Thornleigh Brickpits Exhibition - 2016

Well, it's not hidden knowledge I enjoy model railways. With that said, I was more than happy to be attend the annual exhibition held by the Epping Model Railway Club over the June Long Weekend (Queens birthday, more to that shortly...)

I had a few goals set for the exhibition, these included purchasing some Eureka Models NCR car bodies to fit to Lima Chassis' and picking up my Ixion 32.

Unfortunately I couldn't get a whole set of 4 cars but did get 3, and a friend ended up getting a second HFV for me as I thought I needed an RFV to complete my set...check before you send others out into war idiot! However as always, the second hand stall was swamped with buyers left right and centre. I am thoroughly disappointed I did not bring more money to purchase more as there were some beautiful models I would of liked to pick up - in particular a very nicely detailed AR Kits 44 for $120, absolute steal!

I ended up walking away with my Ixion 3265 (fabulous model, looking forward to running it today for the first time), an Austrains 36, 3x NCR car bodies, 1x FS car, 3x CV's, 1x LV, numerous detailing parts and a bank account in shambles

Um, yeah...about the queens long weekend...

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First of 3 NCR cars on Lima Chassis'. 10 minute job to make body mountings for the chassis to lock into the existing locating locks on the chassis. 

Austrains 3639 I traded for my roundtop pig. I have fitted a replacement headlight, a power reverser unit, have a few other things I'd like to do to it but for now it's fine.

Ixion 3265. Bloody beautiful model, many people have picked out the flaws of them but I cannot really spot too many obvious ones. I have a few which were tiny ones (lack of lube line from the cab for the smokebox which is no big deal, it's HO for christ sake lol) but it's a damn nice model. Looking forward to testing it today.

Farewell Newcastle, Pt 1.

Being a local boy in Newcastle has some good things, and bad things that come with it. Of late, the good was LVR and the NSWRTM running trips in Newcastle, the bad, the LVR trips signifying the end of steam in Newcastle, at this point forever. I was away during the weekend which RTM ran trips knowing full well LVR were going to do so later in the year. Prior to the running of these trips I was called upon at the last minute to volunteer as a Carriage Attendant on some of the runs, which was a delight.

Lachlan Valley Railway provided locomotives 3237, 5917 and 4906 for these runs, and they proved to be a very good few runs. On the first weekend (8th and 9th of November) shuttles were hauled from Newcastle to Port Waratah and return, utilising the ARTC balloon loop at North End, Carrington. This gave photographers many opportunities to catch the train during the weekend, and was a surprise to the local folks of Carrington being surprised of these happenings - being the first heritage steam train to operate in the area for a number of years.

The following weekend involved a run to Singleton behind 3237, and 5917 hauled a 3801 Limited train from Gosford, for the folks of 3801 Limited. Before departure, locomotives 3237 and 5917 crossed paths in Newcastle station, this being a rarity to happen in the 21st century. 3237 tooted off towards Singleton with a load of happy families and enthusiasts alike. 3237 kept to the timetable quite well with 4906 bringing up the rear, arriving into Maitland 10 minutes early. We were delayed arriving at Singleton as we had to await the passing of the Armidale Explorer, which made us quite late. At Singleton, we had to move off those patrons who were only going to Singo' off and put those who were on the shuttles to Camberwell loop on, which made for a few minutes of hectic activity. With the run up to Camberwell being delayed due to other trains in the section, we were late back into Singleton but had a very fast run home out of Singleton towards Newcastle. A good day.

Sunday presented itself being the end of an era for Newcastle and us all entering the history books for all the wrong reasons. 3237 took the first leg of the train to Gosford, where it was swapped with 5917 for the run up Cowan, and into Sydney. During a 2 hour servicing period for 5917 in Sydney, I slipped out to Paddy's Markets to get a feed as I was starving. Upon arriving at Gosford, we had 3237 put back on the front for a very convincing and fast run into Newcastle, despite being stopped at Fassifern. The crews had put chalk messages on the smokebox of 3237 and 5917, and once arrived at Newcastle, 3237 was put onto the 2nd platform road in order to conduct a short, but brief parallel run into Newcastle. Whistles blaring, being a sad sight which I personally didn't want to be a part of due to the history of Newcastle and being a local myself, I knew it was the end.

Thank you to Lachlan Valley Railway for the magnificent 2 weekends which were had working your trains, and hope all who view these images like them too.

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

Hi guys, quick update.

Good news is I am finally working on my pride and joy. My 1972 MGB. I have also been working on more HO scale projects. That shall keep me busy for some time to come, as I have a few pieces I need to finish...this comes along side the movement of RVRM's ROD23 up to loco in preperation for a static restoration.

