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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.

I think you'll find it's a divided highway as no traffic comes in the other direction. So the double tanker is well within the law to overtake if her can.

SRA/Freightcorp Electric Tri-Bo Loco 8650 being moved from one storage to another.

Here's another recent test with R766

The rail tours in 1989 in Western Australia of 4472 and 4079. 4472's whistle was regarded as too feeble and often didn't sound properly and so a whistle from a South Australia Railways 720 class was used on the loco. Different country and different rules. 4079's whistle suffered no such replacement as it never failed to sound.

Here's a short video of a journey from the depot along a line which runs under all mainlines out of Sydney. The tunnel section is known as the "Eveleigh Dive". The video is unsteady because the footage is taken with a mobile phone with no stabilisation. 8049 is a 2,000hp Alco of the 1980's. At 3.12 to the left can be seen the old Mortuary Station where funeral trains would depart for an identical station in Rookwood Cemetery in the suburbs. For years the Mortuary station was used for departing steam excursion trains. At 4.11 can be seen the track bed of the old Darling Harbour goods line. Always a grotty part of Sydney in times past it's now an entertainment, shopping precinct.

Yes and being underground it's also the best place for a layout with a steady cool temperature and no UV light to fade anything. Would be interesting to have the kids come home from school which is probably underground too, do their homework and chores and then start jack hammering to make a new large space for the new large terminus. Just make sure you don't break through the wall of a next door neighbour. Many homes there are two level with the kitchen, bathroom, toilet and laundry on the first level underground with the living and bedroom areas on a lower level. The only downside is no windows so no views but when you look at the landscape it's the same in every direction.

Here's another video that gives an insight into how Australia is governed and run. There's many videos that deal with snakes and spiders and all out to kill you. People who do those types of videos have no idea about Australia, it's culture and how society is governed. Australian society is very different from anywhere else and that includes the UK.

Here's a town with a difference in Australia where people live in an extreme climate and cope with it. This place needs no introduction to dinky die Aussies as they've all heard of it but not necessarily visited it.

This documentary was on Australian TV years ago on channel 9 with their now defunct "Our World" program. There's some rare colour footage of ROD's in action on this private railway. There were originally 13 ROD's on the railway with some having served in France in WW1. They were all out of service by 1973.

Just popped outside and this went strolling past. Do you get wildlife such as this in England?

Found this video of an Aussie bloke pondering the merits of fitting aftermarket Android units in cars that don't have them. It's certainly food for thought.

Well that's the problem with YouTube audiences and this video only went for thirty seven and a half minutes. Most people click to watch something else after ten minutes. It's very hard to squeeze four days travel into half an hour and he has to prioritise what he wants to show. I know that the Indian Pacific is now an expensive train to travel on from Sydney to Perth and they no longer have the car carriers on the back either so you can't take your own car with you like you once could. There are also widen stretches of road on the Nullabor Highway to allow Royal Flying Doctor aircraft to land. Yes mortuary station in Sydney has been restored nicely but it's a pity that the other end of the line in Rookwood Cemetery which also had it's own mortuary station of the same design has been demolished. Only the footings are left. You can clearly see where the railway once ran into the cemetery.

Here's a commentary by an Englishman travelling on this train from Sydney to Perth on one of the greatest railway journeys one can ever take. Just out of interest the all too brief shot of Springwood Fire Station is my local village.

Yes we had points like that at Lithgow loco. There was one set that was in constant use for diesels and electrics. I remember when I worked at the steam shed and 81 class diesel came over the points whereupon the fireman changed them and the first bogie made it over but the points changed under the loco so the second bogie split the points and as the rails were pushed over the dog spikes flew out and I retreated into the steam shed proper and quickly too. Those points were then changed to another type where the fireman had to hold the point lever until the loco had gone over the points. If the train in the video had been an Explorer set heading for the country departure platforms then we would have left Eveleigh loco via the "loco dive" which goes under all the lines and comes out on the northern side for the run into central. I took that route many years ago when a driver friend gave me and my brother a cab ride down the Illawarra line on 4440. At Hurstville Station on the return journey which is like North Sydney a station under another structure the driver started away in one notch, then two notch and he then put it straight into eight notch. Alco Mk1 44's were known for putting out huge amounts of thick black smoke and the pigeons were coughing as were the remaining people on the station. Good times and memories.

