G'day all, was having a bit of trouble with Photoshop along with a bit of trouble staying awake so the Monday Morning Photo has become the Wednesday Morning Photo.
The Eyre Peninsula Touring Party broke up at Port Lincoln on Friday 11/1/63, Westy and John Brady headed back to Port Adelaide on The M.V. Troubridge and Ray Graf and I stuck out our thumbs and hitched back north to Whyalla to visit the B.H.P line which ran out to the iron ore deposits at Iron Knob and Iron Baron. I think it was called a tramway but it was really a pretty heavy duty narrow gauge railway. Ray and I rode out to Iron Knob and back in an ex S.A.R brakevan. I must have been running out of film because I havn't got many shots of their main line operation which was run with General Motors G12 diesels.
However.....Ray and I were allowed a free run of B.H.P's railway operation, " just be a bit careful fellas". Well, we were, and just as well, it was a pretty hazardous location for the unaware and you wouldn't get within a bulls roar of any site like it today.
There were a few remnants of the steam days hanging around their loco depot and a picture of one of the remnants is attached. It's a much modified Beyer Peacock 2-6-2 tank, 1908 vintage I think. It was in steam as a stationary boiler, dunno what it was providing steam for though.
There were some more interesting remnants and I'll get around to them in the coming weeks.
I remember this was a Saturday and Whyalla was jumpin' on the Saturday night, the local boys and girls all went to the pictures and then jumped into their FC Holdens and did laps of the main drag, it made me wish I lived in Whyalla!!
So we slept on the beach and communed with the local mozzies, lucky for me I don't rate as a delicacy but they buzzed around me all night trying to figure out why not.
We were over Whyalla by Sunday morning so there was nothing for it but to hitch up to Port Augusta and over the Pichi Richi Pass to Quorn.
Life was tough. Who'd be a teenage railfan?
Best regards,
Peter Bruce.
No comments:
Post a Comment