Reminiscing about the near past

When thinking about blog posts I always seem to be reaching for the file folder called '1966' or '1978'.  Sure, these were golden periods of the NSW railways, although 1978 was more brown than golden.

There has been another golden period since in my usually ill-considered opinion - from about 1998 to 2007.  So, lets wind back the clock a mere 15 years, to 1 May 2006.  It was during a period that I had many reasons to visit Canterbury, Dullo and Marrickville - almost all associated with work.  Now I am out of things I can confess to writing many a government brief on the seats at Canterbury station, stopping only to snap the passing traffic. And we think working away from the office is a new thing! Anyway, on 1 May 2006 the youngster and I snaffled many trains - here are six...

The day started with a tidy trippy led by 4483 and 4471. 

.. quickly followed by 2203 and two CLPs headed for the Illawarra... I stuffed the going away shot (at least the 422 is in focus)...

Jumping down the line to Marrick Vegas we scored 44208 and KL81 top and tailing a container train out of Port Botany....

Out of the XPT depot, 4833 did what it does best... smoke.

Just over the weeds, GL105, 4903 and EL51 arrived from points west/north.

And then 4708 and 4458 arrived... 

Ho hum... more Alcos... stuffed the arriving but not the going away shot... 4503 in its Big Red Tomato livery with a more sedate liveried 4468.

That was six trains, but the bonus seventh train involved 4701 and two dilapidated GMs.

I have just managed this entire blog without posted a PacNat blue loco, demonstrating it was a golden era indeed!

Cheers,

Don

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!