Australia - Preservation Scene

[faulcon1]

This old piece of footage showing a pom down under way back in 1988 when the Brits sent 4472 Flying Scotsman instead of Mallard. To my mind a better choice to have the former rather than the latter as the former is more widely known the world over. She was owned by Sir William McAlpine at the time and she's seen here ascending the steep  1 in 40 of Tumalla Bank west of Bathurst. Her fire wasn't in the best shape when she commenced the climb. Just as well she had a helper in the shape of 3801 otherwise she would have come to grief as the weather on that day didn't help either.

 

https://youtu.be/_pxm1S5U8Mg

[faulcon1]

6029 came up today on it's way to Rhylstone for a series of shuttle trips.

 

 

I had no idea what time the train was coming up the mountains I just knew it was coming sometime. Of course once I heard it whistle it was a mad scramble through the hedge onto railway land to get this shot. No time whatsoever to set up the tripod.

Edited September 28, 2018 by faulcon1

[pheaton]

is there as much bureaucracy running on the main line as there is over here?

[faulcon1]

is there as much bureaucracy running on the main line as there is over here?

Yes unfortunately there is. Australia no longer leads the world we just copy everyone else. So if the UK and the US have a lot of bureaucracy and puts loads of hurdles in the way of people who wish to run trains on the mainline, then Australia has to have it as well.

[DavidB-AU]

On one hand, 100+ year old wooden bodied passenger stock is still allowed on the main line with with speed restrictions. On the other hand, it's no longer possible to stop in the middle of nowhere, unload passengers, set back and do a photo run.

 

Cheers

David

[E3109]

On one hand, 100+ year old wooden bodied passenger stock is still allowed on the main line with with speed restrictions. On the other hand, it's no longer possible to stop in the middle of nowhere, unload passengers, set back and do a photo run.

 

Cheers

David

Hi David

 

I suppose the Granville tragedy put paid to a lot of that, and perhaps rightly so. I realise that the factors involved on that awful day would probably not apply these days but to be fair, allowing wooden stock on the main line (at reduced speed, as you say) is a pragmatic approach, and not dissimilar to mk1s operating here.

[DavidB-AU]

I suppose the Granville tragedy put paid to a lot of that, and perhaps rightly so. I realise that the factors involved on that awful day would probably not apply these days but to be fair, allowing wooden stock on the main line (at reduced speed, as you say) is a pragmatic approach, and not dissimilar to mk1s operating here.

Granville didn't really affect much but Cowan in 1990 did. Wooden bodied stock now needs to have a steel bodied vehicle trailing in the Sydney metro area. Victoria didn't have that problem as most wooden bodied passenger stock had anti-telescoping bars since the 1920s. The main restriction in Victoria is that vehicles with plain bearings are restricted to 80km/h.

 

Cheers

David

[E3109]

David

 

The above has reminded me to ask about the preserved 46 Class, does that still work any tours?

(I do apologise that it was talk of the disaster that reminded me to ask about this).

 

Also, I visited Newport Workshops in Melbourne a few years ago, there were three L Class locos there, L1160 and L1162 are operational I think, although neither were panned up.

 

The guys on site were saying that if anything, it would be loss of traction knowledge that would kill off any potential trips over the VR suburban network, I wonder if that's still the case.

 

If there were a 46 tour in NSW and an L tour in Vic within a few days of each other, I'd be strapped in.

[DavidB-AU]

The above has reminded me to ask about the preserved 46 Class, does that still work any tours?

4615 is operational but currently stored at Junee (with 8606) due to lack of space in Sydney. 4638 is currently stored at Broadmeadow by THNSW.

 

Cheers

David

[E3109]

Many thanks.

[jukebox]

is there as much bureaucracy running on the main line as there is over here?

 

Sadly, a large number of UK bureaucrats are now managers inside the Australian state systems... 

[faulcon1]

Have a look at this video of 6029 between Tarana and Bathurst. This is a cab ride. This bloke Bevan Wall often gets a cab ride on mainline steam. How he manages it I'll never know but I'm thankful that he does.

 

 

Here's another one of Bevan's acesss to an area no other rail fan seems to have.

 

 

Here's another of Bevan's excellent work with a pacing shot via a car track side. Like the pacing video above this footage is on the Unanderra-Moss Vale line which has many steep gradients of 1 in 30 as it climbs the escarpment and on a sunny day offers stunning views from the train. But not today. The length of the line from Unanderra to Moss Vale is 35miles and originally there was nine stations between Unanderra and Moss Vale.

