44 Class Week-a-thon!

*** MEMORY LANE ***

If there is one thing I love about these week-a-thons it is the need to travel down memory lane looking through all the oldest stuff in the collection.
Sadly 'Memory Lane' is deteriorating nowdays and many a pothole is forming, it was never a part of the governments Bicentenial road funding scheme.
With ones head all filled with things female I do ask to be excused for not including massive amounts of information. Those who wish to add stuff can feel free to do so, even via email. I would be happy to add it.

The next couple of entries will cover some of my earliest shots, we will then go on to cover the survivors, look at a selection of workings over the years and their sister types. If you have any interesting 44 class facts or stories you would like to include please email them to me at alcogoodwin @ yahoo. com .au (remove spaces)I remember this shot vividly. It was to be the first day I was introduced to the pervert side of the hobby. A railfan, who called himself BB (Bloody Bob) who went on a 2 month stalking mission to obtain some young railfan bott bott.

Unlike poor old 4419, seen here at Delec during the 80s, my back virginity remained intact.
Sadly, unlike old BB the railfan pervert, this was the last time I would see 4419.
The hobby can be a treacherous place for newcomers, especially those of the young male variety. Always stay aware.

Twas my first drive to Victoria in search of trains, previous trips being all train based.
We were due to stay in Albury overnight and despite running late decided to check out Culcairn station and the junctions for Holbrook and Corowa (such as they were.
These were the days of little railfan contact and certainly nothing called the internet. When travelling you had to rely on things called railway staff and/or bloody good luck.
At Culcairn it was the later. 10 minutes later and we would have been walking part of the Holbrook line.
As it was a horn was heard in the distance, resulting in the usual foamer scurrying to find a spot to try to capture a piccie or two. Time was short at the speed it was moving, so nothing spectacular was going to be achievable.
Slowly that bright light depleted in its intensity and revealed 4426 leading 4438 on a freighter heading north. Twas the last day of 1987 and was a more than fitting way to see it out.

Delec - twas a second home. The place was always railfan friendly and no weekend would pass without a good look around and a snapshot of anything that was of interest.
44 class were always of interest and this night shot of 4423 awaiting attention was way to hard to pass up.

This is certainly an oldie.
Back on the 19th of August 1986 I was still using a Kodak Instamatic 126 camera. While the results were always less than outstanding, its now a case of content being more important than overall quality.
I remember being more than a little bit wrapped to get a shot of 4421 before she was scrapped. It was the first shot I ever got and, as it turned out, the last.
Visits into Chullora were a VERY rare treat and probably the one thing I looked forward to more than anything else in the hobby. You just never knew what treats laid within this busy place.
Today so much of the area is a ghost town, such a sad outcome for a once so vitally busy location.