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Johnny's Pages
Old S.A.R. Shunter's Memories
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MOUNT GAMBIER
OLD MARSHALLING YARD
as at 12 May 2003.
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Mount Gambier Station Yard 1980's.
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View from cabin steps
2003
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View from cabin steps 1980's
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Standing
on steps of Signal cabin, as you can see it commands a good
view of the yard.
Could not now get shot out the other way
obviously. Can see where old Goods shed and offices once were.
Looks so strange with 2 rail tracks missing this side of
goods platform where it is green weeds.
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Mount Gambier 2003
Station
Signal cabin, all boarded up against vandals now, the signal
levers are still in cabin. The track you see this side of
platform is called the "Millicent Dead end", all
trains to and from Millicent used this line.
A bit further right where I'm standing is another dead end
track that spare passenger cars were stored there.
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Cabin levers in better days
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Here
the steps leading up to cabin, to think I use to bound up
those steps 3 at a time, I'm lucky to step one at a time now
at 63. The yellow lines on platforms seem to be universal.
We did not use this around 1992.
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2003
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1980's
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Looking
West, at cabin and on left of pictures near crossing was
railway housing maintenance sheds. Carpenter & Plumbers.
The little shed at end of platform was a foot warmer shed,
it had a big vat of heated water that when the overnight
passenger trains came in from Adelaide each passenger
compartment had a 3 feet long stainless steel container with
a special fluid they held heat for a long time in a canvas
bag. When overnight passenger train arrived at about 8am,
first job of station porter (in Winter) was the light fire
to heat water and to put these steel containers into the
heated vat all day and at 7pm of an evening get them out,
put them into canvas bad and put into each passenger
carriage compartments for passengers to keep their feet warm
during overnight trip to Adelaide. They worked well for many
years. About 1985 these was stopped and fireplace and vats
removed and the shed became the Train examiners shed. That
overnight mixed passenger/freight train had 2 passenger cars
and 2 sleeping cars at rear of train and could only travel
at 80kph, was slow trip by passenger standards. It would get
into Adelaide about 7:30am. 11˝hr trip. Normal passenger
railcar was 8 hours. Was handy as you could leave work at
5pm in Mt Gambier catch the overnight train (sit up or
sleeper) at 8:30pm get into Adelaide at 7:30am have
breakfast at Adelaide railway station cafeteria, do your
days business, even take in a movie, then back down to
Adelaide station. Train left at 8:30pm for Mount Gambier,
arrive here at 7:30am, just in time to grab a bite to eat
and go to work, only one day away. It was very popular till
they took off the sleeper cars off and patronage then fell
away quick. I know why, as A.N. was wanting to get rid of
passengers and LCL freight to have only all through freight, less
staff needed. The end then soon came. |
This
shot recently taken 13th July 2004.
NOTE: The Carpenter's and Plumber sheds are now since been
removed, all
bare now.
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Shot of weather cover and station. This end of station
was the toilet areas. Where yellow car is was the staff crib room, then the station offices. The part in front of car was originally in early days the
old signal cabin, till the big one was built and then that became the Station
Masters office, so he could command a good view of everything going on in the
station yard. The windows are now boarded up, account vandals.
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Same shot
but from end of goods platform
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Taken a little further over, showing other side
of Goods Platform.
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This just to show you a spring lever, these switches can be
run through without being set against a rail movement. They will flick over as
wheels go through. Only thing if you do not go right through
with a shunt movement could be derailment, so pays to always checked them to make
sure the spring lever have gone over completely just in case they were
half cocked and when push back, obviously a derailment with slit
points.
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2003
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1980's
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Here
we are on Good Shed Platform looking at where the Mt Gambier
Goods shed once stood
on that darkened bit of ground. There was some 30 fellows in and around
this shed loading and unloading goods in its heyday, very busy place it
was, till the mid 1980's when A.N. Railways turned customers away
to stop the LCL traffic (Less than Car Loads) to show profit
as small loading was more costly to service. Where the light coloured
bit is was the Goods shed offices, which had 6 office staff
once. The
small stone building at other end was the toilet block. Once
LCL traffic was gone, 37 staff were transferred, retired, or
took voluntary redundancy.
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2003
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1980's
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Here we look back from where the
freight shed boss of these offices would have sat at his desk,
(where clock on wall is) and there were some 6 desks all along here
once, then a counter for customers where I'm taking the
inside shot. Does give me strange ghostly feeling looking at it
now remembering it all in its heydays.
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Note: This picture was shot
later in July 2004
Here is shot of station
across from where Goods office once was.
You can see steps leading up to a little room where the staff
use to book on duty. Under the booking-on office is
more steps that lead down to a cellar under the
Station Master's office where the station equipment was kept.