Heading over the "pond" to New Zealand, we have an unusual railway called the Driving Creek Railway on the Coromandel Peninsula. This train makes it's way up a mountain via a series of zig zags to the Eye Full Tower.

A drivers eye view of a ECS working from Eveleigh depot to North Sydney Station which means travelling over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. At Beckonscot in Buckinghamshire they have their Alexandria Bridge which is inspired by our "coat hanger" however their trains run down the centre of the bridge whereas ours one side. The other side used to have trams running over it until 1961 when all trams in Sydney were gotten rid of. The NSW government likes to trumpet the return of trams to Sydney but now they have to be called "light rail" not trams which is exactly what they are.

When is a railway not a railway when it's an elevator or lift.

This is a cab ride on the above title with five stations. Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay, St James, Museum and then back into daylight for the run to Central Station our starting point. These trains all have guards indicated by the brief bell sound before a train departs a station. Power is from the 1,500V overhead and all tunnels have lights in them.

Here's part 2 from Laxey to Douglas

This must be the ultimate driver experience for here's an Aussie who drives trams at the Sydney Tramway Museum having a drive on the whole line from Ramsey to Douglas. This video is only from Ramsey to Laxey.

Here's another video of the filming of the movie

Before the present conditions threw everyday life into turmoil we used to have to steam festivals. One in Sydney and one in Maitland which is north of Newcastle on the central coast. They too had a great train race which like the one in Sydney was actually just parallel running with trains taking it in turn to take the lead. Which ever loco reached the end first was deemed to have won the "race". Some people think that this is highly dangerous but it isn't for the rule book is not thrown out the proverbial window. If you suffer adverse signals then you have to slow down or even stop, for there's no mindset of "I'm in a race come what may".

The Gulflander that still runs today and here's a short journey of 5 miles out from Normanton This isolated line has no turntables but triangles as there's oodles of room for them.

Some facts stated in a Steam Train Passes are not true. "In the great railway workshops at Eveleigh Sydney they make the 38 class". Well no they didn't not in January 1943 for the first five of the class (3801-3805) were constructed by Clyde Engineering at their Granville plant in western Sydney. Another "that great frame casting is the only thing not made here the rest is all Australian". Well no not quite, for the streamlining was a copy of the New York Haven and Hartford Railroad's I5 4-6-4 of the 1930's. It was designed by Arter Cooler and modified to suit the first five 38's. The cylinders were separately attached and were not cast as part of the one piece frame the reason being that if a cylinder fractured then a whole frame would have to be replaced. One piece cast frames were introduced in the 1920's on the 57 class 4-8-2 and used on the 38 class, the 58 class 4-8-2 and the 60 class Garratts 4-8-4+4-8-4. The one piece cast frame is incredibly strong for when 3801 was restored there were no hair line fractures in it's cast frame, the frame it's had since being new in 1943. The film locations jump about all over the place with the thumbnail shot being between Eveleigh and Redfern. The shot of it going across a large girder bridge is the Hawkesbury River Bridge at Brooklyn. Then there's the shot looking down into a deep cutting which is on the old main southern line and the loco is climbing a 1 in 30 grade to Hill Top. The line now forms part of the NSW rail museum's line and is known as the Loop Line. Much was shot on the main western line with the loco taking water at Tarana which was the junction for the branch to Oberon. Many of the stations shown in the film have now been obliterated including the one at the end Brewongle Station. Woolworths has gone from the UK but Woolworths known here as "Woolies" is a supermarket giant and still very much in business. It's main rival is Coles and like Woolies have diversified and now own petrol stations. Woolies owns Caltex (now Ampol) and Coles owns Shell. The fuel is still supplied by the oil company but like the UK where the cashier is has been turned into a mini supermarket but selling nothing more than junk food.