The 2022 Victorian steam and preserved railway season - July
Hi Everyone,
Well, after a very railway packed June, July was a bit slower, for me at least, but the first couple of weeks were busy!
The first weekend in particular was the culmination of years of planning and organisation by some of the best in the business, and the day ran almost flawlessly.
What am I talking about? Steamrail Victoria’s Welcome back Red Rattler tour.
Operating on Sunday July 3, the tour featured the recently recommissioned Tait electric train, and heritage wooden carriages with two K class steam locomotives, one at each end, running parallel over considerable distances across the Suburban rail network.
Commencing from North Melbourne, the tightly choreographed day began, and, despite the Tait being blocked entering Southern Cross, the trip across the viaducts to Flinders St. alongside the Yarra saw both trains parallel, on different viaducts.. A pause at Flinders St., and then it was off again, rolling out under Federation Square, out past the MCG where the steam hauled train crossed over the top of the Tait, through Richmond, and out through Burnley.
Steamrail’s preserved Tait train seen from the Steam hauled train as we passed the MCG
Richmond to Burnley features four tracks, two each way, but beyond there to Box Hill, the corridor reduces to three, a dedicated Up (towards Melbourne), Down (away from Melbourne), and centre line which can be switched either way to cope with AM and PM peak services.
For the 12 km to Box Hill, the crews did an amazing job of slowing down and catching up with each other, giving the passengers a great opportunity to see both trains in their entirety. It was fantastic to see so many very happy faces as we went past each other repeatedly!
Will James was one of the happy faces enjoying the day out!
Box Hill was reached, and as the line reduces to two tracks beyond there, our steam hauled train was stopped for a few minutes, while the Tait went ahead to Blackburn, where it waited while we continued to Ringwood.
Ringwood is the junction for the lines to Belgrave and Lilydale, and features three platforms, which gave the opportunity for regular trains to pass our two specials.
From here, our trains parted company, the steam hauled service headed towards Upper Ferntree Gully in the foothills of the Dandenongs on the Belgrave line, while the Tait had a short wait before it took the other route to Lillydale.
On returning to Ringwood, a quick dash across the platform had us on the Tait to Lillydale where we had time for lunch, before rejoining the final shuttle to head back into the city.
There was a rush to the end of the platform for the departing Tait from the new Lilydale station, about to cross Cave Hill Road, with the old Limil works in the distance.
We passed the steam hauled train at Blackburn - it had been into the city, and Melbourne yard for servicing before heading back out.
We paused at Box Hill on the centre platform, and before long, K 183 steamed past us, and it was on again!
Passing trains on the return from Ringwood.
Similar to the outbound trip, the trains continually went back and forth past each other, and once again, there was a lot of happy waves to passengers on the adjoining trains.
K183 is about to make the news, and the AFL broadcast as the trains rush through Richmond.
All the way back into Flinders St. this continued, with some enthusiastic whistle work on the K class even making it onto the football broadcast as we passed the Melbourne Cricket Ground and its amazing stadium.
Time for a train change again, and a quick chat to the crew and some other friends before we headed west to Sunshine, with more parallel running, then on to Calder Park sidings, a sprawling network of stabling roads designed to accomodate the new High Capacity Metro trains.
The Tait driver is full focused on the line ahead, as the steam special overtakes his train on the way to Sunshine
The Steam special lead the way into, and back out of the sidings to Sunshine, where the final 13 km of parallel running was waiting.
In the dimming light, we savoured the last play of the day, which went well all the way through to Flinders St. where there was a slight issue, and the last side by side entrance was foiled by an avoidable operational decision.
Given, that over the course of the day there had been around 50 km of side beside running by two trains from the 1920s and 1940s, on a busy suburban railway, plus side trips, a few minutes delay at the end was nothing to get too excited about.
The end of the day at Flinders St. The Tait train tucked in behind the steam special as both wait for a path back to Newport.
Many people I had spoken with had never enjoyed a parallel heritage trip, The last I'd done on home soil was Geelong to near Werribee in 2017 with Steamrail’s ‘Steam Spectacular’ , and after that, Germany in 2018.
The End of the day, and the Tait leaves Newport to head into the workshops.
To cap the day off, I was able to join the Tait train for its run back to Newport, a short walk home for me, and close to where the Tait, and both the steam locos, and the passenger cars had been built - and where I started my railway career some 34 years ago!
A fantastic day out with great friends, brilliantly organised and managed by an extremely passionate team of volunteers and employees of Steamrail Victoria, and heritage crews from Vline. Thanks very much to everyone involved in getting it to work so smoothly.
