from Fairfield station, on the Hurstbridge line, and ran south-east, passing through the intersection of Chandler Highway, Grange and Heidelberg Roads, and entering the factory.

History

The line past the factory was opened on 24 March 1891, as the Outer Circle line,{{cite book | author = David Beardsell and Bruce Herbert | title = The Outer Circle: A history of the Oakleigh to Fairfield Park Railway | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | year = 1979 | isbn = 0-85849-024-2 }} but the paper mill itself did not exist at this time. This section of the line was closed on 12 April 1893. It was not until 29 July 1919, that the line from Fairfield was reopened to the paper mill, and new sidings opened to serve it.{{cite magazine |date=November 1994 | title = Closure of the Australian Paper Ltd siding at Fairfield | author = S Cauchi |magazine= Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | pages =328–331

Electrification of the siding was provided in the 1950s, at the same time as that on the Gippsland line to Traralgon, with the overhead on the siding removed by June 1988, except for a short section, long enough for a six-car suburban train at the junction. In April 1994, V/Line announced that the mill would no longer have a need for siding, with it being booked out soon after. Contributing factors included the demise of coal traffic, and changes at the paper mill, meaning pulp would need to be double handled in the factory itself.

The rail was removed in 2003–2004, and ended up at the Yarra Valley Tourist Railway, with all overhead wiring on the siding gone by this time.{{cite web |url=http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p850814.htm |title=APM siding across the Grange Road/Heidelberg Road – Railpage Australia Forums (Melbourne suburban) |publisher=www.railpage.com.au |accessdate=2008-03-25 |url=http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p1027703.htm#1027703 |title=Where is it ~ Melbourne Suburban (Photo) #3 - Railpage Australia Forums (Melbourne suburban) |publisher=www.railpage.com.au |accessdate=2008-03-25

Traffic

Until the boilers at the paper mill were converted to gas firing, 400 t of coal per day was transferred in two trains per day, from the company owned Maddingley brown coal mine, on the outskirts of Bacchus Marsh. Wagons were unloaded by hand, until a wagon tippler was provided in 1951.

Paper pulp was also transferred from the company Maryvale Mill (near Traralgon), first by steam locomotives, then after electrification of the Gippsland line, by E and L class electric locomotives, along with B and T class diesels. In later years, T and P classes worked the siding, with VOBX or VFNX wagons loaded with white paper in cubed form entering the siding and empty wagons out.

Image:Grange_and_Heidelberg_Road_intersection.jpg|Intersection of Grange and Heidelberg Road, line towards Fairfield is in the background. The paper mill is behind the photographer. Image:Apm-siding-entry-melbourne.jpg|Looking into the paper mill itself from the Heidelberg Road intersection Image:Apm-siding-junction-melbourne.jpg|Junction of the siding (to the right) and the Hurstbridge line, looking away from the city towards the mill

References

References

1. (August 1988). "Works". Australian Railway Historical Society.
2. "Former Amcor Mill—Conservation Management Plan". Lovell Chen.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::