A WHIZ AROUND OZ
Howard Forster and Chris Campbell
An opportunity to visit a number of interesting railway sites in Australia arose on examining the itinerary of a circumnavigation by Princess Cruises. The timing of the trip depended upon when the price had fallen to an acceptable level.The day arrived when the price including flights from Newcastle and stopovers in Kuala Lumpur, (as we are not as young as we would like to be), was less than £100/day.
Saturday 30/03/2013 A hire car was picked up in Sydney, and after collecting our wives from the hotel, travelled north over Sydney Harbour Bridge and through very heavy traffic towards Newcastle. Broadmeadow, the former No. 2 depot in NSW is being set up as the Hunter Valley division of the NSW Transport Museum. Shane Blatchford, chairman of the project and Joe Millier gave us a most informative tour of the site which contained a 38 road covered roundhouse and an open one with 44 roads. On site were 1219 4-4-0, 2606 2-6-2ST, 3203 4-6-0, 5096 2-8-0, 4102 Bo-Bo DE, 4801/5 Co-Co DE, IR1427 Co-Co DE ex DSB, 42202 Co-Co DE, 48531 Co-Co DE,952/4 DHRC, 4638 Co-Co E, 7100 Co-Co E. Newcastle Museum, On display but difficult to photograph, were 20N (K 1620/70) and toastrack tram L/P 284. Newcastle City. Under the revitalisation plan, it was proposed that the heavy rail line be lifted between Wickham and Newcastle terminus and a new terminus be built to the west of the Stewart Highway. Following further consultations, it is now proposed that a light rail system be constructed from Newcastle to Wickham, and the potential development of the system by expanding it to the suburbs, beaches and the broader Hunter region be explored. Morandoo Yard is where the Hunter Valley coal trains discharge. As well as conveyer loading facilities for ships it is used for stockpiling coal . Pacific National has a locomotive servicing facility on the north side of the complex. Five PN locos were present as well as Aurizon 5026/9 on a discharging coal train. A former Billiton Port Kembla Steelworks shunter, BHP32 Bo-Bo, was plinthed opposite the PN facility. Maitland. The Hunter Valley was very busy with frequent coal trains headed by pairs of diesels. X10 1042 2-4-0T which had been plinthed, has now been taken to a newly constructed windowless small shed near East Greta Junction, where we were told it has been dismantled. East Greta Junction. The works was securely fenced and deserted. SMR 10/18 2-6-2T were sheeted over in the yard. A supervisor who had been at the training building, said that two locomotives from China were receiving attention in the workshops, when pressed he could not be more specific. Greta. On 13 December 2012, Pacific National opened a new five track yard together with locomotive maintenance facilities on the south side of the line west of the station.A new road has been constructed from Nelson Street. Access to the site was barred by electronically controlled gates strategically placed before a bend in the road, so that only the end of the yard could be seen. Observation from a Hunter Valley passenger train appears to be the only option. North Rothbury. There was a considerable amount of rolling stock, not all of it identifiable, on the site which was deserted at the time of our visit. SMR 17/20/26/28/31 2-6-2T were stored complete. Parts of 23/27 were scattered around the vast area. VR 766 4-6-4, now standard gauge was receiving attention and 4627 Co-Co E was also present. 903/57 DHRC appeared to be stored out of use.
Sunday 31/03/2013. Enfield and Chollera Yards yielded 11 diesels; a further 15 were at Clyde Yard. Valley Heights is the Blue Mountains division of the National Rail Transport Museum. A visit had been arranged with Andrew Tester, their Publicity Manager, who was waiting for us on arrival and gave us a very informative guided tour. In the yard being restored were 5711 4-8-2, 1308 4-4-2T and 1022 0-4-0ST. The roundhouse contained 5461 2-8-0, 3214 4-6-0, 4601 Co-Co E being restored, NSWGTW 103A 0-4-0Tm, and APC 2 0-6-0ST (RS 2994/08). St Marys plinthed near McDonalds restaurant was BHP Steel 16 0-4-0T (Porter 6596/20). On returning to Sydney we had a last look at the monorail which was scheduled to close on 30th June 2013. From opening on 21st July 1988 it had not been very successful, partially due to the flat fare system which made it very costly for short journeys, and it did not really connect areas between which large numbers of passengers wished to travel. The NSW Government wished to expand the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre near Haymarket. As the monorail circuit impinged upon these plans, the NSW Government purchased the monorail from Metro Transport Sydney on 12 March 2012, to enable it to close it down without having to negotiate with private owners. Two carriages from the six seven coach rakes, together with a length of track are scheduled for preservation in the Powerhouse Museum. After taking our wives to the Dawn Princess berthed at The Rocks and returning the hire car, we set sail from Sydney Harbour.
