Chasing ‘The shot’
The lighter side of railfanning in the modern era - chasing ‘The Shot’
This article was first published in the August 2021 edition of Newsrail, Victoria’s monthly railway magazine, but after re-reading it recently, I thought I’d share it here too. It’s been slightly updated to reflect the passage of time, and a few more photos than could be fitted into the magazine version.
After Covid lockdowns, 2021 had seen a return to mainline steam and diesel tours, and of course the resultant throngs of enthusiasts rushing and joggling to get ‘The Shot’.
Over the course of the 19th to the 24th of May, Cruise Express, in conjunction with Steamrail Victoria operated an extensive six day broad gauge tour involving eight steam locomotives on main and preserved lines, five of them on the one day!
Here’s a tongue in cheek account of chasing the first two days of this marvellous extravaganza.
On Wednesday morning, R Classes 711 and 761 hauled the first leg of the Southern Explorer tour from Melbourne’s Southern Cross station to Ballarat, via Geelong. Getting away on time in the chilly morning, the locos made good time until North Geelong, where delays with Safeworking processes saw the time slip somewhat.
With the sun barely above the horizon, R 711 and R 761 head out through Altona approaching Kororoit Creek.
I’d taken a couple of shots at Little River with Flinders Peak and the You Yangs in the background, before cutting to Moorabool Viaduct to get the nice side lit photo.
Early morning light on Flinders Peak as the first leg of the tour heads toward Geelong behind R classes 711 and 761.
There was already a handful of people there, and it was interesting to watch people park their cars ready for a quick getaway, then find ‘their’ spot along the fence to set up for video, still, or drone photography.
The spectacular 1862 Moorabool viaduct spans the valley of the same name. The steel trestles were added when the bridge was strengthened to the heavier locomotives and trains in 1918.
There was the usual chatter, why was such and such line closed and ripped up, why did this happen and so on. The two drone pilots had a chat about where they were planning to fly, so there was no mid air collisions, and all was well with the world.
Eventually there was the call of “train on” ( so please shut up, I’m videoing), the sound of a few, then more shutters releasing as the train made its way across the bridge, and climbed away from the other side.
Que car doors closing, engines revving, and the chase was on!
One of my miss-turns ended up being a great location, I climbed up on top of the Landcruiser for a little elevation, and several clicks later - Crossing Paths was captured.
From there I avoided most of the more coveted shots, and chose some more obscure side roads, missed a couple of turns and ended up blocked by roadworks near Lal Lal, and sat in traffic gently watching the smoke from the train get further ahead.
Eventually, arriving at Warrenheip, I joined the other 20 or so photographers and videographers on the bridge so we could all get more or less the same version of “The Shot”, before most of the crowd went racing into Ballarat.
Passing through the site of Warrenheip, the train has swung in parallel with the direct Melbourne line, and is about to start the steep descent into Ballarat.
I decided to head out to the site of Waubra Junction to avoid the masses, then cut for home as I had an appointment I needed to keep.
The photo wasn’t that great, so I won’t trouble you with it.
Thursday morning I arrived at Wycheproof at around 9:30 in time for the turntable recommissioning ceremony, complete with ribbon cutting. Along with the throng of motorcaders, (some worse the wear from a few beverages at both the local hotels the night before), ABC news, local dignitaries and large local turnout, there was one of the drones again, hovering a few meters above the onlookers making sure “The Shot” was captured, and no one could hear the speeches !
K 153 has the honour of being the first loco to use the recommissioned turntable.
A bit of time now to catch up and chat with people, photograph the train in the middle of Broadway, the section of the Calder Highway through the centre of Wycheproof, before heading south to a few locations, some less popular than others.
Back on Broadway - the train is facing south, ready for the long trip back to Melbourne.
A bit early for a beer, but thanks to the friendly publican, I was able to photograph the train from the front bar of The Terminus hotel.
One of the features of the Mallee country, aside from the frequently dotted wheat silos, is dirt roads, lots of right angled corners, and, even at this time of year, dust.
The railway south of Wycheproof virtually all the way to Wychetella cuts across the paddocks on an angle, which, even with the 80kmh speed limit of the train, requires some vigorous driving to re catch, and then get ahead of the train for the next attempt of “The Shot”
It’s been a while since anything was weighed at Glenloth station.
Even on the few sections where the roads paralleled the line, as photographers played a motorised version of leapfrog from top of one grade to the next, the clouds of dust kicking up from the cars always seemed to drift over the railway. This had the effect of obscuring, or at least giving a dust haze as some poor photographer having selected a good position had vehicles roar past!
Between Inglewood and Dunolly, There is a lot of bush country which limited photo opportunities, particularly with the low sun almost behind the train and plenty of shadows.
Between Inglewood and Arnold, passing through some good wheat country.
However, the climb out of Dunolly, despite the poor backlighting drew a large throng like moths to a flame.
There was around 20 car loads of people who had made the trek down the access track ,and were jostling for position. “You can’t stand there, I’m going to pan my video that way” - a very tongue in cheek to the 20 or so people in front, “ you’re all in our shot, you need to move back here”.
Someone on the other side of the line - ‘ Can I just go down there and squat down behind that bush’? ‘No! The bush isn’t that big’!
There was a second group of splitters off to the left, huddled behind a clump of shrubbery, who seemed to be far enough out of ‘The Shot’ to satisfy the main bunch.
The headlight of K153 appeared in the distance, along with the growing smoke as the fireman fed the fire for the assault on the grade. I was standing back observing at this point, not having joined either group, but having a chat with an old friend.
The crowd grew silent so the videos would only capture the sound of the train (and the clicking of the hordes of shutters) as the train ascended the grade.
From the splitters off to the left, a small child made a dash to the front, only to be reeled in by dad, the young fellow saying ‘but I wanted to see better’!
After a bit of a giggle, I took a shot of the splitters with the train in the background, and headed to my car to find somewhere else to try my luck.
Climbing out of Dunolly, a highlight in the search for the perfect shot.
Eventually, Maryborough Station, accessed from Mark Twain Drive beckoned, although the chance of getting a decent photo was slim. It was a chance to catch up with some more friends, before heading up Daisy Hill to capture a photo of the now triple header of Phoenix Foundry Y112 leading Ks 153 and 190 for the leg to Ballarat.
Arriving at the crossing near the top of the grade, I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen for over 20 years, so we had a brief catchup before being Shhh’ed by a couple of people videoing the train just starting the climb. We duly bit our tongues, while I admired the Safetrans S40 boom mechanism, and the shiny electronic bell on top of the mast we were all standing beside…
Shortly thereafter, lights and bells started operating, and a couple of people adjusted their position so not to get hit by the boom counterweight as the arm descended!
Y 112, built in Ballarat by the Phoenix Foundry in 1898 has joined the train for the run between Maryborough and Ballarat.
Back to the cars again, and off we all went, with people leaving the convoy at various points to find their own places, or to jostle for position with others who had been patiently waiting for the train for the half hour or so it was late.
South of Clunes in softening light.
The light was starting to get lower, and shadows longer, so numbers were starting to drop off as people gave up the chase, and headed home to have a rest, download their memory cards, and see if they had managed to get their own version of ‘The Shot’ they were happy with.
Topping Australasian bank, near Creswick, blue hour was starting to take hold.
I hope no-one takes this too seriously, and I’d like to give a massive shout out to the volunteers and professional railwaymen and women who keep our railway heritage alive. Without all the hours you all give freely, none of us would be able to ride on any preserved mainline equipment, or chase it in an attempt to get ‘The shot’.