Those 4 slots at front bottom are windows for that cellar, above that was SM's
office. The side door facing this side is where parcels were
loaded onto barrows to be send away. There use to be two barrows ready to load parcels onto. The door at the
far right front was for parcels, tickets and information.
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The
area here had a big crane and forklift and all the heavy
goods were loaded around here for stations all along the
line. This is a dead end ramp where if you had car on flat
top wagon you could drive it on or off, and was used a fair
bit. As a shunter I hated it as we had to pull huge long
strings out to put flat top wagon into dead end. In those
days there was never enough hours it was so busy. Hard
to believe now looking at it like this. So empty now,
a time gone by.
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we just went back in time for a moment here to see what it was like in the hey days. Obviously this picture was taken atop of Absolute signal just short of Bay road. Look to far right on other side of roadway among some trees where cars are parked is the Superintendent's offices, now all demolished and is now a car park for Kmart complex. |
Photo taken 1980
| Mount Gambier Station Yard looking west toward Wehl Street in 1980, Twin "T" class Victorian Locos ready for departure to Portland over the border in Victoria. This train is seen made up on "C" road out onto the main line, just short of the Bay road signal and road crossing. The engineman is checking the air and brakes on each wagon, as the Victoria crews do their own air brake tests, where as in S.A. in main depots the Train Examiners do air and brake testing. Only outside main depots does the S.A. engineman do air tests. To the left is the goods loading yard for timber etc and K&S slide-on, slide-off wagons. |
The far left in this picture,
(the red colour absolute signal) where above picture was taken of
the Victorian train.
Here looking out towards Bay Road and onto the Victorian border
1980
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Looking out of
station yard across Bay Road towards Victorian Border.
Start of Victorian train working. One thing about this does look
nice setting, a railway with no fences.
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Now looking back at into Station yard.
The crossing is Bay Road. This is where Victorian Train working
finished and started.
From here to the Victorian border the track was maintained by South Australia, but all train working
over that bit of line was according to Victorian train
working rules. Here we are looking west into the Mount
Gambier Station Yard as driver would see coming from Victoria.
The Victorian trains once the signal cabin was disconnected, and rodding and signals pulled out, all trains had to stop here and wait for a shunter
or qualified AN employee to come and pilot them into or
through the yard. The crossing gongs and lights were operated manually from other side of crossing.
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I moved a little closer to crossing and slightly zoomed.
Look right near telephone pole you can see a large white box. On the side of white box is a small box attached, this was where the crossing gongs and lights switch is located.
Look on left track just over crossing there is a derail, which is at present spiked so the derail cannot be put on the rail line.
Not necessary these days as only the old ghost trains use it
now, as Limestone Coast Railway only uses the main line past
station platform to go out to Glenburnie.
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Station looking towards Wehl Street crossing
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Railway
car park looking at steps to station office. You can
see its Autumn by the leaves lying
around. Where cream picket fence is now, that
is new addition as this area was for vans and road
trucks to unload and load parcels that came and went
on the Passenger trains. Up to 1985 was big parcel
traffic back then, but now well serviced by road.
The S.A.R use to have a Road motors in Adelaide and
they would deliver parcels in and around Adelaide
and was a great service, now gone. In this shot you
can see far left the Caltex Oil depot. All their
fuel came by rail right up to the track closed, they
now have their own petrol semi trailer.
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NOTE:
The first 2 windows in early days were where you
purchased tickets for train. When I came in June
1970, tickets were sold over the counter inside the
office. First 2 windows were the offices. The 3rd
window was once a waiting area, it was all later
converted to a staff crib (dinner) room in about
1985 as passenger traffic dropped off and 4th one
was Ladies waiting room and toilets. The
little windows on end are the men's toilets. The
station office is now used by a local FM radio group
now.
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Now for special RARE treat for
those who have read this far down the webpage
The
Mount Gambier Railway station January 1986 taken from Helen
Street.
This is an absolute rare shot looking
South.
Behind station in background is the old hospital (right) and nurses
quarters (left).
Up
to around January 1986, one could not ever see this whole
northern side of the railway station because of the old
quiet stately homes that hid this view. All these homes on
this complete block were ripped down and the site completely
cleared
and was replaced with not so good view of a Kmart
complex.
Mount Gambier a once lovely large pleasant country town
we came to in 1970, and in the 80's quickly embraced the
bigger city life and this is when this picture was taken
between destruction and rebuilding of complex.
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A shot for old time's
sake stepping back in time to December
1989
REMEMBERING, THERE WERE ONCE PASSENGER
TRAINS SERVICING REGIONAL AREAS
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Here the
2 powered Bluebird railcars having just arrived
from Adelaide on the Blue Lake run.
To think they were replaced by road passenger buses. YUK!
Grand old rail memories all now history. I wonder in time
will people say, "we miss road buses and reminisce"
I certainly
do not think so.
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