 

https://youtu.be/KW1JH5ktpPE

 

The final Unanderra Moss Vale video is once again of the two 38's with a cab ride on 3830. She was restored to working order in 1998 for what was regarded then as an astronomical amount of money. Four hundred thousand pounds. This was a loco that hadn't been in steam since 1967. Later this loco suffered a burnt boiler and her firebox is knackered and so is the boiler barrel apparently. Her chances of ever steaming again are not good. 

 

Edited October 2, 2018 by faulcon1

[faulcon1]

Sadly, a large number of UK bureaucrats are now managers inside the Australian state systems... 

Well one thing that they (the bureaucrats) haven't achieved yet.....is to have track workers here in NSW clad in all over high vis orange work wear. They wear high vis orange vests with silver reflective strips but their trousers are railway issue dark blue.

[dullsteamer]

Well one thing that they (the bureaucrats) haven't achieved yet.....is to have track workers here in NSW clad in all over high vis orange work wear. They wear high vis orange vests with silver reflective strips but their trousers are railway issue dark blue.

That depends on the division they work for and the role they're performing. There's plenty of folks working in and around the corridor who are issued with orange high vis trousers. All the people in my wife's depot have them.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[dullsteamer]

faulcon1, on 02 Oct 2018 - 05:08, said:

The final Unanderra Moss Vale video is once again of the two 38's with a cab ride on 3830. She was restored to working order in 1998...

'30 returned to traffic in 1997. After a couple of light engine trials and some time spent running her in down at Port on the Cockie Run, the engine ran a trip for invited guests around the Banko circle from the Powerhouse museum around the middle of October, then had it's public launch at the former SMR workshop at East Greta on Saturday 25th October. We ran '30 engine and van from Eveleigh to East Greta on the Friday. Because of the Beresfield collision on the 23rd that almost didn't happen, but then CEO David Hill insisted that we go as planned, so we were the second train through Beresfield once the road was opened.

 

Once we arrived at East Greta we stabled the EHG crew van on the coal stage road, put the engine in the shed and knocked the fire. That night we had a BBQ and a big session with all the HVTC staff who had worked on the rebuild, as well as old mates from other heritage operations.

 

On the Saturday morning some of the old mates from Richmond Vale generously offered to light the engine up and get it prepared, so we had the rare luxury of a sleep-in. But the punters started arriving early, and it wasn't long before someone stuck their head inside the crew van out of curiosity, and woke us up. So we were up and about in plenty of time for the day's events. When the train hauled by '01 arrived from Sydney we marshalled the two locos nose-to-nose in front of the shed, and got ready for the formalities.

 

The photo below shows '30 at New Loco after we returned from our stay at Port, and she'd been finished off cosmetically in preparation for the handover ceremony at the Powerhouse. The core members of the rebuild team are, from L to R; Rex Peters, Don French, Albert Taylor, Mark Newton (me), Dave Matthews, Jenni Edmonds, Ross Goodman, Tom Anderson, Andrew Grant.

 

(To be continued.)

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

Edited October 3, 2018 by dullsteamer

[faulcon1]

Today I went out to the Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway as according to their website they're open on the 1st Saturday of the month. I get five days off every three weeks from Saturday through to Wednesday but it's not always on the first weekend of the month.

This railway is still in the embryonic stage but they're very keen. They have a full lease on the line or what remains of it from Oberon to Tarana. 

Here's some photos I took today.

[bingley hall]

.

Edited October 6, 2018 by bingley hall

[faulcon1]

The two last photos of my previous post show two items not in the Oberon Station precinct. What looks like a railway carriage is actually the driving car of a DMU. It is in the Oberon Bus lines depot which was shut and this was the best view I could get thanks to the fence creeper still being in it's winter guise. The round part on the end is where the headlight once was.

The other photo is of a signal box on the branch line itself between Oberon and Hazelgrove. Looking at the photo Oberon is to the right of the box.

 

The two motor cars on the loading bank platform were from the Bathurst Historic car club. The blue one is a Chevrolet and the other is an Austin A 40 Somerset. When mum and dad went on a round Australia holiday for 12 months at one place they went to a motor museum. Dad was very upset that an Austin A 40 was in the museum as it was the car he learnt to drive on in England. Dad said to me that you know when you're getting old when the car you learnt to drive on is now only in a museum.

