faulcon1

Mind you just thinking to myself if that daffy writer had been writing about the Kurrajong Branch then he would have been technically correct as the railway did cross the Hawkesbury River between Richmond and North Richmond. That line closed in 1952.

For those who don't know the Hawkesbury River starts at Yarramundi near the locality of Agnes Banks with the joining of the Nepean and Grose rivers. A bit like oatmeal and water joining to make porridge. Come to think of it that's not a bad description of the Hawkesbury.

Probably doesn't have much timber. And maybe not even a creek most of the year

 

Gotta love the irony in Aussie place names. One place you'll seldom see a kangaroo is on Kangaroo Flat

I read an encyclopedia on the worlds railways written by an Englishman who called the central western city of Bathurst, "Bathers" and also said that one crosses the Hawksbury river before ascending the Blue Mountains.

Bathurst was named after Earl Bathurst the name carried by GWR Castle 5051 perhaps someone should tell them to rename it "Earl Bathers" on one side and "Swimming Trunks" on the other.

Hi Roy

 

 

I model UK 1960s - 2000s favouring the earlier years and while I'm not actually in the garden the layout is outside and exposed to weather.  It's currently very windy here with all sorts of over-scale leaves blowing about on the line!  Link below.

It's windy here too with clouds threatening rain, sleet. It is winter here after all. I like your railway and the western. For me it's in the wrong colour but that's just me. Here to reduce the suns effects in our very hot summers I have hinged covers over my railway painted white except the new part which is close to the ground and is being built on Hebel blocks. So the covers will be dense pieces of polystyrene foam held in place by old bricks. You can't buy polystyrene foam in super hardware stores but there is a company in Penrith who makes it to whatever thickness and density you want.  

Hi all I'm Roy. I live in the Blue Mountains at Faulconbridge NSW. I model OO in the garden and as far as I know I'm the only one doing so and have been for the past 4 years. My interest in OO is British Steam outline to early green diesels and all with sound.

I only found this section of the forum purely by chance.

I'm a half and half, meaning I have dual nationality. I'm Australian born of English parents who never became naturalised Australians. One good thing is I don't have to wait with the hordes of people all with their aussie passports at Heathrow. I just show my British one and pass on through. So I also don't need a visa either.

I worked on the railways here at the Lithgow Loco Depot and was once told that for modelling British I was unpatriotic. But like the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office I've been accused of many things but never that sort of patriotism, heaven forbid.

I left the railways in 2000 and Pac Nat shut the depot in April 2003. The new loco depot at Lithgow only had a life of 20 years. It's now a wagon repair centre, and I work for Blue Mountains City Council and surprisingly along with other former Lithgow Loco workers. 

My earliest memory of playing trains was when my dad set up a railway in my brothers bedroom. I must have been about 5 at the time. My brother would have been 8. All the Airfix kits that dad had made and three engines. One was Albert Hall (Triang) and a plastic kit of Princess Elisabeth which dad had motorised. Oh yes and 'Nellie' an 0-4-0 or -0-6-0 can't remember which, but I do remember it was a light blue.

Dad told me years later that he'd tried to set up a railway when I had only just started to walk unassisted. He built a plastic kit railway station building and I over balanced and sat on it. My nappy (diaper) protecting me from any sharp pieces of plastic.

Obviously not only was I an interested baby but I'd also started to develop a critical mind too. Perhaps he should have built a war themed layout.    

Ahhh the old H&M duette. I have the Clipper. Those things were built to last. One person even said that the Robinson ROD 2-8-0 was built like a battleship with sixteen large rivets holding  the step on the side of the running plate.

Modern DCC command stations and throttles won't last anywhere near a long.

Years ago in the Model Rail magazine (when they had a MAIL section) some 'person' wrote in and told them that he was a modeller and had moved on from just playing trains and how dare they even think of suggesting that modellers should play trains.

I love to play trains and as others have stated whether you're modelling a location at a precise date and time with everything accurate to the last detail (like Pendon) your still just playing trains (like Pendon) even if you run to a timetable.

For me the hobby is a form of therapy where I'm in charge and I set the rules. There is no Occupational Health and Safety regulations in regards to having a model railway.........yet. Besides it's nice to have a hobby. So many people have no hobby at all, all they have is work and family. Families grow up and move away and eventually you have to retire. How nice it is that playing trains can be enjoyed well into old age, and more importantly it keeps your mind active. 

Outakes from the film are on Video 125 production Steam on 35mm Volume 2.

What about 1462 running through the streets with the plate layer and rich drunk on the footplate.

Another problem would be the farmers who've extended their land and who would appear complete with double barrel shotgun in hand pointed directly at you. A lot of people out there are ferral and don't like outsiders.

There was a video on you tube of a trike ride on a length of disused rail line in the U.S including a ride across a trestle bridge.

Then I guess that some sort of wire cutter mounted on the front like the things on u-boats would be in order.

