Bathurst

A certain car race, such as the one happening this weekend, is not the only thing that happens in Bathurst. Internal combustion engines of another type are regularly found down at the station, so lets have a look at a few I have found there over the years.

First up, a class of loco that was synonymous with Bathurst from its introduction in 1960 through to the late 1980s, the 49 class.  Here 4910 shunts near the old loco shed in 1980.

A couple of years later 8021 and 48122 were being held in Bathurst's platform road, waiting for the go-ahead for Lithgow and points east.

The previous two photographs were taken in January 1980 and 1982 respectively.  Slowly this photographer learned to visit Bathurst outside of the heights of summer and the depths of winter.  In a much more benign month in 1983 it was possible to walk over to the loco depot to get a close-up of 4917 at rest.

As stated earlier, Bathurst was a 49 class town.  Here are a couple more shots from the 1980s of this fact. In October 1985 4913 was the duty shunter for the Labour Day long weekend.

By the late 1980s, the class had commenced receiving the 'candy' livery.  When it faded, it was less than flattering on the GMs.

Bathurst wasn't always the abode for 49s.  Occasionally those pesky Alcos would appear - as 4891 did in 1994.  Though it was parked in a fairly surreptitious position.

Now, for more than a subtle change in locomotive types - here is a Dubbo-bound XP power car in its original livery in 1982.  From memory, the uniformed gentlemen at the end of the platform are not about to jump on the XPT, but are the crew for the 44 class which is awaiting the departure of the XPT.

Lets get to more modern stuff.  Perhaps the most exotic creatures to visit Bathurst these days are the 'Helgas' - ex-Danish Railways NOAB locomotives now carrying the MZ moniker. In June 2010 MZ 1434 waited at Bathurst to follow the east-bound West XPT towards Sydney.

A much more prosaic version of the same train  was worked by 8164 in September last year.

Container freights can be found regularly in the environs of Bathurst, such as this one with GLs 105 and 104 in December 2010.

And finally, it always pays to take a good look in every corner at Bathurst as it has always been used for the storage of wagons.  There has been a motley collection of freight wagons at the eastern end of the yard for years.  Tucked in behind them is a series of storage tracks which are rarely used these days.  However, perhaps due to the shade offered by the substantial gum tree in that part of the yard, it has become a bit of a parking spot for locos on the rail trains.  Below, B65 cools its heels in November 2011.

Back to that car race!