The musings of a teenage railway enthusiast : 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!!!