Vale Phil Clarke

Earlier this week the sad news arrived that Phil Clarke, long time rail fan from the Illawarra, had passed away.  I wrote a short piece on Ausloco - Phil's favourite online medium - but its also appropriate to acknowledge his great friendship on this blog.  It also gives me a chance to run a few photos and (hopefully) his videos.


Phil (aka PVC) was a habitual rail photographer.  He had his favourite spots and trains, Cowan, Rhodes, Canterbury, Dulwich Hill, Picton and Werai curve. So regular were his visits to some of these locations he would be invited to share a cuppa with the station staff while videoing the passing trains.  He has left a rich tapestry of the changing nature of NSW railways over the past two decades.  Here is the quintessential, steady-from-the-shoulder, Phil the Video-er shot, from 1998.

I have realised I have more photos of Phil's back than his front, and for once I have a shot of him not videoing.

Phil was not just a rail fan - legend has it he served the warmest muffins on the Cockatoo Run when it operated out of Port Kembla. He was also a long time member of the RTM’s Illawarra Group and the Illawarra Model Railway Association. During a period where he sported a dashing mo, Phil (left of picture) rests in the cab of 3801 after another arduous muffin run.

Phil’s railway modelling reflected his taste for the contemporary. No sooner had a piece of new rolling stock entered service than Phil would use his considerable skills and his former employer’s considerable resources to create a HO model. If delays occurred to a loco’s release in real life, Phil would sometimes beat the prototype into existence (such as the Silverton Cs). One of those Cs is lurking in the background of this shot of his now demolished layout.

Outside of railways, Phil was an accomplished football (he called it soccer) referee and administrator. He was an active volunteer, driving elderly people to medical appointments and participating in his local church. He was devoted to his wife Joyce, his extended family and his wide circle of friends. 


Phil loved a yarn, especially when trackside. He was an avid video recorder, who has left a rich legacy of rail videos. These were spread far and wide as he was generous in sending his videos freely to anyone who asked. His videos grew to be really professional affairs, with annotations and printed discs.

So, time for a couple of Phil's video efforts.  This first one of 4468 and GM27 on a trippy at Canterbury c2003-04 comes from one of the first DVDs he made.  I picked this one because Canterbury was pretty much home base for him for many years.  He would be there by 8:00am and not leave until 4168 had rolled through, usually just before 2:30pm.

And now for one of his last efforts - from late November 2018. This one is from Dulwich Hill, where the station staff were magnanimous and friendly, and Phil could avoid using the steps to get across platforms.  I picked this snap of a track inspection vehicle because Phil loved the new stuff as much as the old, and he had a keen appreciation for the technical side of railways (which he would patiently explain to this knucklehead).

If you are lucky enough to have a PVC rail video or one of Phil’s trains (he divested his collection a few years ago), please give them a run in memory of Phil. If you have a Toohey’s Old handy, Phil would reckon you have the making of a good night.

RIP.

Preservation is not for ever

Was cruising through some shots from 2007 this morning and was just surprised by how much things have changed in the 'heritage' or 'preservation' scene in NSW.

It has to be said. I miss the Cocky. A regular heritage train, keeping the momentum of preservation alive. 4908 and 4833 on the Cocky on 14 March 2007.

A few from Koolewong on 14 April 2007 as positioning runs were made for the Maitland Steam Festival that year. Will start with 01 doing what it had done for 60+ years.

Thankfully (at least one) 01 is still going. And looks better than ever.

3112 is a terrific little loco. Hope it runs once more.

While we are in Koolewong, here's a resplendent 4918 on 4 August 2007.

Some other things were different in 2007 - like the cameras in mobile phones were truly crap. Here a night shot of MZ1432 at Gosford on tour on 7 May 2007 tested my phone's capabilities and found them wanting. 

So, jut like the 'real thing', photograph the preservation scene before it too has gone.

Cheers,
Don

49 Call of the Board

Haven't tried to run through a class for a while, mainly because I run out o things to say.  Still, its raining here in Sydney and there is ironing to do so I was thinking about running through the 48s I have known... better go with the 49s.

Here's the class leader at Bathurst, sandwiched between two air-conditioned 80 class locos. Must have been summer.

In 1993 a mate of mine at work mentioned there was a green loco shunting Rozelle yard when he came to work.  That evening I raced over there at dusk, to find a shiny green 4902.  Then I slightly blurred the photo - and only found out that I had 3 weeks later when I got the film developed. Still a favourite.

