Junior's efforts Part II

I just came across a small pile of digital files (if digital can be stacked) from Junior's rail travels about a decade ago.  Damn child always had a better eye for things - and a better camera - so these are a standard above the usual shown on this blog.   

First up a couple of West Ryde visitors.  Silverton's 442s6 leads 4872 and 442s3 on 1441 up containers at West Ryde on 23 January 2006.

A bit later on on the same day the pleasing combination of JL404, 4472, 4458 and 4488, passed through the same location with 4168 up LVRF containers. Good to note that all bar 4472 are still trawling around pretty regularly.

Over to Marrickville now to find 4833 coming up the grade with an XPT carriage in tow on 1 May 2006.

Down south to Maldon for the afternoon steelie with NR7 and NR113 up front on 13 July 2006.

Further south to Werai this time NR113 is leading another NR and another on 27 April 2006.

Over to the coast for 2204, 2208 and semi-obscured 3102 on a down ARG flour at Scarborough on 13 December 2007.

Moving over the border and forward two years to April 2008 the lad was track side at Tottenham to get NR79.

And NR75 around the same area.

And then he started photography of ballast - which led him ultimately to a science degree with a geology major, but that is another story.

More ballast - at night - at Goobang Junction.

I will sign off with his shot of the crossing arm at Koolewong crossing going up or down.

Cheers!
Don

A little colour in life

And now for something completely different...

About 15 years ago when the Olympics were on in Sydney the railway authorities required freight operators to add horsepower to their trains in order to enable the trains to be moved even if one of the locos failed en route. This was the start of the exotic influx for me - locos from Victoria, South Australia and eventually WA all ended up in Sydney. It hasn't really stopped since.

It took this following photograph, or at least the bus ride home from Rozelle after taking it at dusk on a gloomy December evening in 2000, to get me thinking (more of that in a minute).  So here is the photograph - L251 in ATN Access livery, 845 in its AN livery, B74 in the hue worn by all locos of the Victorian Railways, B80 in Murraylander (hinting at a Union Pacific heritage) and then L270 also in ATN Access maroon and gold.

One train, five locos,three classes, and not a NSWGR loco among them, with Sydney's Centrepoint Tower in the background.

Around the same time a series of emails in the Ausloco Yahoo group ran through the locos and the liveries they wore.  I think, from memory Chris Walters who had penned many of the names of the liveries.  So I set myself a task - to keep a score of the liveries I saw and the locos wearing them.

I restricted recording my sightings to public railway standard gauge operations within a day's drive of Sydney - Bomaderry, Wagga Wagga, Parkes/Dubbo, Werris Creek and Coffs Habour.  I have been pretty careful about the definition of ‘a sighting’.  Usually it meant seeing- more recently I have mellowed to include photographs or videos by mates.   I deliberately excluded heritage steam locomotives and rail tractors, as well as private rail systems such as those operating at Bluescope at Port Kembla or in mines.

Even so, after 15 years I have tallied 114 liveries worn by 66 different classes of loco - for a total of 256 combinations.  

I appreciate everyone is going to have a different definition of where a colour or design variation stops and a new livery starts.  This is not meant to be the last word in liveries - just one privateer's personal obsession becoming public.

Anyway, for those still reading - here's my list of the 114 liveries and a total of the loco classes which have worn them.

