Now this sounds like a very boring set of shots, but they are a relatively colourful and somewhat groundbreaking loco (in Australian standards anyway).
When NRs commenced in the mid 1990s, they heralded a new era of higher horsepower locomotion.
In near to original condition, though wearing a Pacific National signboard, NR88 leads a sister through Coniston with the evening steely about a decade after its introduction to service.
NRs were groundbreaking in other ways. Several were allocated to dedicated services, and were painted accordingly. Here a weathered NR57 sits in its Seatrain livery behind an equally tatty NR53, in its Trailerail scheme.
The third of the original trio of dedicated liveries was the grey Steelink, shown here at Maitland on NR58 on an Adelaide to Brisvegas intermodal.
After the initial trio got a coat, not much happened for more than a decade. The second phase of special liveries celebrated passenger services, rather than freight haulage. First up, two examples of the first Indian Pacific oral blue livery, once more at Central.
I think NR26 was the lead loco on that occasion.
A nice contrast to blue is red, and NR75 got the red treatment in honour of the Ghan passenger train. Here it is at Footscray in the mid noughties.
One of Australia's least run passenger services is the Southern Spirit. That didn't stop Pacific National painting NRs 84 and 85 into a fairly attractive livery. Here NR85 tails two vanilla NRs through the Hunter.
The most recent livery in honour of a passenger train was applied to NR18. Here is is at, you guessed it.... Central, having just come off the Indian Pacific: its reason for uniqueness just beside it.
Its time to finish with possibly the best of the set... I really like the Southern Cross flavour to the current Pacific National design, and not in some brogan sort of way either. Here is NR62 leading a couple of sisters through Moss Vale recently.
Until next time!
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