Tuesday 02/03/2013 Brisbane. A hire car was used to reach Kunkala, the main base of The Rosewood Railway. This railway had suffered from a washout of part of its track, and as a result could not operate its service. On site were: 720 4-8-0, 738 4-6-0, DL3 2-6-0 DM, 1179 A1A A1A, DH38 B-B DH, 1815 DRC, RM64 PRC. Off site 763 4-8-0, 935 4-8-0 and 855 4-6-4T were dumped in poor condition. Ipswich Workshops. Queensland Railways still use part of the site. There are three sections in the parts no longer in normal use. The first section contains several steam and diesel locomotives as well as play areas for children. In the second section which is still in workshop condition, are maintained and housed the working steam locomotives of the Queensland fleet. It may be the largest steam locomotive workshop in use at present, with 11 locomotives seen at the time of the visit. Access is restricted to guided tours around that section. The third section, in a separate building, is the store shed which contained five steam locomotives. As it is out of bounds, we asked to see the curator, David Mewes, who was a mine of information and gave us an excellent guided tour of the workshop and store shed. In the first section were: 398 0-6-0, 444 4-6-0, 1262 Co-Co DE, 1281 Co-Co DE, DL1 2-6-0 DM, RM14 Panhard RC, and 3 FLASH 0-6-2T (Perry 6160/48) 610mm ex Qunaba Mill Bundaberg. The second section contained: No.3/6 0-4-2, 732 4-6-0,1079/89 4-6-2, 974/1000 4-8-0 221A 2-8-2, 1009 4-8-2+2-8-4, 1051 4-6-4T, No.4 4-6-0T (HE 1239/17) 610mm ex North Eaton Sugar Mill and ROD 327, 02 B-B DH (Wlk 584/68). In the store shed were:48 4-6-0, 2 4-8-0, 700 4-8-0, 290 4-6-0 and 771 4-6-2. Beyond the store shed there were a number of diesels which belong to QR Heritage Division, non of which had been restored. 1159/1270/1450 and 1620 were noted. Swanbank. A securely fenced site enclosed the stock of the QPSR. Visible was 1707 Co-Co DE, the sole remaining member of the class. Redbank, the whole modern complex is now owned by Aurizon who in August 2012, closed the foundry, wagon works and locomotive maintenance depot; the jobs of the remaining hundreds of workers in the main workshops remain under threat as Aurizon is looking for further costs reductions. Locomotive maintenance has been transferred to Woomba and Townsville. Behind the site security fence, there appeared to be locomotives in the former maintenance building. In the yard was AHRS 1650 Co-Co DE. A considerable number of diesels were stored in the works yard, those identified were: 1722D/1727/1743D/1747/1750D/1762/ 1763D/ 2102D/2116D/2155D/2161D/2172F/2209D/2255/2256/2267 and 2271. A South African Company purchased 39 surplus locomotives from QR, the 33 which were shipped in August 2012 were reported to be:1721D/29D/39D/40D/2D/8D/ 55D/7D/ 66-9D/72D/5D/2600-12/2111D/6D*/32F/3101-3. In addition spare parts from 1722D/7D/47D/50D, were also shipped, their bodies were still in the yard at Redbank at the time of our visit as well as 2116D*(possibly stripped for spares?). Aurizon has sold 20 more locomotives to South Africa, they were due to be shipped with the remaining six from the previous sale. Some of the locomotives in the yard at Redbank were presumably part of the batch awaiting shipment.
Thursday 04/04/2013 Airlie Beach. A visit was made to the Proserpine Museum where 7 4-6-0T (HE 1317/18) 610mm was on display.
Saturday 06/04/2013 Port Douglas. From here a visit was made to the Great Barrier Reef 20 miles offshore. Near the harbour, Port Douglas Tramway FAUGH-A-BALLAGH 0-6-0T (which carries plates JF 8733/01), 610mm was plinthed. Cairns The yard appeared to be out of use. The only locomotive present was an unidentifiable Co-Co DE in store. Former EBR 1101 B-B DH was noted at the Cairns – Kurunda Railway depot.
Tuesday 09/04/2013 Darwin Spare locos for the Ghan, Genesee & Wyoming ALF22 and FQ02, were parked near the entrance to the freight terminal. A jobsworth female security guard on the gate refused a request to walk in to photograph them. No.1 SANDFLY 0-4-0ST (BLW 7860/86) has been totally dismantled, cleaned and then cosmetically restored and reassembled, by members of the Darwin Motor Vehicle Enthusiasts Club. It is now on display with their collection of motor vehicles in the Old Quantas Hanger.
