Record series
Correspondence and Administration Records (Engineer in Chief and Existing Lines Branches)
VPRS 418
1854 - 1920
Open
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
Board of Land and Works ( VA744 ): 1857 - 1858
Department of Railways I ( VA2877 ): 1858 - 1871
Department of Railways and Roads ( VA2875 ): 1871 - 1877
Department of Railways 2 ( VA2965 ): 1877 - 1884
Agencies responsible for this record series: Public Transport Corporation ( VA 2984 ): 1999 - present
Date Range
Series date range: 1854 - 1920
Series in custody:
1854 - 1930
Contents in custody:
1854 - 1930
Function / Content
VPRS 418/PThis series consist of unregistered correspondence to the Railway Construction Branch on the construction of Railway Lines. The records in Units 1-9 are items of correspondence which relate to the construction of railway lines in Victoria.
The records in Units 10-18 cover a large number of miscellaneous lines and topics. (The contents here are rather a mixed bag, roughly two thirds of this material covers correspondence of other lines during varying times. The rest consists of material grouped by subject, or other records seemingly conveniently dumped here).
VPRS 418/P1 (Estrays)
The records in VPRS 418/P1 are items of inward correspondence and copies of outward correspondence relating to railways construction. The majority of correspondence was accumulated by the Engineer-in-Chiefs office. The P1 consignment also contains items of correspondence which pre-date this division of the Railway (created by the Melbourne Mt Alexander and Murray River Railway Company).
Other documents included in this consignment relate to contracts for the construction of railway lines, such as specifications, costs and estimates. Some items relate to the assessment of compensation for landowners affected by proposed railway lines. Some of the records have been loosely arranged by subject matter.
VPRS 418/P2 (Memoranda to Engineer-in-Chief)
This consignment is a letter book which contains copies of internal memoranda created for the Engineer-in-Chief.
It would seem that the memoranda recorded in this letter book were in response to requests from the Engineer in Chief for surveys to be carried out and reports written on various issues related to the construction of new railway lines.
For example, the memorandum might record that the survey was conducted for the purpose of ascertaining the respective merits of suggested routes for lines of railway from xx to xx, or if the country offers any difficulties to the construction of a railway. Other issues associated with the construction of railway lines are considered in these memoranda/reports, such as whether an existing reservoir will be adequate for the water supply of a town with increased railway traffic and thus increased water requirements.
The memoranda which are legible (much of the ink has faded almost completely) are often reports on various areas of the countryside in Victoria. These contain detailed descriptions of land, rivers, etc. They also provide evidence of the planned routes for the development of the railway system in country Victoria.
Much of the correspondence is illegible. The letters on pp 18-49 are legible. There appears to be pages missing from this volume, with a gap from pp 49-276.
How to use the records
Consult the Records Description List for each consignment in VPRS 418 for the required unit number. The contents of this series largely consist of unregistered correspondence and in many cases, the original system of arrangement has been lost. The item lists indicate which records have been loosely arranged by subject matter.Recordkeeping system
In VPRS 418/P, correspondence in Units 1-9 has been separated and arranged chronologically for the individual years of each line. In each yearly group the correspondence was occasionally arranged consecutively. The material in the remaining units has been grouped according to individual lines and subject and arranged chronologically. In Units 14 and 15 however, the correspondence was arranged alphabetically according to the first station in the line. The material in these boxes was rather arbitrarily boxed. There also exists a small pile of undated correspondence in Unit 1 (and some unsorted and undated correspondence). Unit 17 contains unsorted correspondence.The records in VPRS 418/P1 have been loosely arranged by subject matter.
Entries were made in VPRS 418/P2 (the letter book of memoranda) in chronological order.