 

I was told by the people there that the farmers who's land borders the line don't want the trains to ever run again. But the OTHR has a lease for the full length of the line and both local and state governments are very keen to see the project succeed. The line was always unfenced allowing stock to roam over the permanent way at will. As speeds were slow then and no doubt will be in the future when the line is running once again the chance of cows, sheep and horses being run down and killed will be very slight. Between Carlwood and Hazelgrove the line climbs very steeply on gradients of 1 in 25 with very sharp curves. In the days of steam a Z19 0-6-0 tender loco although the tenders used on the line came from scrapped Baldwin 4-6-0 locos and were of bogie design to cope with the sharp curves.

 

The Oberon Station building has walls of precast concrete wall sections so that white ants wouldn't eat a timber framing and weatherboards. Even the station buildings at Hazelgrove and Carlwood (both gone now) were made of precast concrete wall sections. The station building at Carlwood was at track level with no platform. A raised small platform section was build entirely out of timber (old railway sleepers) one coach in length to serve as the platform at the Tarana end of the station. There was even a toilet block provided there also built with precast concrete walls. Hazelgrove too had a raised all timber platform and like Carlwood there was no guard rail around three sides or even seating. I guess one would wait in the small station building and upon hearing a train approach one would then climb onto the raised timber platform. No doubt the driver would give a long whistle when approaching the station to give those inside the building plenty of time to climb onto the raised wooden platform.

The DMU's number (that the DMU in the bus garage) has been provided by a reliable source. It's No. 607 a 600 class driving motor.

 

 

 

If you wish to know some of the history of the rolling stock they have here's the website for the railway. Much more detail is included there than can be provided here. Of particular interest on the OTHR website is the Ron Preston collection of photos.

 

http://othr.com.au/

Edited October 13, 2018 by faulcon1

[dullsteamer]

Early on Wednesday morning the Sydney Tramway Museum took delivery of our newest exhibit, a former Sydney Light Rail Variotram, No.2107. Built by Adtranz at Dandenong in Victoria it entered service in 1997, and was withdrawn in 2015. After 3 years of storage in a western Sydney suburb, and lengthy negotiations between Transport Heritage NSW and the STM, 2107 arrived at Loftus on the back of a massive transporter at about 0200. The delivery and unloading was without incident, and after some preparation work and the removal of the unloading ramp the car was driven into the depot under its own power.

 

2107 is the first production low-floor tram to be preserved anywhere in the world. After three years of outdoor storage it needs some cosmetic work to make it presentable. The car carries vinyl overall advertising, but we removed a section and discovered the original livery is still in good condition underneath. All in all the car is in good condition, and should be back in service fairly quickly. The other six cars in the fleet have all been scrapped, but we were able to collect a large quantity of spare parts to keep 2107 going in the future.

 

I finished work at 0100, so I raced home, woke my son up and then we made our way down to Loftus to help with the unloading. It was a long night, but it was worth it to be part of our tramway history. I managed to get a few photos, but they're only low-res taken with an iPad, so I apologise for their quality.

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2018 by dullsteamer

[faulcon1]

There's not too many people who would have been around at that time of night. It looks like whilst in storage it became a ready made canvas for the graffiti artists/vandals. Still it's nice to see one set preserved. Well done indeed.

[jukebox]

I see it's even got the special "I spent 3 years in storage in a western Sydney suburb" livery!

[dullsteamer]

It does, but only on the one side that was accessible to the vandals. Luckily the car was withdrawn still carrying overall vinyl advertising. The graffiti will just peel off along with the vinyl. I've taken one panel off already. As we thought, the original SLR livery is intact underneath, and in good condition.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[dullsteamer]

There's not too many people who would have been around at that time of night. It looks like whilst in storage it became a ready made canvas for the graffiti artists/vandals. Still it's nice to see one set preserved. Well done indeed.

It was a big event for us, I wouldn't have missed it for quids. Mind you, I was buggered the next day.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[DavidB-AU]

4615 is operational but currently stored at Junee (with 8606) due to lack of space in Sydney. 4638 is currently stored at Broadmeadow by THNSW.

An update to this. 8606 returned to the main line under its own power today with a test run to Mt Victoria and return. It has had some work done on it by Progress Rail and was crewed by Pacific National.

 

Cheers

David

[DavidB-AU]

4615 is operational but currently stored at Junee (with 8606) due to lack of space in Sydney. 4638 is currently stored at Broadmeadow by THNSW.

An update! 8606 returned to the main line under its own power today with a test run to Mt Victoria. It has had some work done on it by Progress Rail and was crewed by Pacific National.