The following weekend, 707 operations had a tour to Bendigo to visit the goldfields city and the art gallery's Elvis Presley collection, on loan from Graceland.
The Gracelander was hauled by 1952 built R 707, with recently repainted in 1980s livery, now heritage diesel A66 bringing up the rear.
The As were rebuilt from the 1950s Victorian Railways B class, the first mainline diesels in the state, going back to Clyde Engineering in Adelaide for a complete strip down and rebuild for "The New Deal", a relaunch of passenger train services in Victoria.
The A's, and their sister N class locos were, when I was growing up the new interlopers, pushing out the older generation diesels off passenger duties to a point, while also doing some freight work.
Despite this, the A's with their round 1950s General Motors noses, and noisy engines still very much appealed to me, far more than the dog bone shaped N classes.
I'm digressing…
A few friends and I had decided we were going camping that weekend, and after a few false starts, and cancelling Friday night, we settled on a location near Maldon, not far from the Victorian Goldfields Railway.
I had an electrician booked to do some house wiring, but that also fell through, meaning an earlier than planned escape to the countryside, and an opportunity to try for a shot of R 707 at Taradale I'd been thinking about for a while.
Taradale has a beautiful railway viaduct spanning a large valley, and amongst its other old buildings, a small gothic style church on a hill near the viaduct.
I've been wanting to try and combine both in a photo for years, but hadn't, (and still haven't), come up with the "perfect" angle yet.
I had nearly two hours to play with before the train was due, so drove, and walked around for a lot of that before settling on a spot, and climbing onto the roof of the Landcruiser again for that little extra elevation. I really need to get a proper roof rack and ladder!
The Gracelander, with R707 on the front, and recently repainted A66 on the rear cross Taradale Viaduct.
No viaduct in this shot, but the steam, lines of the road and the Victorian perpendicular Gothic church sit nicely together.
Into Castlemaine, and I was able to get a similar angle of the same loco on a train from the steps of the historic Thompson Kelly and Lewis building that I had taken back in 1986! Back then, there was a signal box on the right hand side of the track, the sidings were in place, and K160, the first steam loco restored for the Castlemaine and Maldon Railway was undergoing a steam test.
It’s 1986, and R707 heads past the now demolished Castlemaine B signal box, and interlocked gates separating the road and rail traffic. In the background, K160 is undergoing a steam test, J549, and a couple of pieces of rolling stock under restoration are in the old cattle dock siding. The Chapman’s, with Bill in the checked shirt are getting the coverage of R 707 on the green and cream ‘Melbourne Limited’ cars.
36 years later… Same loco, same vantage point, same woollen mills in the background, but very little else is recognisable!
From here, I headed out to Muckleford, about halfway between Castlemaine and Maldon to catch up with J549 on its excursion train which had departed while the R was still at Castlemaine.
Victorian Goldfields Railway J 549 starts the long climb to Maldon away from Muckleford creek bridge.
I was able to get a couple of shots, then caught up with the guys to set up our campsite in the Muckleford Forest, not far from the railway.
Almost at Pipeline Crossing, J 549 is working hard through the typical Central Victorian landscape on this great preserved branch line.
We had time to get sorted, and head back to the railway near the top of a climb from Maldon for the return train, which also marks the start of the long descent to Muckleford.
Looking like a 1970s branchline tour, J 549 is climbing hard up the last major grade before descending to Muckleford.
Back to camp, and over a few beverages and the usual banter when old friends get together, we settled in for the evening and cooked a roast in a traditional cast iron camp oven over hot coals, which was delicious.
A good old fashioned roast in a Harding & Sons cast iron camp oven - it was delicious!
The Goldfields Railway was running a 'Murder on the Orient Express' event, screening the movie on the train that evening, which meant we had the good fortune to hear the train working for miles as it came past three more times after dark, and late into the night. It’s a magical experience, still available thanks to the foresight of the enthusiasts who petitioned to have the line preserved in the late 1970s, and who laboured (and continue to labour) for over 10 years to see a small portion of the line reopened in 1986, and eventually all the way to Castlemaine.
Slow and steady progress to the top of the grade in the Wintery Sunday sun.
Sunday was pack up and head for home, but not without experiencing the first Castlemaine to Maldon service of the day climbing the grades again.
All three of the organisations mentioned in this journal rely heavily on volunteers and donations to keep them going, now after a couple of lean Covid impacted years more than ever. Please consider donating, or volunteering, the links in the journal will take you to their home pages, or, feel free to email me for more information.
Thanks again for reading, and joining me on A Railway Life.