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If you even find some moderate amount of enjoyment would you consider giving us even a little bit of
Thanks to John, Paul Jones & Nhing for showing the love.
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We were now nearing the end of our freezing Western Ad’V’enture, chasing the then endangered V Sets around the Blue Mountains before the powers-that-be finally decided that these magnificent old beasts had apparently outlived their usefulness. Having just been to State Mine, our mate Chris Lithgow decided that what we really needed was to go even higher, colder and further into the wilderness, so off we went to the Arctic outpost otherwise known as Bell railway station.
Bell is quite an interesting little railway location, despite looking very much like somewhere the NSW Government forgot to put a town. The railway reached here in 1875, when the station was opened as Mount Wilson, providing access to the developing settlement of Mount Wilson some distance away. It was renamed Bell in 1889, after Archibald Bell Junior, whose route across the mountains eventually became known as Bells Line of Road.
At around 1,069 metres above sea level, Bell is one of those places where you quickly discover that the Blue Mountains aren't just called that because somebody thought it sounded attractive on a tourism brochure. It is seriously high, seriously cold and perfectly capable of making you question why anyone would voluntarily stand outside taking photographs of trains like a weirdo.
On this particular day, however, the prospect of some final V Set action was enough to keep us from simply curling up in the nearest heated building and waiting for spring.
Heck, even if we wanted to, the nearest heated building was likely to far away to walk without our frozen corpses being found two months later.
Have I said it wasn't warm this day yet?
And fortunately, Bell provided us with a little bonus entertainment. Along with a few more photographs of the increasingly endangered V Sets, we were treated to a Southern Shorthaul Railroad light engine movement, which was rather handy considering we'd already travelled all this way. Because obviously, when you're standing on a freezing mountain platform with your fingers, and other unmentionable extremities, turning blue, what you really need is another locomotive to photograph before you can be allowed back into civilisation.
Actually the moments warmth from those big throbbing beasts was much appreciated.
Eventually, however, common sense prevailed. We had taken enough photographs, frozen enough extremities and decided that we'd had quite enough of Bell's wonderful hospitality. So we gratefully climbed back aboard our air-conditioned V Set, now sadly departed from regular service, and settled back into the relative luxury of the train. At the time we were chasing them because they were endangered; looking back now, it seems rather fitting that we were making the most of them while we still could.
Bell may have been bloody freezing, but at least it gave us one more memorable chapter in the V Set farewell tour — and a bloody good excuse to complain about the weather.
Above and below
V20 approaches historic Bell station with a Sydney bound service.
Car DIM-8081 brings up the rear.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Even on freezing days the hard working railfan gets thirsty.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Above and below.
The legal access to Bell station.
Given the couple of hours there didn't reveal one other sign of humanity, I doubt an elaborate footbridge is warranted.
Photo: Brad Peadon
On saying (well typing) that I got curious if I was able to Google Bell station patronage numbers for the last couple of years and came up with this.
2025: 854 entries + 954 exits = 1,808 passenger movements for the year, or roughly 5 movements per day.
2024: 896 entries + 876 exits = 1,772 movements, again about 4.8 per day.
The available series shows 6,893 entries since 2016 — although this is an entries measure, not total movements.
Above and below
The west end of the station building.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Oh heck Dr Cooties, I've had enough.
Lets get on this, I need the heat from the hand drier in the rather deteriorated dunny to get the fingers rebooted before Mt Victoria.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Yep: Mount Victoria will appear as we wind up this endless dreary series.
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Semi-Retired Foamer!
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Bradly Coulter & Chris Lithgow.
NOTE: The video versions of this day out appear on the 'Semi-Retired Foamer' YouTube Channel .
Western Ad'V'enture - Part 3
Western Ad'V'enture - Part 4
Semi-Retired Foamer Media Updates
Archibald Bell Jr
Western Ad'V'enture - Part 4
Semi-Retired Foamer Media Updates
Archibald Bell Jr
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