Views from Zig Zag

I was too young to see steam working over the Blue Mountains so big electrics seemed to me at least to be the way to tackle the incline out of Lithgow, headed east.

Thirty years ago this month I headed up the mountains with Senior to watch a steady parade of electrics do their stuff on passengers and freights.  On the Wednesday afternoon we snuck out to the Zig Zag, to perch ourselves at a lookout facing west into the winter sun.  Here are a few shots from that afternoon, into the sun.  I am not quite sure of the order so I'll just load them and see how it all goes.

First up, an 86 on a down empty grain.

Followed by double 86s, banked by double 85s.

 
After the bankers dropped back down the hill (sorry, muffed that shot), an empty coalie rolled past with two 86s.

 An 85 on a down ore train.

We had come to this location for one shot - the Indian Pacific.  Initially I was disappointed that the sun was close to setting by the time it rolled through.  These days I love the atmosphere that the following shot sort of captures.

It was a very good afternoon - just a couple of hours out of life.  I don't normally post shots of the train hunters in action but this was the scene. Coffee out of a thermos, Mum's cake or a few biscuits. So I will leave you with a picture of how to relax.

Cheers,
Don