Livery/Class Total Classes 1950 CR Maroon/Silver 1 1952 VR Blue & Yellow 2 1955 NSWR Indian Red 14 1979 NSW PTC Reverse Tuscan 5 1980 NSW 125 Years Green (amended) 1 1981 SRA Candy 8 1983 AN Green & Yellow 7 1983 V/Line Orange 1 1985 RTM Modified Maroon 1 1985 RTM Modified NSW Green 1 1988 Southern Cross Green/Cream 1 1988 SRA Red Terror 3 1989 SRA Green Frog 2 1989 SRA Marlborough 1 1990 BHP Light Blue 2 1990 FreightRail Blue 14 1991 Countrylink Blue 2 1991 FreightRail Light Blue 1 1993 AN Silver & Green 1 1993 SRA Austerity Blue 1 1994 GNRS Maroon & Red 2 1994 LVR Indian Red/Yellow 1 1994 NRC Grey & Orange 2 1994 NRC Seatrain Blue 1 1994 NRC SteelLink Grey 2 1994 NRC Trailerail Green 1 1995 Cargill Yellow & Black 1 1995 Manildra Blue & Yellow 2 1995 NRC Indigenous 1 1996 Austrac Maroon/Silver 3 1996 SR Yellow & Blue v2 2 1996 SR48 Yellow & Blue v1 1 1997 NRR Blue & Orange 4 1998 ARG Orange & Black 6 1998 CFCLA Elliptical Blue/Silver 13 1998 SR Yellow & Blue v3 5 1998 XP Olympic 1 1999 FV Green 1 1999 LVRF Green/White/Yellow 1 1999 NRC Charcoal/Marigold 4 1999 RSA Blue/Green 1 1999 RTM Modified Candy 1 2000 3801 Ltd Black/Red 1 2000 3801 Ltd Tuscan/Cream 1 2000 ACT ARHS Tuscan/Russet 1 2000 ATN Maroon & Gold 1 2000 CRT Light Blue 1 2000 EDI Royal Blue 1 2000 FA Green 6 2000 Murraylander Yellow 1 2000 Federation Orange 1 2001 AN Green Modified for FA 1 2001 Central Park Purple/White 1 2001 LVRF Castrol Grey 1 2001 LVRF Green/White 1 2001 R&H Transport Red/White 2 2001 RIC Butter Menthol 1 2002 CFCLA All Maroon 1 2002 CFCLA Blue/Yellow Whiskers 1 2002 CFCLA Green/Yellow Whiskers 1 2002 CFCLA Straight Blue/Silver 1 2002 LVRF Strawberry & Custard 1 2002 RTS All Blue 2 2003 PN Ghan Red 2 2003 PN Blue Cab 1 2003 PN Gold Cab 11 2003 ARG Dark Blue 1 2004 Patricks Big Red 4 2004 South Spur Two Blues 2 2004 SSR Yellow/Black 10 2005  PN Indian Pacific Blue 1 2005 Countrylink Blue 1 2005 QRN Ochre/Black 8 2008 CFCLA All Blue 2 2006 Danish Red/Black 1 2006 IRA Silver 2 2007 PN Southern Cross 2 2007 ARG All Orange 1 2007 Allco Blue & Yellow 1 2007 Auscision Orange/Silver 1 2008 LVR Modified Red Terror 1 2006 SCT Black, Red & White 3 2008 HVRT Silver/Yellow 1 2008 Coote Green/Yellow 7 2008 PN Southern Spirit Green 1 2008 El Zorro Orange/Grey 2 2008 EDI Blue & White 2 2008 ARG Yellow/Maroon 1 2007 PN Lifesaver 1 2010 Graincorp Sky Blue 1 2010 Whitehaven Blue/White 1 2010 Railpower Black 1 2010 Xstrata Grey/Blue & Yellow 1 2010 Freightliner Gold/Green 2 2010 QUBE Silver/Yelllow 4 2010 QRN Sun Yellow 4 2011 Weipa Orange 1 2010 RTM Royal Blue 1 2011 IP Yellow 1 2012 SSR Green/Yellow 1 2012 JRW Maroon/White 1 2012 QUBE Grey/Yelllow 1 2012 CRL Yellow, Red & Black 2 2012 Bradken Blue/White 1 2013 Black Caviar Salmon/Black 1 2013 NRE Gold/ Blue 1 2013 JHCRN White/Red 1 2014 SSR Yellow/Black 1 2014 MRL Red/Grey 1 2014 PN Revised IP Blue/Gold 1 2014 FIE Red White & Blue 1 2015 SSR IP Black/Yellow 1 2015 CFCLA/Freightliner mashup 1 2015 Regional Connect Green/Grey 1

Enough of this, I have a 15 year old spreadsheet to tend to! Ciao for now, Don

Weird stuff from Wollongong

Time to return to North Wollongong and this time a look at freights - or goods trains for us oldies. 

I am going to start and end with the ordinary - what the Coast was known for - 48s.  In the middle its time to take a look at a few out of the ordinary consists. As usual, the quality of some of the slides is less than desirable but the content is too compelling to pass over.

So, starting with the usual... triple 48s on a steelie from the late 1960s. 4881 led 4862 and another on what would have been a very slow trip to Waterfall.

A faster trip was more likely to be had behind a flying 48120 on the afternoon milko, off to Darling Harbour during the 1970s.

Its time to delve into the unusual, starting with 4540 heading a diverted interstate freight - again from the 1970s.

The Illawarra was Alco heaven in the 60s and 70s.  Trialling of locos undergoing overhaul at Delec brought strangers, like this immaculate 4206 in the early 1960s. The K wagon is a nice touch and dates the photo to an earlier period.

Next is a hurredily shot 4511.  Don't really blame the photographer for this one.  After watching 48s trawl up and down the line for months a growlier Alco engine may have gone unnoticed until the last moment.

Thankfully the photographer was more alert on this occasion.  Yet another Alco engine but this time it was a Canadian import. 

Time to complete the first generation Alco collection. This time 4303 and 4485 sandwich 42103 on a down goods.

And just when it couldn't get any weirder, it did. Through the gloom you may be able to see a WAGR L class trialling on an up goods around 1967.  Of course, 40 years and several liveries later, this loco probably plied the same rails, routinely.

Enough - time to return to the normal.  In 1993 4807, 4829 and 4821 head south on a ballast.  Maybe not the finest way to end, but 48s were always going to need to be the first and the last word in such a blog post.

Ciao!

Sort of a test...

Over the past 30-odd blogs I have delivered photographs of dubious quality, mixed with prose of variable grammar, spelling and punctuation. I am not so sure I shouldn't also provide a collection of blurry and shaky videos?

So, the following is a bit of a test.  It shows a fairly recent event -  2206, 3122 and 3102 accelerating away from Moss Vale on an ARG grain on 6 August 2011.  Here goes... I do hope hope you like yellow locos and wagons!

Two posts in one night... I retire (for the evening)...