faulcon1

Here's part two of two

Here's part one of two On Teddy Boston and half of this is on his steam roller and the Cadeby Light Railway

Here's another one albeit slightly shorter than it should from Pathe

This is the third in the series so far

From the same channel the next in the series

Here's a series of daily events from down under. WARNING: being Australians the language is "colourful". The first car who's driver ignores the road rules is the same brand of car I own except mines burgundy.

Well perhaps the script writer of the video was London based and had never been out of London or heard of Monkton Combe and therefore thought nobody else had either. I've also heard it said that Combe is Devonian for valley. Naturally the narrator just reads what the script says and doesn't question it because if he does, then another narrator can be found.

I saw an interview with the person who had to sign Jimmy Savile to the role of promoting the HST. He didn't like Jimmy Savile as he said there was something about his demeanor that just made him unlikable a sort of something you couldn't quite put your finger on. He had a feeling that Savile was evil in some way that he couldn't explain but after Savile's death we all certainly found out about.

This superb colour footage although with no steam sound only music was filmed in the last days of the ROD's when the majority were bound for the scrappers torch. Detail differences include whilst mounted on the cab roof, fluted buffer shanks and round buffers, headlight mounted beneath the smoke box door and the smoke box door hndle was a round GCR wheel type. They also had a gap in the smoke box hand rail on the fireman's side for a Westinghouse air compressor although they were never fitted with one retaining their steam brakes to the end. In the 1950's the ROD's were kept in spotless condition even though they only hauled the wooden non air coal trains. Locos seen are ROD No. 23. The loco along with twelve others arrived on the railway in 1926 and the last of one in service No. 24 was retired in June 1973. Kitson 2-8-2 tank No. 10 named Richmond Main entered service in 1908 and was retired with a sister No. 9 (Pelaw Main) in 1981. 9 and 10 and have preserved at the Richmond Main Mining Museum. There was a third Kitson No.11 scrapped in 1968. The Kitsons were a replacement for the Mersey Tanks. The railway also had four ex Mersey Railway 0-6-4 tanks numbered 1-4 although on the RVR numbered 5-8. All for were named, 5 The Major, 6 Liverpool, 7 Connaught, 8 Gladstone. There were overhauled by Beyer Peacock which included having their condensing gear removed prior to shipment to Australia.

Following on from part 1 with more interesting tit bits of history.

Some unusual facts about Sydney's that few outside Australia know.

Yes but your foreign policy was decided in Brussels not the house of commons. This is the first time in fifty years that a British government has had to make a foreign policy of it's own. One of the problems of being within the EU for so long is that (according to Helen) Britain took it's eye off the commonwealth and there are a number of successful countries within the commonwealth who are doing much better than Britain. Successful economies with good health systems, highly productive economies with good immigration systems in place. By ignoring the commonwealth the former coloniser has fallen quite a way behind the countries it colonised. Law and order applies to everyone in Australia regardless of their colour or religious background. Australian authorities aren't afraid of being called racist by minorities because they ignore their racist rhetoric. In Britain the authorities run scared of being called racist by vocal minorities and that's due to low state capacity or the job of the governments to project power over their people.

Here's another one of Helen dale giving her thoughts on the people coming across the channel and Britain's inability to stop them and why that's so.

Here's another Helen Dale video this time from the boys at Triggernometry where Helen explains our democracy sausage among other things.

If Brits really do fear coming to Australia then this bloke is fear itself or a sort of Frank Spencer Aussie style. In the 1990's on Australian TV there were a whole string of men showing the Aussie population the wonders of inland Australia and how one could survive in such a harsh environment. Russell Coight is a spoof on all those programs, a character played by the Aussie actor Glenn Robbins.

We've all seen many videos scaring the living daylights out of foreigners who look at the wildlife in Australia often with great trepidation. But to Brits what is probably more important is how Australian society works and something that's not often shown. Australia is NOT this little antipodean bit of empire at the bottom of the world. Australian society is a very unique society and very different from Britain and Helen Dale can explain it better than me.

Here's part two of three

Here's a trip with difference for it's not everyday that you get to be a driver without supervision but not on a loco but the driver of a golf cart. These golf carts are from the USA and being wide they're ideal from New Zealand's 3'6" rail gauge. This video is in three parts

Here's another video of the same station with a look at the other end of the remains of the receiving station at Rookwood Cemetery.

Here's a short video on Sydney's Mortuary Station

The whole series is available on You Tube but only in 360p.

I thoroughly enjoyed that video. Well done.

The line is open again but for how long is anyone's guess. Even now at 2.15pm is steadily raining.

Here's another blue mountains video again from a V set but from Mount Victoria to Penrith. Mount Victoria station is quite large and at one time had railway refreshment rooms. Next station is Blackheath renamed from Bleakheath and the highest village in the mountains. Next is Medlow Bath and to the right as we stop at the station is the Hydro Majestic Hotel. Originally built as a health spa resort by the one time Sydney department store Mark Foys. He imported a Dr Fritz Bauer from Germany and he ran the place with Teutonic efficiency where there was no sex, no smoking, no drinking of any type of alcoholic beverages and all lights out by 10pm. Later the it would have been more appropriate to name the place the Honeymoon Majestic with sex allowed along with smoking, drinking a myriad of alcoholic beverages and lights on all night. Next is Katoomba and the line down the steep gradient to Penrith with constant brake applications on the 1 in 33 grade. At 32.10 we can see Wentworth Falls Lake the man made lake built to supply water for the steam engines at Valley Heights Locomotive Depot

Here's another video from TfNSW from Paramatta to Katoomba. A bit misty to begin with but it brightens up once we climb into the blue mountains. I live and work in blue mountains and my work is from Glenbrook to Wentworth Falls and I live somewhere in the middle. I've lived in the mountains since the early 1980's. For those overseas believe it or not this was filmed in mid July or the middle of winter. Most trees are eucalyptus and evergreens or as I call them the plant world's version of an incinerator. These trees are the ones that explode into flame when we have a bush fire for their leaves are full of eucalyptus oil. The blue mountains gets it's name from these trees for in the defused light from a distance the mountains look blue and that's all the oil rising from the trees into the atmosphere. The ruling gradient from Penrith to Valley Heights is 1 in 60 and the ruling gradient from Valley Heights to Katoomba is 1 in 33. Just past Wentworth Falls is Wentworth Falls Lake (not visible from the cab) a man made lake for it supplied water to Valley Heights Loco depot in the days of steam. A pipe ran down the northern side of the line (right side from the cab) to Lawson where there were water tanks. The water tanks are still there today but have been repurposed and are now part of the Lawson Bowling club, lawn bowls that is. From Lawson the pipe dove under the lines and ran down the southern side (left side from the cab) to Valley Heights loco depot. Steam finished working over the mountains in 1957 with the completion of electrification which is 1,500v dc and still is today. Only the V sets (which is cab ride is done from) are the only ones to use the overhead wire with all other trains being diesel. An exterior shot of a V set can be seen as we approach Katoomba. V sets as can be seen are double deck trains as are all the electric trains on the Sydney network and fully air conditioned. Smoking is no longer allowed on any trains or station platforms. On arriving at Katoomba to the right can be seen a slab of concrete on the relief line, that's all that remains from the one time level crossing the road traffic now enters Katoomba via the road over bridge at the western end of the station where the cab ride ends.