HUNTER VALLEY 52ND BIRTHDAY

 

Howdee readers,

    Last weekend I was treated to a Hunter railfan day for my 52nd birthday, organised by Mr Bradly Coulter of the 'Hunter Valley' Coulters.

As usual with these one day trips, we (with Nips Cassidy) set off quite early, with High Street (Maitland) being our intended first destination.

  After bollocking around at the F3 Caltex, soon to be AMPOL I guess, we partook in the reasonably new Hunter Expressway to Kurri, then the turnoff towards Maitland.

 That's where the initial plans went out the window, with the taking of Nips down to see the former East Greta railway station.

  Of most interest, at least to me, was the extensive work done to the road bridge just north of the former station. The timber fencing had been replaced with metal, while the decking appeared to have been strengthened. 

  The track, and platforms, were the same as always. However, as the line is currently mothballed, the track had a good coating of rust.

  Anyway, after a brief look at the mining ruins, it was back off towards High Street, with a quick (or so we thought) diversion via East Greta Junction in search of some industrial shunters.

 We actually were quite successful at the junction, with Gemco Rail's X200 (ex X107, ex X207) sitting in the perfect spot for shots, and South Maitland Railway's newest loco, #32, situated slightly less so.

  The Gemco people were incredibly good and, as luck would have it (for a change), they were just about to fire up the shunter and move some steel wagons.

NOTE: The East Greta Junction visit will be covered in a separate blog post. Video Here.

So, with our South Maitland desires suitably taken care of, we set forth towards High Street station where the others were patiently awaiting our momentous arrival.

 1029 – Up coal – 9011/9013/9018

1042 – Up coal – 9319/9210/9315

1044 – Dn Aurizon coal – 6001/6026

1053 – Up Pacific National coal – 9007/9006/9003

1110 – Dn Pacific National coal – 9302/9318/9209

1112 – Up One Rail coal – XRN014/XRN018/XRN030

1127 – Dn Pacific National coal – TT08/TT121/TT117

1158 – Aurizon Up coal – 5002+5004 WDP

1202 – Dn Pacific National coal – 9314/9205/9305

1211 – Dn Pass – NP23 5 car 

1217 – Up SCT – SCT012/SCT015 6BM9

1223 – Up Aurizon coal – 5003/5025+5011

1237 – Up Pacific National coal – TT132/TT01/TT06

1240 – Dn Pacific National coal – 9002/9023/9017

1247 – Dn Pacific National coal – TT02/TT04/TT130

1258 – Up Pass – NT36 XP2014/XP2000 6car

1259 – Dn Aurizon coal – 5035/5033+5041

1309 – Dn Pacific National coal – 9313/9308/9213

1316 – Up 6BM4 – NR21/NR16/NR102

1319 – Dn 6MB4 – NR85/NR20 6MB4

1328 – Up coal – 5005+5042

1340 – Dn Pacific National Coal – 3x90

1358 – Dn coal – 9027/9034/TT03

A logo from yesteryear.

1402 – Up Pass – NP24 6car

1417 – Up coal – XRN008/XRN015/XRN020

1432 – Up coal – XRN005/GWU009/XRN017

1436 – Dn coal – XRN019/XRN029/XRN022

1443 – Up coal – TT07/TT05+TT127

1509 – Dn coal – 9011/9013/9018

1518 – Up coal – 5028+5037

1531 – UP – XRN007/GWU006/XRN027

1540 – Dn coal – 9015/9010

1545 – Up coal – NR108/9321/9324 7SB3

1554 – Dn coal – 5003/5025+5011

1556 – Up 8436 Grain – 8245/8251 

1602 – Up coal – 9012/9004/9009

This old timber mill is a fascinating feature of the Pitnacree area. It did make use of short sections of rail for it's operations, one surviving bit being seen here.
While having been disused for many years, the site appeared to be used by the 'Roads and Maritime Services'.

The final part of the days celebrations was dinner and train watching at Cootieville, an impressively large model railway in suburban Newcastle.
A couple of shots for your entertainment pleasure.

That is all I'm afraid.

If you found it even moderately appealing, here is a list of other recent posts.

80s Spark Sightings

Port Kembla Copper

NSW Steam Part 1

Victorian Steam

Melbourne Trams 1987 - Part 1

All the video of this day will soon be on my YouTube channel.