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

The Picnic Train heads down the Main South part II

Friday  - Cootamundra Shuttles

Friday was a bit of a slow start, with a few of us booked on the first trip of the day, Junee to Cootamundra and return, leaving at 12:25.

Brunch in the railway refreshment rooms was popular and busy, but well worth it, and, as an added bonus, passing freights could be seen just out the door!

The Wollongong to Melbourne steel train rolls into Junee for a crew change.

Most of the group were heading back to Sydney and Melbourne on the daytime XPTs, which both pass through Junee at 1:24 and 1:51 respectively.

With the steely out of the way, the Picnic Train is next to depart.

While the entire section from Junee to Cootamundra is scenic farming country, the Bethungra Spiral is the highlight of the trip.

Trains heading north climb and loop around a mountain to gain altitude on a steady gradient, far easier than the original single line which descends down a steeper gradient for southbound trains.

Once around the spiral, the up and down lines parallel again for a couple of km, until just near Frampton the up line swings away in search of an easier gradient.

Our trip went smoothly, with the 59 performing well on the run north.

Cootamundra is a major railway junction, with the railway through Cootamundra West leading to Stockinbingal, Parkes and Broken Hill.

This line gives an easier alternative to the Main West line that crosses the Blue Mountains, so sees a lot of traffic, a map of this part of the network can be found here.

Cootamundra West Junction allows for trains coming from Stockinbingal to either turn north toward Sydney, or south into Cootamundra, this triangle junction is also an easy way of turning the entire train for the return trip to Junee - essentially a three point turn.

After having traversed the triangle, the train pulls into Cootamundra platform.

The trip back was also good, with the long climb out of Cootamundra had the loco working hard, it sounded great with the windows wide open to get a bit of air.

It was starting to get fairly hot, so there was thoughts of a swim at the motel before the second train departed, but the idea of a visit to the roundhouse won out in the end.

Our train had arrived back more or less on time at 3:10, with the second, and last trip out at 4:30, so there wasn't a lot of time to do a lot more than have a quick break, rehydrate, and head to the depot for a look before the train departed.

The roundhouse is a magnificent railway structure, with a turntable capable of handling the largest NSWGR locomotives. It’s surrounded by a building covering all but two of the tracks radiating off the turntable, and is currently used as part museum, part restoration centre, and is well worth a visit.

A section of the massive Junee roundhouse as the crew prepares 5917 for its second trip to Cootamundra.

As departure time drew closer, we headed out of town to find a spot, and had left it a bit late, as all the good locations were taken.

We finally settled at a reasonable place as the train was fast approaching, but I'm not going to share the mediocre results!

Bethungra Spiral was the next spot, after some parallel listening to the train galloping along.

The train was certainly making good time, so we didn't muck around too much, and headed to a spot about halfway around the curve where the train would be working hard, just past the two tunnels.

Roaring out of the big cutting on the Bethungra Spiral.

Once it roared past us, we were back in the Land Cruiser, and hoping to get to the level crossing before the train.

Back on the main road however, it was apparent from the smoke rising from the paddock, the train had started a couple of fires.

Further around the spiral, there was more fires taking hold in the scrub between the railway and the road.

There were a few cars stopped, and as we had little water or anything else to offer to put the fire out, as well as only wearing shorts and sandals kept going to get out of the way.

It beat us to the level crossing, so we continued to the main road underpass at Cootamundry Creek, not far out of Cootamundra.

I made my way up the side of the road cutting for a bit of a different angle, and waited, and waited, while there was some discussion about the train being stopped so as to not start more fires.

That certainly made sense to the Victorians on hand, where the slightest issue sees trains stopped until everything is deemed safe for the continuation of the journey.

Seeing as there was nothing happening, I left my vantage point, and headed back to the car for something to drink - which of course was the cue for the train to appear.

We headed into town, watched it turn at Coota West, and seemingly prepare to depart, at which point we headed back out to the Cootamundry Creek for another try.

Heading back into Cootamundra, past the junction to Cootamundra West. A short time earlier, the train gone funnel first off to the left, pushed back past the silver shed, then rejoined the main line, a classic three point turn.

Departure time came and went, and we eventually received word it was going to be a late departure, potentially without the steam loco, so with the sun getting low, we headed back to Junee for dinner.

The road was partially closed in one section, with fire trucks on the railway line wetting down smouldering shrubbery, so we were doubtful if the train would even return that night.

Second night in a row, we went to the Ex Services Memorial Club, nice food, open that bit later which suited our seemingly nocturnal activities, and good company, as the other Victorian enthusiasts also joined us for dinner.

There's a great level of camaraderie within the railfan community, you seem to migrate towards people with similar interests within the broader cohort - even if it's only every 12 - 18 months or more that you bump into each other.

Tonight was one of those nights, and the conversation, and company was certainly enjoyable.

Alan Williams was one of this group, His YouTube channel Round the world in a steamy haze is well worth a look. I’d followed Alan to a few locations the day before, and we’d had a chance to catch up trackside for a chat while waiting for trains, always good company!

