On 31 October 1965 a goods train collided with a suburban train at Liverpool station. As the accident occurred at 1:15am there was only 15 or so people on the passenger train. Unfortunately, one of those passengers passed away at the scene as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.
One of our family members, who lived nearby, went to see the result of the accident the next day. The following two photos were taken, and show the devastation caused by the accident. I have debated whether to ever post these photos, given their nature. On balance I have decided to publish them to illustrate the lack of safety design in earlier rolling stock. I will be on this blog at some stage in the future complaining about the crappy seats in Waratah trains, but I think I would prefer to be in a modern suburban carriage than what was on offer in 1965.
The poor lad who lost his life that morning (he was 19 years of age) was in one of the rear carriages of the train. Those carriages received the brunt of the impact from the Albury-bound freight train, which was travelling at 60 mph (100kph) at the time of the accident.
Back next time with a cheerier installment.
Cheers,
Don
I figure its about time to post some of our own photos for a change, especially as this is the 200th blog post. So here's a few from the vault from around Sydney in the early 1960s. Each snap has a little story or quirk (at least to my tiny mind), as well as a few deficiencies.
Lets start with a photograph that has at least two quirks. It would seem that the pig is 3670, but with 3646's tender. The second quirk is the white roof on the guardsvan behind 1941. Its at Redfern around 1960, by the way...
And then there is this one of stored electrics. I suspect its around Enfield somewhere. The first car is a Bradfield and the next two are run of the mill, but I have never worked out what the last carriage is in this line up.
This third photograph is straightforward - the mystery is that the 41 actually appears to be moving. A class not known for movement.
Not much in question in the next shot, apart from the identity of the trucks loaded behind the 38. The identity of the 38 is also in question - at least its not the 3-8-0-1.
And I am going to finish with a photo that probably can't be fixed until the 22nd century. It highlights the frustrations of manual wind-on cameras in the 1960s. In all the excitement of finding 3224 hauling a HG and a dead pig probably for scrapping, the film was not advanced for the next shot.
So, I'll leave you with a big 'thank you' for persevering with me for 200 posts and a promise that many more marginal photographs are still to be published in the next 200 posts.
Cheers,
Don
Well, more correctly, Steam in the Suburbs. The (former) Rail Transport Museum's 3642 is 90 years young this year and it has spent longer in captivity (preservation/heritage) than it did in revenue service, having been retired for the first time in September 1969.
3642 would have to be one of my most photographed NSWGR steam locomotives, which is only appropriate given that it is one of my favourites. It was black when we first met but I do think the green suits its stout appearance.
Anyway, nearly 25 years ago I took a ride behind it on the last day of August 1991 as it worked its way from Redfern, down to Darling Harbour, out through Glebe and Annandale to Rozelle, then back along the Metro line to Enfield, Flemo and then finally back to Sydney Terminal. Here's a few shots of that great day.
The first series covers tracking across the Wentworth Park viaduct.
And then as it heads into the tunnel under Glebe.
Out the other end into Jubilee Park and off to Rozelle.
A few trains snuck past the other way, but not 4903 which was on a sleeper train at Dulwich Hill.
And all too soon we were into the wide open spaces of Enfield. Count those 48s!
The odd GMs were lurking around too, like these two.
As we scooted past Flemington car sheds I noticed two parcel vans - the very things I was hunting for a couple of blog posts ago.
So, it was a very good interlude with the old girl.
Seeya,
Don
Time for a whimsical look at Waterfall, to give those IMRA folk something new to model...
There are many definitions of failure, and I have invented a few myself. Here are a few at Waterfall.
First up, 3526 disgraced itself at Waterfall en route to Wollongong in the early 1970s. I was pretty young and impressionable at the time, and was deeply affected by an RTM tour train arriving in Wollongong with a diesel at the front end. But enough about me, Waterfall yard held the Nanny captive for a few days until it was towed back to Enfield.
Here's an epic fail of another dimension. Taken on the night of fires in the Royal National Park (with tragic loss of life) around 1979, it is less a photo about trains and more a photo about life's struggle in Australia.
Back to the rails.... the prosaic Metro coal scored a newly repainted 48119 at Waterfall in 1993 after the original combination of 4842 and 4839 couldn't do the job.
I think the failure in the following photograph will become evident in the next decade. As the Aussie dollar drops back to usual levels and world oil prices creep up again, we may be well be ruing the decision not to invest more heavily in electric freight traction.
Next one is an epic fail on my part - I actually drove to Waterfall in the early 1980s to photograph a V set on its trial. Then, for the next 30 years, V sets ran through Waterfall about 50 times a day, every day.
Another loco is down... this time its 2005 and GM42 expired when on ARG's Manildra flour train. So it got a visit to the outer reaches of Waterfall's yard.
And finally an epic fail. A shunting accident in 1995 left a substantially shortened version of a suburban carriage, so what was left was parked on the turntable, as one does.
So, Waterfall seems to be a harsh place.
Ciao!
