A history making journey

Hi Everyone,

R 766, a former Victorian Railways R class operated by The Picnic Train made the historic journey to Albury in the last week of March 2025. It's the first time a R class has operated to Albury from the north, as R 766 is the only example of the class that has been converted to standard gauge.

I headed to Goulburn Wednesday afternoon, chased the train from there to Junee on Thursday, Junee to Table Top (on the outskirts of Albury) Friday, and, took a couple of shots of the first shuttle before cutting for home as we have a birthday party to attend.

The round trip was 1550km, I took 725 photos, so I had some editing work to do!

It was a great trip, with fantastic company of an afternoon and evening with friends who were photographing or travelling.

When I chased The Picnic Train through Southern New South Wales on the Main South two years ago, it had 5917 on front, you can read about that here.

The 70 R class passenger locomotives were ordered from the North British Locomotive works post world war two, and designed to be able to be converted from the Victorian broad gauge of 5' 3" (1600mm) to standard gauge 4' 8 1/2" (1435mm). Due to diesels arriving at the same time, they were all retired before any widespread gauge conversion of lines happened in Victoria - which wasn't really a thing until the 1990s.

After only 15 years in service, R 766 was steamed into a park in Bendigo in 1970 and plinthed, never to be steamed again.

Growing up as a kid in Bendigo, I don't know how many hours I spent crawling all over the loco, but it was certainly a lot!

It had a reprieve in the early 80s, this time towed out of the park by a T class diesel, and replaced by classmate R 711 and was restored, before changing owners a couple of times.

Preparations are well underway to retrieve R766 from its location near Bendigo railway station. The photo taken on 19 December 1981 has kindly been provided by Bruce Dixon.

The restoration project saw 766 and some former South Australian Railways passenger cars operated as The Melbourne Limited by Steam Age Australia as an upmarket Art Deco inspired train. This was the first time a private operator was attempting to run on the Victorian Government system, something we now think of as commonplace, but at the time was groundbreaking.

Unfortunately the venture failed.

It was then sold to Australian Vintage Travel, A former Manly Ferry, the South Steyne, and a DC3 aircraft rounded out their package funded by a very forward thinking Victorian Economic Development corporation initiative, possibly 40 years too early!

Australian Vintage Travel converted the cars to Standard Gauge, for operations in NSW, and R 766 was parked up at Newport Workshops.

This venture did’t last too long, and once again, the future of R 766 was up in the air.

In March 1989, the locomotive was bought by a group of enthusiasts who banded together as Locomotive R 766 Inc. It was operated for a time by Steamrail, and then West Coast Rail, until that organisation also ceased operations. It continued to operate with the Steamrail fleet into the late 1990s.

An offer of outright purchase, rejected by the group was later amended as an annual renewing 30 year lease by the Hunter Valley Railway Trust, as the name suggests, in the NSW Hunter Valley, near Newcastle.

In the early 2000s, the majority of the work to convert it to standard gauge was completed at Newport workshops, before the now kit of parts was loaded onto trucks, and taken to NSW to finish the project.

It's been back in service for a couple of years, but March has seen it venture down to Canberra for shuttles over the Labour Day long weekend, and, late in the month travelled from the railway town of Goulburn to Albury for a weekend of shuttle trips.

29 and 30 of March were the dates set for shuttle trips to Gerogery, about 30km north of Albury. There's no platform there any more, so it was a case of out led by the R, and back with heritage diesel, 42101 at the south end of the train.

So, back to Wednesday. I left work around lunchtime, and thanks to the wonders of modern technology was able to do a couple of meetings in the car on the seven hour drive to Goulburn.

Our group of travellers were all arriving from different points, and mostly around 7:30pm - one from Wollongong, three from Melbourne via plane and train, and three more had arrived earlier by XPT. Dinner plans were made and booked, and another photographer was added to the crew, arriving by car from Sydney.

Checking in at the accomodation I'd booked for two of us didn't go according to plan, on opening the door to the basic room, we were confronted with a double bed, not the two I expected.

Back to check - in, and I received a very unsympathetic we're fully booked, just put a couple of towels between you! Apparently my fault for booking through a third party agency.