Then its off to Dubbo for 4903 which, with GL109 and EL64, was about to travel to Sydney on 8178 containers on Dubbo 16 April 2006.

The name on the numberboard might say KL80 but underneath 4904 lurks - Braemar, March 2002.

Once more to Dubbo - 4905 is shut down in the loco depot in 1987.

I'll do a separate blog post about this outing at some stage, but here's 4906 with friends around 1980.
 

And again, back to Dubbo - 4907 in 1988, getting some TLC

I think I have more photos of 4908 than any other loco.  Here it is at Canterbury in 2001, pressed into freight service with 3801 Ltd.

You are going to have to trust me on this one.. it is 4909 (along with 4898 and 4918) on a metro trip.  By the time that this train turned up at Rozelle, I had run our of film. It was 30 August 1993.

 Way out west - 4910 at Broken Hill - 17 June 1988.

4911 powering out of Eumungerie to Gilgandra.

Still in the west, but the near west. Its Lithgow in 1977 or so, and 4912 is on the front of the Central West Express.

This is another 'trust me'... I do have a close up of 4913 but this shot from the bridge at Parkes in January 1981 gives a better panorama of the Forbes Mail it was hauling that night.
 

4914 in the shed at DELEC Open Day in 1996.

OK, I had to do it - bot of a trade mark when calling the board.Trainorama's 4915 is a mighty fine model.

4916 made it into preservation with the RTM.

One last trip out west - to Bathurst in the early 1980s for 4917.

Finally, another to make it all the way to preservation. 4918 at Robertson. The crew was probably off getting a pie.

So that's enough.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Ciao for now!
Don

Up the hill

I have posted a fair few shots on this blog taken from the overhead bridge at Farmborough Heights, usually of steam working up the hill to Dombarton and onto Moss Vegas. 

Having now spent a fair bit of time converting DVDs which had been originally shot on tape back into a digital format I have collected a range of locos tackling the hill in the late 1990s. And as I haven't been particularly thrilled about the results of loading videos direct onto the blog I am now trying to link to my YouTube channel.  So, here goes...

Lets start with 3801 on the Cocky...

And on film...

Might as well throw in another video of 01 - this time with 7344 hitching a ride. Must have been fun for the crew inside the cab of the 73.

While we are doing 38s, might as well do 3830. Here it is so fresh from overhaul it is yet to painted.

And here is how she looked after a coat of paint.

And now it is time to finish up with SMR's 18 - Bob to the locals - on the Cocky on a wet day.

And then on a dry day, with 4833 pushing hard.

Ciao for now!
Don

A few bargains

Twenty years ago yesterday the NSW State Rail Authority auctioned locomotives which were deigned to be either at the end of their service life and/or surplus to current and anticipated requirements.  

In what became known as the Great Loco Auction, at Cardiff on 6 December 1994, 128 locomotives went over the auctioneer's block. Most were indeed at the end of their service life or incomplete, and were nothing more than fodder for scrap metal merchants.  But others were complete bargains, returning to service for the next two decades in various guises and for new operators.  Thought I would mark the occasion tonight by saluting a few of those bargains.

First up, 4814 and 4836 cost a certain Dr Sheerif a total sum of $34,000.  They became the backbone of Austrac's operations until its demise and have since performed sterling service for Junee Railway Workshop and various lessees. I caught them six years after their sale, when they opened up through Canterbury on a trippy in April 2001.
 

 Another Alco bargain was 4829, purchased by the (then-named) Silverton Tramway Company for $17,000.  It was nearly 34 years of age when purchased, but it received a pleasing coat of Silverton's yellow & blue and was renumbered as ST33.  Over the years it morphed into 33 and it now 48s33.  Only recently it escaped the fate of many former Silverton/Engenco colleagues to be rebirthed by John Holland.  I found it in Orange a couple of months ago whilst chasing an errant dog through a railway yard.

Larger mainline units probably constituted a slight majority of the locos on offer, including a number of 45 classes.  Unlike their near-cousins, the 44 class, 45s haven't prospered in private hands. One which has made it nearly all the way through those two decades has been 4503, although it had to wear the Patrick's 'Big Red Tomato' livery for much of the Noughties.  Here it is on May Day, 2006, at Marrickville. Not bad for an $18,000 investment!

