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NARROW GAUGE
Peterborough Division
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These
taken Saturday 25th September 1965 when I was stationed at
Cockburn as a Station Clerk in the S.A.R.
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| Left
is of W22 on arrival at Burns in the cutting at the eastern
end of the yard. Right taken after the loco had turned on
the triangle and provides a reasonable view of the Burns
yard. Both have been published some years ago and are far
better quality here. |
| What appears to be a headboard is actually an empty "On" bogie ore
wagon (9t tare, 31t capacity). As you can see that it accommodated tape recording equipment and operators used en route from Peterborough. The microphone was hanging on the end of a pivoting telescopic boom. I have often wondered what happened to the tapes produced, they should be worth hearing. |
It is of interest that Lew Roberts' book "Rails to
Wealth" pages 272 & 273 notes that W22 was last in
service on 9/12/1960 whilst W25 was last in service on
18/7/1961 after having run 235,928 miles with the
interesting addendum "+ 415 since on specials". No
such addendum exists for W22.
Re
the W22 / W25 story above, that happened between 1961 and
1969 whereas W22 didn't arrive in Quorn from Menzies Creek
until sometime after 2000. Pichi Richi has only one ex
S.T.Co. loco and that is W22 which on examination was found
to be beyond economic repair, so its cosmetic differences
were transferred to ex W.A.G.R. W916 (streamlined skyline
cowling etc.) and that is the loco that now runs under
the guise of W22. W25 resides in the National Railway
Museum, Port Dock.
The "original" W22 went
from Broken Hill to Puffing Billy (Menzies Creek), then
after some years sitting there it was eventually purchased
by PRR & moved to Quorn. The Silverton W you see running
at Quorn now is ex WAGR W916 dressed up as W22, as W22 is in
very poor condition. The original W22 currently resides in a
shed at the back of the loco complex. |
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Beyer Garratt 409 at Nantabibbie
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| Taken in the 1950's
as the Garratt still has hook couplings.
Certainly some memories here.
I wonder how long those placards under station sign lasted out in the weather exposed
like that.
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(these 4
Garratt 409 photos by late George Bishop)
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The watering spot
at right is Nackara, at the Nantabibbie end of the yard.
They had another hose type water point at the Paratoo end of the Nackara yard. |
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Garratt
400 departing Gladstone towards Caltowie and
Peterborough in mid 1969.
In the foreground is the
new and as then unopened standard gauge track.
>> |
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<< Beyond the train on the far right of the photo can be seen
the loco depot water tower, arched roof of the loco
shed, the 200 ton (from memory) coal gantry (they
were never known as "coal stages" no matter
what current "experts" write) and the
lower quadrant "down" home signal.
In earlier years it was usual to turn the Garratts on
the 85 ft turntable at Gladstone on the
"down" because the narrow gauge turntable at
Port Pirie couldn't accommodate a Garratt but that had
not occurred here. I believe that a few Garratts were
stationed in Port Pirie in that late hour of the
narrow gauge and worked cross jobs which included loco
changes with the 830 class diesels from Peterborough -
hence it was pointless to turn them. I worked in
Gladstone Loco from 1961 to 1964, so there are many
pleasant memories for me here.
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400 on
arrival at Cockburn on the "down"
Broken Hill
Express 787 |
408 at
Peterborough Loco on the arrival road
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Next
three pictures were taken on Easter Sunday in 1965
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This
photo shows T 251, Garratt 407 and other stored T class locos. These were stored on the roads between the oil store and Yongala Road. Also evident are X type trucks which came in a variety of options. The one with the white diagonal stripe has no doors and was used for ore transport exclusively. Others had one door per side, others two. They were known colloquially to railwaymen as "large".
The reason proffered to me was that they were larger than their predecessors, the C type, and a C can be seen between the X's. C's still existed in the 60's but were only for departmental use
(ash transport etc.). Between T 251 and the X's seems to be a small steel sided 4 wheeler, can't remember their classification and they also were not in regular service. |
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401 was stabled outside the roundhouse on
what looks like the departure road run around.
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| 404
and its mate are on one of the storage sidings with
the steam grab used for removal of ashes from the
pond is stabled behind it. The pond may have been
filled in by then. Behind is the boiler house with
its tall chimney (locos had funnels according to my
loco instructor Bill Girdler, buildings had chimneys) |
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Photo
above was taken with a very cheap 35 mm camera that
I used when I had B & W film in the Pentax
camera. I think that the camera was free if you
bought 6 rolls of slide film, and that was well
before "Made in China" was heard of!