I went back to the room, and checked I hadn't made an error, and had booked directly - then went back for another discussion.

There was another person querying the lack of off street parking available, not being satisfied with the reply, he decided to go elsewhere, with no refund, so I was able to negotiate a good price for that room, crisis averted!

A decent feed, a few drinks, and off to bed for an early start Thursday morning - 07:15 departure, which suited some of our group far less than others!

Picking up a coffee and a bite to eat, we started gathering at the station by 07:00, in time to photograph a north bound containerised grain, before a column of steam was seen rising from the loco shed.

I had a very comprehensive set of notes on suggested shot locations from Alan Williams, @ Round the world in a steamy haze , Google Earth screenshot printouts to match, and a few more ideas from conversations over dinner.

First shot on the list was a departure from Goulburn, from the road over bridge just down from the station. Despite the historic nature of the trip, there was only four people there, myself, Trent who joined us for dinner, fellow Victorian, Dan and another bloke who we didn't see again. We did bump into a few other people during the day here and there, and zigged and zagged to different locations ourselves.

Getting underway from Goulburn, the fireman is being enthusiastic with the oil burner tap!

The R put on a very smoky departure, and then it was back to the cars to head to Breadalbane. I wasn't that keen on the spot I'd picked, so went to the site of Cullerin station, which is also where there's a sign proclaiming the top of the Great Dividing Range. It was actually the location Alan had in mind, I'd misread the notes.

The sun was in and out of the clouds while waiting for the train to arrive, which it did eventually, later, and slower than expected, with smoke drifting in front of it. It pulled up not far past the crossing, apparently to check for warm bearings. This ended up happening a few times during the course of the morning, which helped get an extra few shots in!

A thumbs up from the fireman as the train rolls over the top of the Great Divide at Cullerin.

A couple more shots through the Cullerin Range, with the road cutting a much straighter path than the railway, at times on the original pre 1915 single track alignment. The 'new' alignment takes the double track through a series of big sweeping curves, adding considerable distance to the line, but far easier gradients to the old alignment, and road.

Descending the Cullerin range. The railway, and winding farm track through the granite outcrops.

Fish River and Gunning were next opportunities, before getting back on the freeway for a short stint, then off into Jerrawa, and Coolalie.

Long abandoned watering facilities at Fish River.

Rolling through Gunning after another pause to check bearings.

Full noise topping the grade at Jerrawa.

Past the wind turbines at Coolalie.

A scheduled stop at Yass Junction to allow a couple of trains to pass gave time to grab some fuel, and head out through Bowning.

I selected the 180 degree curve near Goondah for my next shot, very backlit with high sun, almost the textbook what not to do, to see what I could get.

A couple of container trains passed each other around the curve with the R following the southbound.

Boxes heading south, boxes heading north. Red Hill, Goondah.

Descending Red Hill, Goondah.

Back onto the Burley Griffin Highway, I stopped at an over bridge outside Binalong, where Trent was already waiting.

There was another northbound train due very soon, so it was going to be a close call as to which arrived first, hopefully the R!

We could see the smoke coming, then headlight, but from the other direction, the sound of the diesels were also getting louder. Both of us were going from one side of the bridge to the other, I ended up getting the diesel first, then dashed across the bridge just in time to get the locos passing each other, a close call!

Which one first? The R?

Or the Aurizon?

The Aurizon crew by a loco length. I hope they had the windows closed!

Next on the list was Linden Road, Cunningar not far out of Harden. The railway climbs up out of a Valley with a nice range of hills in the background.

There were a few more people here, but nowhere near the large number that filled the bridge parapet two years ago.

Dan had also decided on a shot here, so we discussed our day so far, and next options.

There was a short stop scheduled at Harden, helpful given the need for us to drive through town. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go next, Dan elected to go between Harden and Demondrille, which is a long steep climb, while Trent mentioned Colorado Road, about halfway between Harden and Wallendbeen, so I decided to follow him for a shot at a new to me, location.

Before long, smoke from the R could be seen, and the noise from the two diesels shoving hard at the back blocked out the sound from the steam loco, but that eventually swapped around as the train drew closer.

