APM Siding

APM Siding
Looking south-east along the dismantled siding, towards the paper mill
Coordinates	37°46′51″S 145°01′26″E / 37.78083°S 145.02389°E / -37.78083; 145.02389Coordinates: 37°46′51″S 145°01′26″E / 37.78083°S 145.02389°E / -37.78083; 145.02389
Line(s)	Outer Circle
Tracks	Dismantled
History
Opened	29 July 1919
Closed	1994 (?)

The APM Siding was a 1.125-kilometre (0.7 mi) 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 to the corner of Chandler Highway, Grange and Heidelberg Roads, until entering the factory.

The line past the factory was opened on 24 March 1891, as the Outer Circle line, 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. From the Heidelberg Road – Chandler Highway intersection, the track left the alignment of the former Outer Circle railway, and slewed east into the mill itself. Once inside the factory, the siding spread into three branches: the east was used to unload paper pulp, the centre siding for unloading of coal wagons, and the western one being the longest running, almost to the mill's southern fence.

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. A dwarf signal and overhead wiring stanchions remain in the paper mill grounds themselves. The paper mill was closed in 2012.