So, today I explored the train lines to the east of Melbourne. Since there were a lot of stops, I'll divide this entry into paragraphs for each trip.

Richmond-Box Hill

The train was an express service, and quite empty. A spiritual healer was on board playing a small guitar. He later started chatting with another passenger. At Box Hill I had an early lunch of McDonalds. I also went to a gaming shop called EBGames to buy some Pokemon cards, but the store didn't have the booster I was looking for.

Box Hill-Camberwell

Another express service, NO stops in between. Could not ask for a faster trip! Stopped at Camberwell and connected with an Alamein train.

Camberwell-Alamein

Outside of peak times, trains on the very small Alamein line only go between Camberwell and Alamein, and not all the way into the city. For this reason, the train was only 3 carriages long instead of the usual 6, a rarity in these times (they're even talking of making trains 9 carriages long!)

There was a tram square (an area where the train line goes over a tram line) between Riversdale and Willison, the first I'd seen other than the usual one at Glenhuntly.

When we reached Alamein station, I found it was tiny! Too small for a 6-carriage train! Beyond it was a footpath that appeared to be decorated with the same "archways", for lack of a better word, as you get over electric train lines. I followed the footpath until I could see the Glen Waverley line up ahead, which I knew was close to Alamein.

Alamein-Camberwell

I then returned and met a lovely old lady who I chatted with. I told her about my love of trains, and she told me a few stories about Alamein station:

• When Jeff Kennett was premier, he saved Alamein station from being closed down many years ago.
  
• Alamein was going to connect with the Glen Waverly line at East Malvern, but the project was cancelled when war came (for your information regarding "don't mention the war to old people, you'll never hear the end of it", she was the one who mentioned the war first, not me!). Ever since, talks to connect the lines continued on and off to this day.
  

It was during this conversation that I realised that trains were my true calling. I was never this passionate and curious about animation or game development or anything like that! If only I had realised this sooner, I could've saved SO MUCH time and expense...

Camberwell-Burnley

Had to change trains at Camberwell for the aforementioned reason. Stopped off at Burnley to connect to a train to Glen Waverley. Nothing to report.

It was not the first time I had stopped at that station. Once I stopped there and walked to Channel 9's headquarters in an ill-fated attempt to audition for a game show.

Burnley-Glen Iris-Darling-East Malvern-Glen Waverley

While travelling down the Glen Waverley line, I stopped off at Glen Iris, Darling and East Malvern along the way to look at the signs outside them, visible from the Monash Freeway, which ran parallel with the line at those stations. This was for nostalgia reasons because I had passed these signs many times on the Monash Freeway but never had the chance to go down the line.

When I got to Glen Waverley, I went to the nearby shopping centre and bought the last Next Destinies Pokemon card booster pack in stock (Next Destinies was what I was looking for at Box Hill). Sadly, it was a dud: the only half-decent pull was a Prism Energy.

Then I took the long trek home.

At my home station, I tried to apply for work, but was told I HAD to do it online. I then asked who was in charge of the Stony Point line, which was run by a V/Line diesel train (A Sprinter) in Metro territory. It turns out Metro runs the line AND the diesel train, prompting me to wonder, why not give it its own livery...?

When I got home, I looked up vacancies for both Metro and V/Line, and found a position for a train conductor! I decided to apply for it despite my lack of work experience, hoping my volunteer work in Scouts is enough to get me at least into consideration.