Monday 25 October 2010

A correction and Where are the Mill's locomotives now ?


I found this useful page about the Moreton Mill engines. I had taken a second look at my photo, Coolum and Eudlo, and realised that Eudlo wasn't Eudlo but was probably a Krauss and as well had a dinky little tender.
So I went looking for further info and found it here. The other loco is in fact Moreton.
I'm most happy to be corrected further.
Peter Bruce.


Monday Morning Photo. 25/10/2010 and YouTube - Nambour Moreton Mill Sugar Cane BFC5



G'day all, I mistakenly sent the link to the above Moreton Mill clip late last week, I had meant to save it for the regular Monday posting. Perhaps I should say semi-regular. I've included it again so that it will appear when this posting goes to the Teenage Railfan site. The loco is a Bundaberg Fowler, apparently it was an occasional guest at Nambour during the '90s.
Anyway this week and next we will be at the Moreton Mill at Nambour. This sugar mill finally closed in December 2003 and NearMap for July 2010 shows the mill site totally cleared but with the track still visible from the street into the site just west of the intersection of Howard Street and Currie Street.
Looking at the 1962 Queensland Railways public timetable I would say that we left Brisbane on the 8.22 am Gympie passenger which got us over the 65 miles to Nambour in 3 hours and 7 minutes behind dark green Pacific 1036.
If I remember correctly our first sight of the mill operation was Petrie running light engine across the intersection of Currie Street and past the two pubs that still stand at this corner, the "Club" and the "Royal George".
The other photos are all at this intersection or in the mill yard. It was a busy tramway with four steam locos working, Coolum, Eudlo, Moreton and Petrie and at least one of the diesels too, I think there were only two at the time.
Later that day, after dark in fact, we were lucky enough to be taken out along the main line of the tramway deep into the canefields. We travelled on one of the diesels on a very dark night right out to somewhere along the river, all I know about the actual location is that retired tramway loco Valdora was preserved out there. The intrepid railway explorer Westy ventured off to get a photo but was, I think, defeated by the total absence of any light.
So when we returned to Nambour we camped for the night in a wagon in a siding near the station, sheer luxury.
All the locos carried the once ubiquitous canvas or hessian waterbags.
In the background of the photo of Coolum and the diesel shoving a rake into the mill you can see an old Commer truck and also a Blitzwagon. The Blitzs were all over Queensland in those days before the invasion of Toyota 4x4s and I remember a sales yard in South Brisbane devoted to them and the occasional Land Rover.
Next week I'll post some pictures of the out of service Shay at the Mill.
Regards,
Peter Bruce.
P.S. Denys Williams disregard what follows, remember, It's the opposite of Playboy, you only get it for the pictures!!
I consulted widely about the location of the Ipswich Loco Depot and Dave MacCartney told me that it was actually over the river and near the workshops. I have just had a look at my friend NearMap again and the imprint of the turntable and the roundhouse tracks is clearly visible in the area between the Workshop leads and North Street and the school that I was using to try and locate the roundhouse is just southeast at the corner of Downs Street and Fitzgibbon Street. And it is not a Catholic School at all, I must have imagined the cross, it is Ipswich North Primary. The junction for the Workshops is a trailing one just west of the station and there is a signal box there still and a turntable is visible near that and in the shadows of the Ipswich City Mall buildings. Dave thought he recalled a facing junction west of the station for the roundhouse/workshops access track. Thanks Pat Cairney for your educated guess but we were all looking in the wrong direction and we were in the wrong place anyhow.

Monday 18 October 2010

Monday Morning Photo. 18/10/2010.

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G'day all, as I mentioned in an earlier post the three of us spent two or three days around Brisbane riding and photographing the steam hauled suburban services and anything else that moved on the Queensland Government rails. I havn't been to Brisbane since 1978 and the suburban services have been electrified since then. A quick look at NearMap shows that much else has changed since the days when Brisbane was regarded as Australia's biggest country town. Even in those remote early '60s days the line out as far as Corinda was four track but elsewhere there was also much single track running. Three of these photos were taken on that four track main between Sherwood and Corinda near the Quarry Road overbridge I think, English Electric 1272, hauling the wooden cars is heading inbound for Brisbane, the other two are outbound.
Yerongpilly on the Southside lines was/is connected with the main system by a line over to Corinda, back then it was the only connection. Nowadays there is a connection in the city between South Brisbane and Roma Street stations.
When I took the photo at Yerongpilly there were three Pb15s shunting the yard there. The Yank, 221A, is hauling a coal train just north of Ipswich I think, that looks like a road bridge under construction in the background and in the foreground the track gang is leaning on their shovels while the train passes.....it's always a good idea to stand well clear of passing coal trains, big lumps of coal are apt to fall off!
Ferny Grove looks pretty rural in the photo of baby blue 1049 and again NearMap tells a very different story. I prefer NearMap over Google Earth, it enables much clearer coverage of the Australian cities.
Off up the North Coast next week, first stop Nambour and the Moreton Mill.

Regards,

Peter Bruce.


Monday 11 October 2010

Monday Morning Photo. 11/10/2010.


G'day all, I've been overtaken by indecision over the past few weeks but I'm OK now, I'm over it at least for the moment and we're back in Brisbane late in 1963. In fact we're in Ipswich hangin' around the Loco Depot and the Workshops. Ipswich is southwest of Brisbane. I can't figure out where the Loco was, in the shots of the roundhouse there is a two or three story school building which seems to have a large cross on the end wall.....I'm guessing that it is a Catholic College and I've searched for it on Google Earth and NearMap with no luck. Ah well never mind, it may not be there anymore
For the most part suburban passenger services to Ipswich was steam hauled and as well there were main line trains and considerable coal traffic from the mines in the district.
The General Motors diesel 1466 seems to be on a through freight train and the Yank, 221A ,at Ipswich station is towing a rake of coal hoppers.
The Yanks were so-called because they came to Queensland from The Baldwin Locomotive Works in the U.S.A during the war years. They were officially known as the AC16 class and one is preserved in running order.
The very shiny Pacific was fresh out of the overhaul and was tearing up and down under test, it hasn't even had it's number restored to the buffer beam.
The other shots are pretty much self explanatory and are at the Loco Depot. The close up of the Yank gives some idea of the everyday grime and dirt around any steam locomotive.
If anyone knows where the Loco Depot was I'm curious to know.
I reckon that eight photos almost makes up for a week or two of neglect of duty.
More Brisbane next week and then we'll set off on the 1000 mile trip north to Cairns.
Regards and apologies,
Peter Bruce.