Bad? Well, that's easy - school, work, etc etc.

Ugly? That should be upsetting. My laptop of the past 3 years which I do my primary photo editing, file storage and associated things with, has went kerplunk today. A system error which I am unable to figure out as to why, has caused it to stop functioning. I am having it looked at as we speak, which I hope to keep the files on it...because there is an amount of photos around 100gb...railway photos mainly.

But that is life, nothing we can do to stop it...

Anyway, back to things, will update you all asap.

Cheers, Mick.

Canberra Chronicles...

After a lengthy week of work, I needed to get away. With the realisation redundancies lay on our footstep, I had to get away. Few phonecalls later found me in a situation I was able to get time off and go to Canberra. This was an undertaking and a half for me, first drive over 300km for me as a P plater, and this would also bring me to a certain 263 ton locomotive, 6029.

6029 is the only operational Standard Gauge Beyer Garratt in the southern hemisphere. At this given point in time, 6029 is the largest operational steam locomotive in the world, as UP Challenger 3985 is not operational at this point in time. Arriving in Canberra on a Thursday night to find that the road directly to my hotel was closed, annoyed me to no end. This quickly was forgotten once I was settled into my room with my laptop set up in order to watch some movies and have a drink, a usual thing to be done on any trip away. Settling into the sheets had me awoken at 8am the next day, the camera fully charged and a tripod placed in my bag for a change. The trusty Hilux loaded with the pack of the day and I made tracks to Kingston in the ACT to visit the ARHS. I was greeted to 6029 being shunted in the yard in order to allow it to be lit up that day. Joining a crew member I was given access to the loco with no restrictions which was brilliant! I looked the whole thing over and took numerous hundreds of images which would be filed for my personal collection.  Shortly after I headed over to the Australian War Memorial to have a look there, which was brilliant.

Later in the afternoon I had arrived back at the ARHS ACT to see a plume of smoke erupting from the boiler unit of 6029. First thoughts were that she was lit up, which she was. Still, with no PSI on the gauge she sat there, impressive as she was. I was still amazed by the sheer size of the locomotive, and was shown around the museum by a member which allowed me to take photos of the rollingstock in the museum.

Saturday morning had me back at the museum to see the loco in full steam, and I was on the footplate shoveling a few loads of coal into her huge firebox which is an experience never forgotten. Thanks to the ARHS ACT for allowing me in to take images, I enjoyed the experience.

Monday morning came and I was headed home from Canberra. Through the towns on the way home, and realising the Newcastle Flyer was heading back to Sydney, I got off the M1 at Gosford and made my way to Point Clare. 3642, unassisted with a load of around 310t raced through, with the shutters flickering at the train. Beautiful.

Thank you all who made the weekend worthwhile!!!

Blue Mountains Adventures...

Hi all!

Sorry for the delay between posts. I have been consumed with an awful amount of personal stuff, along with school, life and commitments which I do try to keep up with. I still get out every now and then, and I have my reasons for doing so!

So today I thought I would update my blog, with a few of my Blue Mountains adventures.

The Fotoz Flyer - 23rd of August 2014

After hearing on the grapevine of this intended trip, I immediately raised an eyebrow and showed some interest in the trip. As not being a P plater, I was driving myself and mum down to Picton, on the 22nd of August. The usual day of school finished, got home and began the treck. Through the Central Coast, the Sydney outskirts and the life of the daily commuter to work hit me hard. Once arrived at my hotel after searching for 20 minutes on where it was, we dropped our bags off, went for dinner and headed up to the RHC to see the preparations for the following days events. A few drinks and a James Bond movie to settle down too, and an early wake up.

Driving up to Thirlmere in the morning provided some eye candy; 5917 with the lovely headboard which was created for this event sitting resplendently on the bufferbeam. One could not be reminded of the events to soon unfold, after a short delay, the train was underway. A group of photographers, taking shots of the train departing was bound to happen. This made for a gathering with many I hadn't seen in a while.

Boarding the train at Picton was pleasant, yet again catching up with many of the people I know and enjoy to be around. Making myself comfortable in my compartment of the FS which was soon to be invaded by many friends made for a good run through the countryside towards Campbelltown - being surrounded by the physical surrounds of an urban developed area which genuinely sucked.

After a nice run to Westmead and onto Penrith, we began our climb. 5917 handled her load of almost 200t unassisted very well, hats off to the experienced crew. The amazing bark of a 59 climbing was something not only to be excited about, but something which isn't always heard. A brief stop at Katoomba, and then onwards to Lithgow.

