KYWONG HERITAGE RAILWAY

CELEBRATIONS

  The Semi-Retired Foamer was honoured to be invited, along with other leading preservationalists, to the recent 'Kywong Heritage Railway' celebrations in the township of, not surprisingly, Kywong.

  My last visit here was way back in 1989 during a chase of the Flying Scotsman from Violet Town to Bethungra (twas to be Parkes, however a sick Corona had other ideas).

  Way back then the grass was a lot lower, trees a lot smaller and the station

 sign much more erect.

  But alas time has wearied Kywong, with some rails ripped out and the platform edging in an advanced state of decay, and like most of mankind, the very end will come when her sign will not be able to stand upwardly erect no longer.

  The days activities including the ceremonial Kywong chair unveiling, some archaeological displays and the pouring of the sacred Gundagai sand on the site.  The sand ceremony marked the start of the 'Kywong Heritage Railway'project.

  We thank the following for making us welcome:

Trevor from Roto, Brian Guild, Roger and Jean Holt, Ernie Tomlinson and the 

Uranquinty Oompah Band.

  

 

DUDLEY (BURWOOD) COLLIERY BRANCH

27-4-2013

 

G'day foamers, last weekend a free afternoon following a late friends birthday allowed me the opportunity to go take a look at a former coal line in Newcaslte thats long been on my to do list.

This branch junctioned off the Belmont line just north of Whitebridge at, not surprisingly, Dudley Junction, then leading a curvey course through local suburbs to the colliery.
Sadly, time was short and only so much could initially be seen, however a follow up visit, including walk, is already being organised

 

 

The above map from Google Earth was what we initially used for our visit. Unfortunately we are not quite sure of where the line ran in the Whitebridge area.

 

Presumably a bridge or short tunnel exists under all this growth on Burwood Road.

 

 

 

Then And Now

Its hard to imagine the activity that once went on in what is now a football field.
The two photos above compare shots, the earlier one being courtesy of the State Library of NSW.

EDWARDS CROSSING

A Forgotten Halt on the Tumbarumba Line.

Buggar all is known about this little Riverina halt, not far east of Tarcutta on the long closed Tumbarumba line. It may have opened with the line in 1917 and quite possibly was available for passengers until flood damage caused service suspension beyond Ladysmith in 1975.

Despite its no longer being needed, Edwards Crossing survived nearly four decades as an interesting relic of better times on our railways. A shot of her back in 1985 can be found HERE.

  

Sadly, the start of 2013 has seen New South Wales plagues with bush fires ranging from small, to the extremely large. One of these was in the Tarcutta area, it was huge and it received much media coverage around the country.

Our final stop after a weekends Riverina railfanning saw us taken to see this little halt hidden well away from where others would normally go.
However, as we got closer we found ourselves entering the fire zone and the chances of finding an intact halt were not looking good, far bigger structures having been destroyed all over the place.
What we found was a dismal reminder of what fire can do and how our rail heritage can be wiped out in the blink of an eye.

COMING SOON

More views from the Semi-Retired Foamers Riverina jaunt.

~~ THE LAST SANDOWN - BOTANY PPL SHUTTLE ~~

14-05-2010

Sandown line has long been a favourite of mine and has been the location of many lasts for me.
Last CPHs run, last spark services terminating at SDandown and Hardies (yep they stop there once to), as well as what will likely be the last steam hauled tour.

Yesterday it was the last PPL shuttle service from here to Port Botany, the start of a full withdrawal of services from the container terminal at the end of the branch.
With fuel services having ceased earlier this year and all the tanks now stored in the Shell terminal, the future of the line now seems bleak.

In coming weeks I plan to find some of my old shots from the line, however, in the meantime, lets look at some views of yesterdays last run.

48136 and 4887 between shunts.

The Shell terminal and stored fuel tankers.

Ali Akbar (Colonel David Phillips) and (Bob Marley) Dennis Hume prepare for departure from Sandown for the last time.

Gunzel!!!!!!

Rest in peace!

Final shunt!

STOP CLOSING RAILWAY LINES!

Site of former Sandown station.

A few decades ago I stood in the exact same spot to photograph the

last Hardies terminator.

Another foamer....

Not sure if they are laying debts or trying to attract Colonel!

A chorus of ALCo noise and exploding detonators signals the final departure from the Sandown branch at Camelia.

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