Dull and Dreary

Yesterday I visited the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney as I knew a Steam train was running. I was hoping to get a few photos. The day was cloudy with the occasional shower and even more occasional patch of sunshine. The higher into the mountains I went the darker it got. Cool damp weather does produce good steam effects but it makes photography challenging.

The shots I got were a little disappointing, so I tried converting them to black and white. The results were quite pleasing.

3:58 PM - 9/7/2007 - comments {5} - post comment

Lonely Outpost

3:01 PM - 5/7/2007 - comments {2} - post comment

Corridor to the Past

12:42 PM - 9/6/2007 - comments {3} - post comment

Reuse, Recycle, Reduce Waste

The cry to recycle and reduce waste may seem a modern one but in fact it is probably as old as our species. When there wasn't a shopping centre a short drive away people made do with what was on hand. A farmer would proudly claim that there wasn't a thing on his farm he couldn't fix with a piece of fence wire. Its a wonder there was enough left to make fences!

The railways weren't immune from the idea of reusing and not wasting either. When electirfication was spreading throught the Sydney network they found they had a number of relatively new, some less than 20 years old, steam locomotives now excess to requirements. The answer was to rebuild them for country branch lines. The job was a major one, side tanks were removed and tenders, to carry greater supllies of coal and water, were added. The result must have been successful for it took the arrivals of diesels 30 or more years later to finally cause their retirement.

The photo shows an example of each, the first is as built for Sydney suburban service and the second loco as rebuilt for country use. They are ready to leave Sydney for a tour down the south coast line.

2:55 PM - 13/5/2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Crossing Flood Plains

3:34 PM - 8/5/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Westward Bound

11:44 AM - 5/5/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Change of Scene

2:42 PM - 21/4/2007 - comments {2} - post comment

Leaving Town

A rapid departure in the afternoon Autumn sun. Passengers are homeward bound after a day celebrting steam at a Festival in the Mountains.



The Mount Victoria Great Train Festival is held every year in May. Rail location information is here.

12:06 PM - 10/4/2007 - comments {4} - post comment

An Ambulance for Chezza

After posting a photograph of a vintage Ambulance a couple of days ago Chezza commented it was the first old Ambulance she had seen. I promised a more interesting one. So here it is.

In the early twentieth century when roads were poorly maintained life was difficult for those living outside of towns. Railway construction and maintenance camps were situated in the most remote places. When an accident occurred medical help was a long way away and getting there may not have been possible using road transport.

In Queensland the railways came up with a rather unusual solution. They mounted Ambulances on train wheels and used the rail line to move the patient. The use of road vehicles on rail lines is not unusual and still occurs today. But the use of such a specialist vehicle is rare. I'm not aware of any other in Australia and I don't know how many Queensland had.



This photo was taken in a Museum in Charleville. It was beautifully restored and operational. The yellow under the front is a piece of tempoary track it could roll on.

While I was very interested in the Ambulance and other displays my notes for the day made special mention of the lunch we had there. Four courses, all cooked in camp ovens, the dessert of Golden Syrup pudding with custard was the highlight!

11:58 AM - 7/4/2007 - comments {3} - post comment

It's a Secret

Sydney is fortunate in that almost any train trip out of town passes through areas of great natural beauty. I know many people will say they have some nice areas too but few can compete with the climb through the Blue Mountains National Park or the descent to Hawkesbury River.

However CityRail shows little or no interest in these areas. If they wanted to encourage day trippers it would not be difficult. All these areas receive regular rail services every day of the year. Of course these site are well known amongst the rail fraternity. There is one area that is less well known though. It does get regular train services but few are direct from Sydney.

I am speaking about the South Coast or Illawarra region. While Kiama has a direct electric train the area past there is serviced by a shutlle railcar. Here the line follows the coast for few kilometres with few signs of human occupation. A special place that only the locals seem to know about.



The location is just south of here, compare the photo to the map.