It was 1969, the W was in exchange for T 181 and had
come down from Broken Hill on the "Farewell to
Narrow Gauge" ARHS trip and I think was cut up
at Terowie.
The T is 257 and its tender is fitted with an auto
coupler which was not common. No T class loco front
ends were fitted with auto couplers, only about 4
tenders were, which of course could be swapped from
loco to loco. The reason was that all bogie ore
trucks and many others had been fitted with auto
couplers by 1969 and there was a 600 ton limit
behind a hook/auto adaptor coupler which robbed the
T's of their full potential if fitted with a hook
coupler.
Also evident in the photo is the coal gantry
and the Port Pirie lower quadrant home signal and
note that the ash pond that should have been in the
foreground, has been filled in.
Another point of clarification, the S.A.R. did have
coal stages and that is exactly what they were - elevated horizontal platforms on which coal was stored, then shoveled into loco tenders by some unfortunate soul.
These were situated at stations with minor loco facilities or were anachronisms of the
pre gantry days (Minnipa and Cummins still had them after the gantries were erected, but they were not
used) and were for emergency use only. The regular coaling locations had gantries of one sort or another, the concrete version held 200 tons I think and were at the major depots whereas
the smaller steel coal stages (e.g. Naracoorte, Bordertown, Mt. Gambier,
Cockburn) or timber gantries (e.g. Cummins,
Minnipa) sufficed for smaller depots. |
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Brill
railcar 102 and trailer 302 having just arrived at Gladstone on Psgr 448 which was the school train from Port Pirie. It ran because there is no high school at Crystal Brook, then went on to Gladstone to stow the trailer, refuel the railcar, turn, then return to Port Pirie. Girls in the railcar, boys in the trailer to try to control
shennanigans! The regular driver was Max Lambert, whom I
(cliff) still catch up with at railway reunions. Spring 1963.
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T 253 in the vicinity of Yangya (between Gladstone and Caltowie) on an "up" Peterborough in the Spring of 1963. The loco is a coal burner, so it was probably time to change the Port Pirie wharf shunt loco, that being usually the only coal burner in Port Pirie. Main line Tclass out of Port Pirie were either all oil, or oil and coal.
The crew are Engineman Doug Boucher and Fireman Brian Chapman of Port Pirie. I had raced them from Gladstone on my push bike! Brian was a top coal loco fireman and had no trouble here. |
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T 257 in
Peterborough Loco, sporting an automatic coupler on the
tender, which is why I (Cliff) took the photo.
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Oulnina (between Mannahill and
Yunta) 1950's, |
Mannahill
1950's |
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T 183 Stone Hut.
1963
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T 183 in Stone Hut (Wilmington line) one Saturday morning in late 1963. I
(Cliff) was the fireman on this "up" working from Wilmington and this train usually arrived in Gladstone before daybreak. I had intended catching the Bluebird railcar from Gladstone to Adelaide for a day in the big smoke however things got later and later. Eventually our train was put away at Stone Hut to allow the railcar to pass,
not the most efficient train controlling manoeuvre that I
experienced and all hope of catching the Bluebird was gone. However, it was a fine sunny morning so my driver
(Arno Ramp) and I decided that a couple of photos were in order. Why I didn't photograph the actual
railcar pass is lost in the mists of time. |
T 44 is working the final leg of the "Farewell to Narrow Gauge Tour" and is ascending the Gumbowie bank from Peterborough on 13/10/1969
(a Sunday from memory). The driver (the big
bloke looking out) is one of the Kennedy twins (either Bill or
Bob), neither of whom were slouches with the regulator, I have no idea who the fireman was.
I was the Station Master at Georgetown at the time, so was able to fit in some train photography in between work, cricket etc. in the Gladstone - Peterborough area. |
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T
198 on the "outward" road in Gladstone Loco, being
prepared for Wilmington line service.
Driver Reg Keatch appears to be cleaning out the ash pan
whilst fireman Leo "Sheriff" Landers is in the
cab, probably oiling the reversing screw. Leo was training for his engineman's examination,
which probably explains the role reversal seen here.
Taken in later 1963. There was an Rx behind T
198 waiting to enter traffic for a shift on the broad gauge
shunt.