Getting food in Lithgow did not present a challenge. It was achieved quite easily and with a lot of swiftness and resulted in us back at the station awaiting to board the train that had been serviced.

Onwards to Wallerawang we went! 5917's infamous river boat whistle breathing fresh life into the world, we were on our way. Traversing the Wallerawang Power Station Triangle, it was a bleak reminder of the age of coal power falling to the knees of renewable energy...After 5917 had turned, our train had backed into Wallerawang where most, if not all the gunzels alighted to take their shots.

A call from our PA's to tell us to get back on, with the extra FS added at Lithgow, 5917 had more of a load this time around. A swift run back into Lithgow with the carriage emptying fast. A departure from Lithgow back towards the eastern seaboard, 5917 our reliable steed hauled a trainload of happy and drunk passengers across the Blue Mountains and back towards Picton. I jumped off at Penrith, which was a great decision meaning I got home earlier than planned.

Great weekend, thank you all for that one.

LVR Valley Heights to Katoomba shuttles - 27/28th September 2014

Knowing of the events of which were to unfold of the final weekend of September, I set my sights towards the Blue Mountains once again. Thanks to the untimely delays which our NSW public transport system is renowned for, I arrived at Strathfield, 30 minutes late; meaning I missed my connecting train to the Blue Mountains. But needless to say, this gave me the opportunity to look around the area of Strathfield for 30 minutes, sourcing the lunch for the insane. Boarding a recently refurbished V set, always presented a lovely riding experience. After 5 hours of chaos, I finally arrived at Hazelbrook. Dropping my other stuff off at the house, I went to Woodford to get a shot of the shuttle heading towards Katoomba. But I overshot the footbridge, meaning I involved myself in a crazy chase up to Hazelbrook to get some sort of shot....which turned out to be an okay shot...

Later in the evening, I and a fellow member of the Valley Heights Railway Depot Museum had arranged with the security to take shots of Lachlan Valley Railway locomotive 3237 in the yard during 'blue time'. The shots were quite nice, and I was impressed. After a few shots in the roundhouse of 5461 I made my way home. My weekend was cut short by my phone breaking so I had to head home prematurely....but all in all a good weekend.

Here are some shots!!!

3237 and 5917 slog up into Hazelbrook with the second train of the day.

5917 solo takes the dinner train to Katoomba.

3237 sitting in blue time at Valley Heights depot.

Sitting silently and dead, 5461 lives her forseeable future in the Valley Heights Roundhouse. 

The motion of 5461.

The depot by night.

5917 is seen here departing Thirlmere.

5917 and gin turning at Lidsdale.

5917 sits at Wallerawang after a run from Lithgow.

A weekend away...archived posts...

With the ambition to do some voluntary work with the Lithgow State Mine Railway, gave me the opportunity to visit the Blue Mountains, see family and friends alike.

So I headed off on the 22nd of November, a day which will be remembered for it's heavy rain and flash flooding along the eastern seaboard of Australia. Driving the good old Hilux to Hazelbrook to my accommodation for the night was a mission, staying awake was a challenge. But I arrived eventually.

With friends meeting me from such areas as Panania and Moss Vale, they had to be sharp and punctual to meet me at Hazelbrook. Paynie jumped in, and we drove to Lithgow. Had a good old chinwag on the way, and then eventually got to Eskbank to pick up Reesy. Once we had the gang, we headed to the State Mine and were greeted by a few of the workers and volunteers. The days work was to clean 4204, move D20, 4204 and some ex NSWGR rollingstock to Eskbank yard to celebrate Lithgow.

We got stuck into work, clearing grit that built up between the rails to allow the tamper to go throw and run into Eskbank. Shortly after this, we got a ride on the Tamper not far from Eskbank Yard to take some shots of D20 with her train.

After this we helped the LRW/LSMR move some furniture as a part of moving to their old office, and this was a quick job achieved by many hands!

Taking some gunzel shots, and then proceeding back to the mine to help move a Fairmont section cart out, was fun.

We then said our goodbyes, and made way to our designated areas...

At day break on Sunday, I was up and running around after the family!

I made a quick visit to Valley Heights to renew my membership and arrived to find Stevo and 103A in steam. A nice surprise. I went around, took a few shots and then left.

Back to the usual RVRM work...

Photos for you fellas, enjoy.

Seasons in the abyss.

G'day.

Been a while since I have made a post of a constructive type. Too little time, too much Slayer haha. So I decided to be of the constructive type...

Lately been quite occupied with studies etc and have decided as of this science lesson...lol.

Jack climbing the grade.

X217 and U boat cars.

                 

Pig-42 and 5917 sit in the loco release road at Central.