Another to survive the two decades through a series of (ahem) novel liveries has been 4488.  It was purchased for a meagre $17,000. Currently it sits in Goulburn, wearing the IRA/Qube all over silver.  But upon restoration to service in private ownership it wore the lavender of the New Central Railroad, as captured here.

Not all locos were scrapped or went on to wear innovative liveries.  One of my favourites - 4473 - returned to its original kit.  I think I have posted similar shots in other blog entries but, as I said, 4473 is a favourite so here it is once more.  If I had had $16,000 laying around at the time I should have bought it - instead I got a Trainorama version from Tom's at 1/87th of the size and 1/107th of the price.

And now I am going to finish off with a video.  Here's a minute of two great survivors - 44202 and 44220 passing through Marrickville in May this year. These days 44202 wears the silver and yellow of Qube and 44220 is disguised in green and carries the moniker 442s1 as a testament to its Silverton days. Its dark and I have truncated the video to make it easier to upload, but I defy you to disagree that it wasn't worth $60,000 to still have these two darlings dribbling around Sydney's freight lines.

I have had a lot of fun working this blog up - primarily because I have drawn heavily from the most excellent Railway News CD released recently. Definitely recommended as a Xmas stocking filler and it carries a great report of the auction in its December 1994 edition.

Ciao for now!

Christmas Kids Special

Great work to 3801 Ltd and LVR for packing 10 cars on this year's special. It's going to be a great day for lots of kids and their carers.

More photos on my other blog, Eumungerie Railway.

Better get off to work

South Coast steam tours

This is another in the series of blogs which cover photographs taken just south of North Wollongong station, at the location of my paternal grandparents’ former home.  

After diselisation of the line in April 1964, the steam kept coming… in the form of tours. Apart from its inherent scenic beauty, the proximity of the Illawarra to Sydney (50 miles), its beaches (Austinmer, Wollongong), seaside villages (Kiama), steelworks (Port Kembla) and scope to head up the ‘Mountain’ to Moss Vale and then to loop back to Sydney made it a popular destination for tours.

Most of our family’s collection of steam tour photographs was taken at Wollongong, where the locomotives were watered, or at Famborough Heights where the trains climbed up the escarpment.

Returning to North Wollongong, here’s a broadly representative sample of a wider collection of tours from the 60s, 70s and 80s.  Starting off with the ridiculous, here are two 19 classes, back to back, on a RTM tour on 19 October 1963, headed to Thirroul.

Around the same time, the stately 3810 headed a tour with more comfortable rolling stock northwards.

In an act of painted exuberance, specially-adorned 3830 and 3313 return to Sydney after a tour to the Illawarra on 10 October 1965.

In the opposite direction about ten years later, green classmate 3813 raced through one Sunday morning.

If it wasn’t 38s, it was 32s. Showing Shelleys advertising signs and the coke works’ stacks in the background, on 28 January 1973 3203 steams through North Wollongong on a tour to Kiama. 

Shortly before it was hit with the maroon paint brush, 3214 got a run down the coast on a beach tour. 

30 class locos were regulars on steam tours, but usually arrived in the tender version – 3001T and 3028T being regular visitors in the 1970s. It was not until the late 1980s when 3112 got a dinky little ginty that 30 class tank locos got more familiar with their old stomping grounds.  Here 3112 was captured on 9 April 1998.

Another regular visitor has been the 36 class – with 3616 and 3642 making numerous trips down that way.  Less frequent was 3644 – principally because it met its fate at the scrappers’ torch less than a decade after this photograph was taken.

I am finishing on two immigrants to this country.  The first came and stayed, the other for just a season.  The first came from the Land of the Free – the 59 class were imported from the USA in the early 1950s.  It is fair to say that have spent more time on the Illawarra on tours than in regular service, with 5910 and 5917 being frequent attendees. Here the former heads to Wollongong in 1985 to work a weekend of shuttles to Thirroul.

And finally, a loco which came in 1988 and did not conquer. Its large driving wheels made short work of the flat sections of track between Thirroul and the Gipps Street level crossing at North Wollongong but struggled on the grades elsewhere.  So, it is with some irony that the final photograph is of the Flying Scotsman held at the signal immediately preceding the by-now extinct level crossing, meaning that any momentum it had for the climb up the bank to Wollongong had evaporated.

Still even more to come so please stay tuned!