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NARROW GAUGE
Port Lincoln Division
Port
Lincoln yard in Easter 1972 when I was relieving in
Train Control there. The corrugated iron goods
shed is centre picture with the two story stone
station building to the right. The
Superintendent's office and train control occupied the
top floor, along with the Chief Engineer's offices I
think. On the left can be seen an old red
furniture box, usually used for departmental
transfers. At that stage, four wheeled
cattle trucks (Cfn)
had their rooves removed and were used for
transporting sleepers, of which there are plenty
stockpiled. |
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Port
Lincoln again, from the road bridge
at the south end of the yard |
Lock station and yard looking north towards Minnipa. |
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From the left, the mouse proof bagged grain
stacking shed, new silos under construction with
the goods shed just visible at the base, older
silos behind, T 234 on Gds 166 (Fridays Minnipa - Port
Lincoln, we had just relieved the Minnipa crew), water
column, train order signal showing "station
closed" as it permanently did although the
station was actually attended at the time, overhead
water tank in foreground with the station building
behind. An assortment of trucks are on the
goods siding. The track running off to the
right is the triangle. |
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| Lock
station. Somehow I managed to cut off
the air vent in the centre of the roof. The
end of a Yx wagon on the triangle can be seen at the
right of the station building which was situated
within the triangle. Warren Solly was the
Station Master at that time, Roger Evans was his
Junior Porter. |
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Lock station, complete with chimney and air vent
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Brill railcar 103 and trailer 303 working Psgr Motor. 76
from Thevenard to Port Lincoln at Lock |
T 234 on Gds 166 at Lock
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The
75 model railcar 103 and trailer 303 having worked
the 10.10 am service from Port Lincoln and having
just arrived at Minnipa on Friday 30th August 1968.
That was the last day of passenger & railcar
operations on the Port Lincoln Division and this
photo is of the last railcar to arrive at Minnipa.
No, I wasn't there, I was the Station Master at
Georgetown at the time however I have a thoughtful
sister who is married to the Relieving Station
Master at Minnipa then and she gave me the slide. |
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T214 has just departed Cummins and is
heading for Pillana (pronounced Pill-na) and
Port Lincoln as a light engine on a Wednesday (always
my day off unless extras were working) in mid
1964.
I can't remember the reason for the movement but it
was authorized by Train Notice and hence I was in
position for it's passing. It originated
from Minnipa or Thevenard, once again memory is non
existent after 45 years.
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T 203 at
Warramboo in 1964.
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<<<
We had travelled in the 75 model Minnipa railcar
unofficially from Cummins to Lock, then (supposedly
ex barracks) officially from Lock to
Warramboo where we relieved the Minnipa crew of a
late running 166 gds. The loco is running
tender first because of a cracked buffer beam on the
tender, which gave us a cold windy and coal dusty
trip for the 105 km to Cummins (you can't throw
water over the coal on a backward moving loco
unless you want a shower yourself).
The driver is Tom Street (one of the several
Street brothers, all of whom were drivers),
about to commence the shunt is the Guard Davey
Priest and the fireman was yours truely behind the
camera. Fortunately all West Coast T class
tenders were fitted with a headlight because
it was well after dark when we arrived in Cummins. |
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BROAD
GAUGE
| Here
are a couple from the past. 13th September 1969 was a wet
Saturday and I had knocked off as S.M. Georgetown at lunch
time then driven down to Andrews to wait for yet another
Dean Harvey special. I used a slow shutter speed for these
two pacing shots but nontheless, the Rx wasn't wasting any
time en route to Spalding. |
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621 in the broad gauge loco depot at Port Pirie in 1965.
620's were rather rare on Port Pirie passenger working in that era, 620 and 627 being the only two that I encountered. If steam was used it was usually a 520 class. The crews said that the 620's had to be worked hard to maintain the schedule whereas the 520's did it at a canter, which makes sense.
The
621 (2 pics above) and 521 (2 pics below) were taken
when I was an engine
cleaner/fireman there in 1965.
No, I didn't fire the big steam locos there, only cleaned them.
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521 at Port
Pirie Broad Gauge Loco. |
521 at Port
Pirie Broad Gauge Loco. |
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| 523 in Ellen Street
Port Pirie in 1964 at the head of
Passenger. 434, (9.05 am Mon. to Fri.) to Adelaide,
after having connected with the Brill railcar from Peterborough which had also connected with the Bluebird from Gladstone to Adelaide.
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521
being prepared in Port Pirie broad gauge loco in
1965. The chargeman is checking the
injector overflow pipe
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| 526 in Ellen Street, Port Pirie in 1963. The lights on the bollards were removed not long afterward, just leaving the base of the bollard as shown in
the photo below of 902 |
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621
in the broad gauge loco depot at Port Pirie in
1965,
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520 and
NG Brill railcar Ellen Street
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Bluebird
281 Ellen Street
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The narrow gauge morning railcar from Peterborough connected with the broad gauge passenger train to Adelaide in Ellen Street and the train change was performed in the middle of the street.