You would also need a good explanation for the police who would be waiting for you at either a station or level crossing. Although the line is disused it is still on government owned land and therefore you'd be trespassing. In other words in regard to permission,'your damned if you do and your damned if you don't' 

Just don't watch the following from a trip to the Hawkesbury...:

A little bit of trivia. 4473 was unique among the 100 strong 44 class in that the head lights at the No.2 end (the flat end) were horizontal and not vertical like the other 99 members of the class. Unfortunately this is not shown in the video.

3 90 class on a 10,920 ton coal train

4 48 class alcos on the western mainline in New South Wales with one of the locos blowing smoke rings. Enginemen often have nicknames for locos and 48 class locos were either Dinky Toys or Push Bikes due to their slow speed. The class was bought to dieselise branch lines but with the branch lines gone they work in multiple on the mainlines.

If the Chinese bought the line there would have to be a good reason for them to buy it. It basically goes from somewhere to nowhere with a very sparse population along it's route. Although I've titled the thread 'The Mudgee Line' it's actually the Gwabeger Branch. 

In the UK the GWR had Steam Rail Motors until they took a backward step and had Auto Trains. The LNER had Sentinel Steam Rail Motors. Here in Australia we have what looks like an Auto Train but is actually a Steam Rail Motor as the loco and coach are permanently coupled. It is affectionately known as the "Coffee Pot". It is currently undergoing a major overhaul which includes a new boiler. It is owned and maintained by the Pichi Richi Railway in South Australia.

Here's another from the ex loco driver of Lithgow. Driving a Metropolitan Vickers 46 class

Found some videos on you tube taken by an ex Lithgow Locomotive depot driver

The line from Kandos to Gulgong was closed in 1992 then reopened again in 2000. When the last passenger train ran is hard to say as surprisingly the line is still 'legally open' but is waiting for a massive cash injection (around $80 to $100 million). I know of a Rail Motor tour that ran to Mudgee around 2005 and the many post and wire fences they ran through as many farmers just extended their property boundaries without permission. Many NSW country railway lines are in a 'mothballed' state. Unlike in the UK where railway lines, sleepers and all infrastructure were removed, our are just left insitu although the authorities do nothing to them. Nearly all of our lines are characterised by sharp curves and steep gradients as they were built through the landscape in the most cheapest way, and often passing through small localities because of political pressure. When asking a relative who is in state politics why the lines have not been upgraded to modern standards I'm told of environmental impacts. Yet they can carve new motorways through virgin land and no environmental impacts rear their ugly heads. There's just no political will to do it. People who have emigrated from the UK to Australia say it's easy to see that the governments here are anti rail transport. Sad but true.

Roy. 

1923 and 1904 of the A 93-class 0-6-0 1877. These two locos were still at work in 1972 at Port Waratah locomotive depot. This class of loco lasted almost to the end of steam due to being able to run over very tightly curved lines and appallingly maintained track.

2-6-0 No. 2535 of the B 205 class of 1881. This loco saw colliery service at Corrimal and Bulli collieries until mid 1971 and was then preserved by it's then owner AI&S or Australian Iron and Steel today known as Blue Scope Steel at Port Kembla. It was later obtained by Dorrigo for storage.

The loco is very similar to the "Galloping Alice" of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway.

Avonside 0-6-0 Saddle Tank No.2. This locomotive was known as a "Bristol Bomber"

Avonside 13-class 0-8-2 Tank No.14.

Here's some photos of Dorrigo steam 'museum' locos. There is a gate with a sign which reads: "Museum not open". That notice was on that gate when I was 10. I've just passed my half century and it's STILL there. I don't think there will ever be a museum here. All photo taken in October 2012.

Two ex J.A Brown ROD's, numbers 20 and 24 but which is which is hard to say as the locos had cast number plates like GWR locos.

The first photo of Ben Bullen station reminds me of an accident at the open level crossing to the left of the station in the late 1980's. A Mercedes Benz station wagon attempted to cross in front of a freight train and was struck amidships bending the car into a 'U' shape and carrying it for about 150 yards. The car was nearly brand new at the time and other than a bit of scraped paintwork on the loco, the loco suffered no damage. It hit the car at around 70kph. The owner of the car was miraculously unhurt and said the train should have stopped for him. The police didn't agree with him. 

Here are three recent photos taken at the Rail Transport Museum (now known as 'Trainworks') in 2012.

They show the current condition of three exhibits out of normal public view. The first is a set of incomplete bogies for a Metropolitan Vickers 46 class electric locomotive.

The other two show the current state of Ex Mersey Railway 0-6-4 tank No.1/ Ex J.A Brown No.5. The current management don't seem to think this priceless relic is worthy of storage in the new museum. In fact it's been stored in the open ever since it came to the Thirlmere site and was originally on their 'condemmed road'.

faulcon1.