While at times during the day the crew had the loco belching out black smoke, the exhaust was clear and sharp, and the loco sounded great as it dragged the train up the hill and under the bridge.

R 766 leads The Picnic Train up to Linden Rd. Harden with diesels 852 and 42101 assisting in the rear.

Colorado Rd, and three hard working locos moving the 16 car train up the hill, magical to experience.

Colorado Road was a great vantage point to watch the train climb out of the Demondrille Creek valley, and twist around under a couple of road bridges before it reached our location, and from there it was a quick trip to Wallendbeen, and down the North Jindallee road toward Morrison's Hill.

Again, the road is on the original railway alignment, as the line now swings out a considerable distance, giving time for a couple more shots.

Roaring out of Wallendbeen. The slow running of the morning has been put aside, the loco is performing well, and the pace was picking up.

From here, it's a fairly straight run into Cootamundra, so I headed to the station to see the train arrive.

There was a timetabled layover here, with the train scheduled to be turned while the R took on water,  allowing the diesels to be on the south end behind the loco.

As this was all going to take some time, the passengers were able to leave the train for a look while at the platform, so I took Alan  out with me to get a couple of shots of the train going around the triangle at Cootamundra West.

The rest of the group had rejoined the train for that part of the trip, so after getting our shots, I dropped Alan back at the station, and headed out to Cootamundry Creek to try a shot I'd missed of the 59.

During this time, there had been a fire out near Morrison's Hill just after the steam special came through, so the R was banished to the back of the train in disgrace, leaving the two diesels on the front.

The train was now later than expected, and was held for the south bound Steel train from Wollongong, and was likely to be kept there for the XPT as well. These were also running late as they had been held while the fire was bought under control.

This turned out to be rather fortunate, as Alan had been unable to rejoin the train as it hadn't come back into the platform!

A phonecall from our friends on the train saw me heading back into town to retrieve him, which was easily done, and in time for us both to photograph all three trains.

Trent and Dan were further along at Dirnaseer road over bridge, Trent heading back to Sydney, while Dan continued the chase.

The Port Kembla to Melbourne coiled steel train at Cootamundry Creek, outside Cootamundra.

R 766 playing at bank engine on the climb out of Cootamundra.

The train was less appealing with the R now at the back still facing the direction of travel, but we managed to get a few more shots in, pacing it and having Alan in the car, he was able to get some shots of the train for me.

The R in action at the rear of the train nearing Junee. A study of the locomotive in action, solid wheels on the leading truck, two turbo generators, and builders plate below the number plate on the cab side. Looking further back, the large oil tank on the tender, no buffers, and double ladders on the rear round out some of the differences from its original look. Alan Williams photo.

Once at Junee, we picked up two members of the group, and headed out to the locomotive depot, with it's huge roundhouse.

Half of the building is a museum, and the other half working depot, so entry to the complex was likely to be fairly straightforward - or so we thought.

The museum had closed not long before the loco arrived for turning, so that avenue was out, although a couple of people did let themselves in through the locked entrance, and promptly padlocked the gate behind them.

Home ground advantage? Maybe. A bit selfish, almost definitely.

I wasn't sure I wanted a shot inside the depot anyway, the working side would have been my preference to get the museum items in the background, not that there was a choice. I had headed down to get a zoom shot along the entrance road, however a photo line formed up near the building, so I ran (the doesn't happen too often), back up and joined them.

A spin on the Junee turntable.

Once the loco turned, I ran back to my former position to get it.

Blowing down the boiler after turning at Junee.

As it trundled back towards town, we packed up, and headed back ourselves to check in to our accomodation, go for a swim, and ten adjourn to the Junee hotel for refreshments and dinner under the verandah.

Plenty of action going on to keep the pub crowd happy!

It was a pleasant evening watching trains come and go, have a few drinks, and talk railway stuff.

Simmering in the night at Junee.

Eventually it became dark, there was a few time exposures taken, then time to call it quits after a long day.

I'll continue the trip from Junee to Albury in the next post.

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Scott