I received a tongue in cheek query "Re that 521 pic with the passenger train, did it stop at every second street?
As in Hail train here? It amazes me to see shots of full size trains in the main street of sizeable towns."
"Hail train here" is a good concept but no, its ONLY stop was outside the Ellen Street station which fronted the street just like the shops, although the
Narrow Gauge railcar also stopped adjacent to Mary Elie Street morning and afternoon to allow the high school kids from Crystal Brook to alight or join. The Roman Catholic kids got on and off at Ellen Street station as it was closer to the convent there.
It was dual gauge miniature electric staff working for the 1 mile 22 chain section between Ellen Street and Port Pirie Junction although the 3 ft 6 in
rollingstock could also access Ellen Street as a shunt movement from the Pirie South yard. Wharf access was via a different track from the yard and was a shunt movement for both broad and narrow gauge. |
902
in Ellen Street Port Pirie at the head of the
"up" morning passenger to Adelaide in
1964.
Six carriages (three Centenary
and three steel) and "long Tom"
passenger GB make up the train, which was
unusually long for that era.
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747 Ellen
Street 1963
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526 and T253 Terowie. |
526 and 3813 Port Pirie. 1970 |
| J555
departing Mount Gambier on No.90 goods to
Heywood in 1968. I was a parcels clerk at
Naracoorte at the time and by the time that I
returned to Mount Gambier in 1973, the T class
diesels were well and truly entrenched.
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| GM 27 and mate stabled in the Commonwealth Railways loco depot at Port Pirie in 1963.
In the background one of the two broad gauge shunters, an 830 class with a four wheeled cool car waits for the signal to shunt over the Three Chain Road level crossing and head out to the "sub" (
Port Pirie Subsidiary Sidings in official
parlance).. The C.R. policy in those days was that two GM's was all the power needed on any train, hence no m.u. fittings on the nose end.
Pre English Electric 500 class diesel days and pre the Three Chain Road overpass. |
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| This
one is of a 900 class on the morning passenger from
the Mount to Adelaide during school holidays in 1969. Memory tells me that the train no. is 588 which has just
departed Naracoorte en route to Hynam.
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588
again on a different day with a 930 at the lead
approaching Naracoorte from Struan. It was quite
usual to use head end power during school holidays
because the Bluebird were used elsewhere to build
up consists (Moonta, Gladstone etc.) |
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702 on
an Adelaide - Melbourne boys scout special at Wolseley
on Monday 7th January 1974.
Train no. 555.
I think.
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| 909 at Goodwood on an "up" Victor Harbor morning train in 1972. Loco weight;- 126 tons, train weight:- about 70 tons. Can't have been a railcar available the day before.
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S.A.R.
STATION
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Merildin. (old
Mintaro) June 2008
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Merildin station building still stands, but is derelict. Only one room has a floor in it. The goods shed stonework is decaying badly but the flooring is still intact although no longer level. The 5 ton capacity goods crane and goods platform are still intact. The main line rail is still in situ but both goods sidings have been removed. For those not ex S.A.R.,
Merildin was a staff drawer lock station in the Manoora - Farrell Flat electric staff section i.e. you could shunt there, but could not cross or pass trains there
(see page 438 of the 1973 S.A.R. General Appendix if you have
one). I could find no evidence of any town ever existing there, the nearest town is probably
Mintaro. In
"Wouldn't Have Missed it for Quids", there is a reproduction of a train order that I issued for a disabled Bluebird railcar at Merildin on 29/1/1979.
As Merildin is accessible only by dirt roads and Farrell Flat is not on an arterial
road. Being off the beaten track it is the sort of location that people don't get to
see much these days. There was of course a time when
Merildin was an unattended crossing station. Farrell Flat and Manoora would issue orders for crosses there. The Produce (No. 515) would often cross something heading south at
Merildin. The station itself had had its SM withdrawn in the late
1920's early 30's and was originally called Mintaro. People staying as house guests at near-by Martindale Hall would often come up by train - with their horses - and unload at
Merildin. It's one of those delightful little secrets of SA.
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see more pictures of Merilden station
Click HERE
to view them in Wayne's Pictures
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PETERBOROUGH
DIVISION NARROW GAUGE
AUTOMATIC COUPLERS
South Australia
by Cliff Olds
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