VPRS 18399 Land Plan Books, Estate Office

This series comprises a set of plan or map books that were used by the Estate Office to record the locations of land held by the Victorian Railways, primarily along the railway corridors, and the changes in acquisitions and disposals of land over time.Each plan book refers to a particular railway line and contains a sequential series of maps of the line. Most of the maps were created at the time of the survey of the line before the railway was constructed, although some were created after construction.This information is primarily a record of the acquisition and disposal of land that was required for railway purposes along the rail corridor. Information includes:- names of individual property holders- folio numbers- changes in titles and boundaries.Additional information was added afterwards by the staff of the Property Department and/or Estate Office and may include:- references to relevant Estate Office correspondence files- lease files and- land claim files.The books also contain information regarding public and occupational rail and road crossings, and of crossing licenses for cables and pipes that were issued to utilities, councils and individuals. There are also many handwritten notes relating to activities, observations, events and changes of the railway land.In addition to the maps, other documents have been attached or inserted into the books, such as: lists of land claims with amounts of compensation; water supply plans for various locations, lists of road crossings; notices of auctions of surplus railway land; items of correspondence (copies and originals); copies of legislation; some vertical sections of line; plans of railway sidings and branch lines.