Tuesday 16/04/2013 Fremantle An interesting combination was noted on a freightliner, Aurizon DC2213 formerly NSWGR 42215 and Aurizon LZ 3103 formerly Westrail L259. Perth has an excellent electrified suburban system, which was very useful for planning the itinerary for the day. It covers five lines, all 1067mm gauge, Armadale, Fremantle and Midland operated by 48 A series two car EMUs and Joondalup and Mandura with 46 three car B series EMUs, with a further 22 sets currently being delivered due to the increasing demand on rail services. TRANSWA provide DMU services to Bunbury on 1067mm gauge lines, and from East Perth to Kalgoorlie and Northam on standard gauge track. The ship berthed near Fremantle Station, from where a train to Perth connected with a train to Bassendean. A day ticket made travel easy. East Perth S 542 4-8-2, was noted plinthed at the station. Bassendean A visit had been arranged to the ARHS Museum. Graham Watson, Archivist, was waiting to meet us on arrival, and gave us a very informative guided tour of the well planned site. The majority of locomotives were as listed in the LCGB Preserved Locomotives book. The following changes had taken place: Dd 596 4-6-4T is now inside Gosnells Railway Market. R 174 4-4-0 has arrived from Midland. W 947 4-8-2 in poor condition, was awaiting a move to Hotham Valley Tourist Railway. A six wheel steam crane with no identification was on site. An addition from Mount Newman Mining was standard gauge 5499, an Alco 636 Co-Co. After a most enjoyable visit, Graham Watson volunteered to take us to our next site Bennett Brook Railway in Whiteman Park, Bassendean, which belongs to the West Australia Light Rail Preservation Association. It was fortunate that the cousin of Graham Watson was there that day and was able to take us into the majority of the secure sheds which housed the rolling stock. At weekends, trains operate on the 610mm gauge railway on a fairly extensive system within the grounds of the park. Not all of the buildings could be accessed so a complete listing could not be made. Locomotives noted were: South African Rly NG15 123 2-8-2 heavy repair, NG15 118 2-8-2 minor attention, LV&S 0-4-0DM (Planet 2150/38), Inkerman Sugar Mill BT1 BETTY THOMPSON 0-4-2T (Perry /1939), Maylands Brickworks 4w PM (homemade), Isis Sugar Mill 0-6-0 DM (JF 4110019/50), ‘The Big Grange WA’ steam outline 4w DH (Kless), Wyndham Jetty WYNDHAM 27 4w DM (Gemco), Whiteman Brickworks 4w DM (Planet 3996/62), Whiteman Brickworks 4w PM (Ridley). Magnet Tramway TAS 0-4-4-0 Mallet, dismantled and having an overhaul, was locked up and not seen, as were an 0-6-2T, a Krauss 0-4-0T and another 4w PM by Ridley. We were grateful for the lift as it turned out to be quite a distance from the main entrance to the railway complex. Graham stayed with us and then gave us a lift back to the suburban railway, on which we then took a train to Midland at the end of the wires. Freight trains bypass Perth main station by turning south after Midland. Four trains were observed,CBH 001 and 002 on a grain train for shipment from Kwinana, CBH 016 on grain empties, NR86/106 on an eastbound freightliner and (Aurizon) QN ACA6005/12 on empty gondolas. A bus was taken to Kalamunda History Village where G 118 4-6-0 was preserved. Trains were then taken to East Perth and Gosnells before returning to Fremantle. Cooperative Bulk Holdings, CBH Group, were formerly known as the Grain Corporation of Western Australia. They decided to haul their own grain trains to their export terminals at Geralton and Kwinana and the joint terminal at Albany. 22 new diesel electric locomotives were purchased and in June 2012, on contract to CBH, WATCO WA commenced operations. CBH 001-011 are MP27CN, CBH 012-017 are MP33CN, both batches are for use on the narrow gauge. CBH 118-122 are MP33C for use on standard gauge trains. Construction of these locomotives was international. The engine blocks were cast in Germany. Diesel engine manufacture took place at the Cummins factory in Daventry. Then final assembly was carried out by Motive Power Inc (formerly Morrison Knudsen), at Boise, Idaho. All were delivered in 2012.
Wednesday 17/04/2013. We should have been at Bunbury, the captain came up with the excuse that there was insufficient depth of water to dock, so we missed it out. (On returning home I checked the port log and found that he had missed it out on previous trip also) Using tenders to go ashore is common, so he did not make the effort. As a result a hire car had to be cancelled, Picton Yard and the Hotham Valley Tourist Railway missed, as well as the three locomotives at Collie which had recently been cosmetically restored.