Eventually after dinner we received an update the train was on its way, so a couple of us wandered back up to the station - I had time to pick up my tripod to get some longer exposure shots. The train arrived with an unexpected addition on the front, diesel 42103 'Chumster' had been roped in to pilot the train back, assumedly to minimise any risk of starting fires.

A late arrival into Junee under the moonlight with 42103 leading the way.

We took a few photos and chatted to other enthusiasts as the train was remarshalled in between the various freights that were passing through and changing crews.

Another long day for the crew, and they had an early start Saturday morning to run shuttles out of Wagga Wagga.

With the clock showing 20 past 10, the last of the passengers leave the train.

Given the circumstances, we weren't actually sure if it would still be steam hauled, but set alarms accordingly to chase the train from Junee to Wagga, a distance of around 33km.

The plan was chase the transfer trip, head out to Kapooka to the top of a steep climb and photograph the first shuttle on its way to Uranquinty,  ride the second, photograph the third, then head home to Melbourne.

Saturday - Uranquinty here we come

Happily, I awoke to the sounds of the steam loco shuffling around the yard, so a quick shower, pack the car, and we were ready to go.

Joining me for the day was another good friend who had arrived on the XPT Friday afternoon, who was going to be travelling on another vintage train in a few days time, the Southern Explorer. You can check out Jules's videos here.

A bit of a tailgate conference about possible photo locations with our dinner companions the night before, and off we went (after quickly checking out).

I was set on getting a photo from the same location as the cover photo from the website, the curve just over the top of the sharp climb out of Junee.

From there, a shot of the massive Murrumbidgee flood plain bridge was on the list, but in-between, if anything could be taken, it was fair game!

Things went smoothly, with the first location in the bag, it was back off to catch the train.

On the single track now, the train swings past the distant signal for trains approaching Junee from the south.

We caught it again before Harefield, and were able to get some more parallel running footage, before getting in front to take another shot, just south of Shepherds with the silos in the background.

Twisting through the curves south of Shepherds.

It's not that far into the built up area of Bomen and North Wagga, so we cut straight to the flood plain bridge, and as there was quite an assembled crowd, elected to get a side on shot, rather than anything 3/4.

The 3000m long Murrumbidgee river bridge stretches out across the wide floodplain on the north side of the river, it’s almost incomprehensible that the water can spread out so far, and so deep!

Another quick discussion with Alan, and we set out for Kapooka, south of Wagga where the line climbs almost all the way from Wagga station, and flattens out slightly, but is still a considerable haul.

Last time I was here for 3801, we set up for breakfast, cooking bacon and eggs with the sound of machine gun fire from the nearby army base providing an interesting backdrop!

No time, or supplies for such luxuries this time however, as we had a train to catch.

Eventually the 59 could be working hard up the grade with a nice steady beat, which grew louder as it swung into view under the overpass.

5917 is working hard on the climb through Kapooka, with the first Wagga - Uranquinty passenger shuttle for the day

Once it had passed, we relocated a short distance back towards the road bridge, as there was an empty grain train due heading north.

Operated by Southern Shorthaul Railroad, the train had been operating for months from a variety of southern NSW locations, down to Appleton Dock in Melbourne for export.

The locos in regular use on it were a collection of SSR's, and privately owned depending on what was available at the time, but always interesting!

CLF 1, 4904, CLP 12 and CLF 4 drop through Kapooka with train No. 7MC5.

It didn't disappoint this time, with three CL's and a 49 class providing the horsepower. The CLs were the last of this classic General Motors EMD shape produced in the world, being constructed between 1970 and 1972.

Little did we know at the time, but this train, with a slightly different consist of locomotives would hit a truck full of ballast at a level crossing a few days later after the truck driver failed to stop, resulting in the crew being taken to hospital, and all locos  ending up on their sides in the dirt.

Back into Wagga, we secured a park not far from the station, and joined the crowd on the platform waiting for the train to arrive, which it did soon after.

We were booked in car seven of the eight car train, which was set up with a servery at one end, and armchairs and couches through the open saloon.

Onboard, it was fairly obvious there were some power issues, as there was no lighting or aircon, with the volunteer crews working frantically to run temporary power to portable air-conditioning units.

When it was fired up, the moving air certainly made things pleasant enough, but it might have been a bit warmer in the afternoon.

We had a good run up to Kapooka and on to Uranquinty, with the 59 in charge, while the two diesels did the work on the return leg, a nice way to spend an hour on a Saturday morning.

Back at Wagga, we headed out of town a little to a new housing development on the side of a hill overlooking the railway we'd seen from the train. It took a little while to get to where we wanted, which meant we didn't wait long for the train.

Last shot for the trip,

Unfortunately, the sun was a bit further over than I anticipated, so it wasn't as good as expected, but still nice to see the train one last time before heading back south.

I dropped Jules back at Wagga station so he could catch the northbound XPT, then settled in for the drive back to Melbourne.

A big shout out to the Picnic Train volunteers and crews who had a fairly difficult time of it, but kept fronting up with smiles on their faces, and made a lot of people happy over the trip.

Thanks again for following on A Railway Life.