11:51 AM - 6/4/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Ready For Service

1:42 PM - 24/3/2007 - comments {3} - post comment

By Special Request

You asked for it and so I oblige. One more photo of Hope Coast. Here are views of the rail line. I think that is the station on the right. Some of the industry that provides a living for the locals can be viewed in the background.

It seems it may have once been known as No Hope Coast although that may have been a different layout by the same person. Click here for some more details and small pictures.

8:59 AM - 22/3/2007 - comments {3} - post comment

Alice Departure

As a follow-up to the last image this one was taken from Billy Goat Hill. We found this a good view for watching trains. The Ghan has just left Alice Springs Railway Station for its overnight run to Adelaide.



The eagle eyed may notice we are not the only ones photographing the departure. There is a couple in front of the tank car in the foreground. Also almost directly above the locomotive, in front of the shed, you may make out a steam locomotive. This was only the second time a steam locomotive had travelled to Alice Springs over the new (standard gauge) track.

Guess how the photographer left town!

2:04 PM - 13/3/2007 - comments {4} - post comment

As the Crow Flies...

I know some people like to know the location but I haven't got one for this shot, all I can say is it is somewhere west of Broken Hill but before Mannahill, (I think!).

11:56 AM - 8/3/2007 - comments {2} - post comment

Reflection

Sometimes it is important to look at ourselves in the mirror and reflect on what we are doing and what we want to be doing. At such times honesty is essential but there is no gain in being too hard on ourselves. To quote Snowy's favourite verses "Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself".

Of course there are other times when you should just sit back and enjoy the view!



For location information see here. I noted it is listed as the main south line, while technically this is correct actually all trains into Sydney except those from the South Coast use this line. The name reflects (that word again!) historic more than operational reality.

My apologies for not posting any pictures over the last few days. Other responsibilities have encroached on my computer time. Today was the first chance I had to prepare a photo for display.

12:17 PM - 6/3/2007 - comments {5} - post comment

You Can Never Go Back

or Can You?

The early 1970's brought the end of regular steam on the railways of NSW. After nearly 120 years steam was gone and with it a way of life for many whose lifes revolved around the small country depots. With the coming of the diesels these depots were no longer needed and they disappearred and with them often the town died too.

In 1971 the last steam locomotive left the mid western town of Cowra, the last locomotive of any type to be based there. The depot area became a place to park visiting engines between assignments but it too soon was closed.

And that could have been the end. But it wasn't because as the railways moved out a preservation group moved in and that very same steam locomotive returned and this time to stay.

12:37 PM - 19/2/2007 - comments {4} - post comment

Competition

When a railway needs to buy new locomotives it can't just go to a dealer and take a test drive, at least not in Australia. Now they usually order the updated model of what they currently have but in the early diesel days they used another method. They ordered a small number from two competing builders promising further orders for the best. In the early 1950's that is what happened. 6 of each were ordered and they were compared. Fortunately 1 of each of these historically important models have been preserved in running condition, here they are running together.



The approximate location is somewhere just north of here.

So who won you may ask. Well that isn't easy to answer, the one on the right (but built by someone else) dominated for many years then its parent company in the US went out of the railway business and so the left hand one took over after surviving on occassional local and plenty of interstate business.

12:32 PM - 13/2/2007 - comments {0} - post comment

A Cliche

There are a few classic (or cliche) shot in the rail photography world. The three quarter view (aka roster shot) of a stationary unit is the most common. One of the others is that of the train spread around a curve. So here is a standard cliche shot that I like because of the low light angle.



Yes it is the same train as into the Highlands and was taken only a few minutes before the other photo mentioned there. Approximate location is here.

8:09 AM - 9/2/2007 - comments {6} - post comment

Late

9:52 AM - 7/2/2007 - comments {7} - post comment

Into theTablelands

11:37 AM - 31/1/2007 - comments {4} - post comment