G'day all, in my last posting we left 3813 at the buffer stop at Central Railway in Sydney, it was about to back down the loco release road and head for Eveleigh Loco. We should have hitched a ride because that's where we headed, probably after visiting the pie stall on the concourse at Central for a shepherd's pie or two, just the thing for the always famished inner teenager.
I'm not sure at this distance of the relative position of the running shed to the workshops but I do know that MacDonaldtown is the station after Redfern and was basically there for the railway establishment and my inkling is that it was virtually alongside the running shed. Can someone enlighten me....I've looked at my 1934 Gregory's replica but I'm none the wiser.
It was a Sunday in the winter of 1962, mostly a dull day, just a couple of patches of sunshine and I seem to have used the best part of a roll of film, 12 shots to a roll. I've attached all the photos I took on that visit, I hope that doesn't cause problems for anyone.
We didn't actually go to the running shed by the looks of it, I think it was still morning and there didn't seem to be anyone much around, we certainly weren't challenged. None of the engines here are in steam but I'd imagine that later in the day there would have been a bit more activity with engines being prepared for that night's mail trains etc.
To a Victorian the 38 class Pacifics were the New South Wales Government Railways so 3817 and 3801 can bookend this bracket of photos, 01 was just another grimey black 38 in those days but always certainly the most famous of the class. I must say though that I preferred 38s shiny black, lined out in red and unstreamlined. Preferred, that is, by a very narrow margin.
6020 seems to have just come out of the 'shops after an overhaul.
The rest of them are all veterans of the previous century.
I can't remember who coined the phrase "long-funnelled and elderly", the Rev. W. Awdry maybe? But it certainly applies to this lot. The 19 class entered service in 1877 and the last two, 1904 and and 1923, were retired in 1972. 1923's Baldwin tender can just be glimpsed in the shot of it's elderly mate 1243 which was built for passenger service at about the same time. 1912 also has the Baldwin tender which replaced the original six wheeler. The 19s with the larger Baldwin tenders ran to Batlow, Oberon and Dorrigo, all branches with tight curves, steep grades and light rail.
The 10 class seems to have been a hold-all for bits and pieces that didn't fit anywhere else, 1033 is obviously being used as a stationary boiler while 1066 has been recently retired going by the chalked sign on the cab side.
That these ancient machines led a useful life for so long gives us a bit of an insight into Australian history, the 1950s and 60s were spent catching up on the depredations to the Australian economy of two World Wars and the Great Depression. We had great demands anyway on our small tax base which had to provide for all kinds of services over vast distances . Until the Second War income tax was raised by the states. The result , to a large extent, for Australia's railways was reliance on improvising and making do.
Regards,
Peter Bruce.
See http://teenagerailfan.blogspot.com for previous postings.
See also http://picasaweb.google.com/janecooperbennett for some very interesting paintings.
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