Australia - Preservation Scene

[DavidB-AU]

The only preserved Queensland C16 is now main line accredited.

 

 

[DavidB-AU]

 

[monkeysarefun]

 

[monkeysarefun]

Day  2 of the Expo. IT was 36 degrees in the city and a total fire ban was in place, but the expo was given permission to run steam since it was not judged a bushfire  risk in the parts of the city that it was held in (mainly Central station and inner southwest).

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[monkeysarefun]

A short compilation of some of the locos and stock that appeared at  the Transport Heritage  Expo 23 on their way from Thirlmere museum to Central station.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

A short compilation of some of the locos and stock that appeared at  the Transport Heritage  Expo 23 on their way from Thirlmere museum to Central station.

 

 

 

 

Didn't manage to get to the Expo this year due to overseas visitors but I'll be on Steam to the Surf on Saturday week.

[monkeysarefun]

36 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Didn't manage to get to the Expo this year due to overseas visitors but I'll be on Steam to the Surf on Saturday week.

 

I keep meaning to do the Cockatoo Run but I always seem to have something on. It looks spectacular, not only the coastal bit but then  up the escarpment past waterfalls and through the  rainforest to the Southern Highlands. 

[St Enodoc]

Yesterday we visited the Zig Zag Railway (https://zigzagrailway.com.au/), which reopened earlier this year. I was delighted that the prolonged closure and more rigorous accreditation requirements haven't robbed it of its unique atmosphere and appeal. I was also delighted to learn from a friend who happened to be manning the ticket desk that they've been almost fully booked every fortnightly running weekend since reopening.

 

ex-Queensland Railways Baldwin AC16 218A at Top Points station

 

No 1 Viaduct (on Top Road), seen from Middle Road

 

218A at Bottom Points (OHW equipment on the 1910 main line alignment in background).

[St Enodoc]

Another visitor this weekend - my old colleague, friend and one-time flatmate @hongkongmike of this parish.

 

After a truncated running session on Friday night, due to Qantas delaying his arrival by about 2 1/2 hours, what better way to escape the clamour of both the Voice Referendum and the New Zealand General Election than to take a steam train from Sydney to Wollongong and back, on a glorious spring day, with the immaculate 3810 hauling (unassisted) a train of seven equally immaculate heritage NSWGR coaches?

 

Here's the train at Sydney Central before departure:

 

 

We had an excellent lunch at Steamers Restaurant (where else!) then rejoined the train for an fine run back to Sydney.

 

 

Once again, a grand day oot!

[monkeysarefun]

22 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Another visitor this weekend - my old colleague, friend and one-time flatmate @hongkongmike of this parish.

 

After a truncated running session on Friday night, due to Qantas delaying his arrival by about 2 1/2 hours, what better way to escape the clamour of both the Voice Referendum and the New Zealand General Election than to take a steam train from Sydney to Wollongong and back, on a glorious spring day, with the immaculate 3810 hauling (unassisted) a train of seven equally immaculate heritage NSWGR coaches?

 

Here's the train at Sydney Central before departure:

 

 

We had an excellent lunch at Steamers Restaurant (where else!) then rejoined the train for an fine run back to Sydney.

 

 

Once again, a grand day oot!

 

 

This pic appeared on a local Facebook group yesterday,  taken outside Scarborough. I assumed you were on there somewhere.

 

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

This pic appeared on a local Facebook group yesterday,  taken outside Scarborough. I assumed you were on there somewhere.

 

Yes, we were in the second car. The train stopped at Scarborough and Austinmer in both directions.

[DavidB-AU]

Have they changed the shade of green on 3801 yet again? There will be letters to Railway Digest about this! The number of letters debating the "correct" shade when it was painted light green was bewildering.

 

Although a (sadly now passed) NSWGR engineer once told me the correct shade of green for a 38 was "whatever Eveleigh mixed at the time".

[St Enodoc]

49 minutes ago, DavidB-AU said:

Have they changed the shade of green on 3801 yet again? There will be letters to Railway Digest about this! The number of letters debating the "correct" shade when it was painted light green was bewildering.

 

Although a (sadly now passed) NSWGR engineer once told me the correct shade of green for a 38 was "whatever Eveleigh mixed at the time".

The colour has not changed since the 2021 return to traffic, as far as I know.

[monkeysarefun]

I'm not sure if it was colour tone  or the fact that it had little to no sheen that detracted from it.

 

I think it looks a lot better now...   (I think it was black with red lining  about 20 years or so ago?) 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[St Enodoc]

26 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

I'm not sure if it was colour tone  or the fact that it had little to no sheen that detracted from it.

 

I think it looks a lot better now...   (I think it was black with red lining  about 20 years or so ago?) 

 

 

Just before withdrawal for its last, extended, overhaul, 3801 was in Grey Nurse livery.

[DavidB-AU]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

I'm not sure if it was colour tone  or the fact that it had little to no sheen that detracted from it.

 

I think it looks a lot better now...   (I think it was black with red lining  about 20 years or so ago?) 

 

 

This is somewhat closer to the shade of green worn by 3830 and (going way back) 3813.

[Johann Marsbar]

Green comparison between 3801 & 3830 at Maitland back in 2004......

 

[monkeysarefun]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heres an image of it in black, dated apparently 1999.

 

 

According to Australiansteam.com:

 

"3801 Limited" successfully operated 3801 and suitable heritage rollingstock from their Eveleigh Workshops base in central Sydney for 20 years until late 2006. 3801 travelled throughout Australia during this period, including a significant role in the Australian Bicentennial celebrations of 1988. The locomotive mainly wore lined green livery, but did feature 1950's -style black livery with red lining for a period around 1999 - 2000 and ‘Grey Nurse’ livery around 2006.

 

That cacky green always reminded me of the old Wren West Country class model  I had in the 70's -  but much better looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[69843]

A belated note on the green on 3801.

This is the same shade as worn in the mid-1940s after the period in Nurse Grey, and was mixed from samples found during the restoration along with archival paint chips and samples. A LOT of work was put into getting the green right to once and for all end the endless array of greens it has worn since the early 1960s. A good note on all the differences it has had between 1986 and 2006 can be found at the included link:
https://eastcoastheritagerail.com.au/past-fleet/

It is "Special Green", although a little fun fact it is now in the Dulux system, and could be ordered in Two-Pack as 3801 Green by anyone wishing to do so.

[DavidB-AU]

5 trestle bridges between Stanthorpe and Wallangarra were destroyed by the severe bushfires in the region, which at one point completely surrounded Wallangarra. The road bridge over the railway at Wallangarra was also damaged. Queensland Rail (which owns the line) has committed to rebuilding but access to some of the sites is very difficult so even surveying is likely to take several months. Southern Downs Steam Railway will only be operating to Stanthorpe for the time being. The main line Warwick and Stanthorpe only had very minor damage and reopened within a couple of days.

[DavidB-AU]

BB18¼ 1089 returned to the main line under her own power for the first time since 2018 ahead of the ARHS charter this weekend. Despite a week of heavy rain (as indicated by the unusually green grass) they still ran the fire patrol behind. She did visit her birthplace in Maryborough in June but was dead hauled by a diesel.

 

 

[DavidB-AU]

The charter train on Sunday.

 

 

[DavidB-AU]

It did not occur to me until this popped up on Youtube that the CPHs are now 100 years old. CPH3 entered service on 17 December 1923. CPH7, also preserved and main line accredited, was built in 1924. Despite being numbered CPH1, the third unit was built in 1926.

 

 

[DavidB-AU]

Crew training on the C16.

 

 

[DavidB-AU]

EMD 567 ear candy.