Johnny's Pages
Old S.A.R. Shunter's Memories
      



Last edited:  12-Dec-08





RAILWAY  BITS  &  PIECES


WHAT'S  ON  THIS  PAGE


  BAYER  GARRATT 409 PICS  and  SOUND

  ADELAIDE  TRAM

  900  CLASS  DIESEL. (Lady Norrie)  Video 1983

  520  CLASS  STEAM  LOCOMOTIVE  Video 1984

  520  OF  MOVING  DRAWINGS WITH  520 SOUND

  "T" CLASS  NARROW  GAUGE  SOUND

  YOUTUBE  VIDEO  OF  INTEREST

  S.A.R  and  C.R. TRAIN  ORDERS

  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF   S.A.RAILWAYS

  SONG:  RUSTY  RAILS.

  AN  INTERESTING  RAIL  FACT.




Oh what a beautiful sight.
Bayer Garratt 409
21st March 2007

I made rare visit to Adelaide (big smoke) and visited the National Rail Museum at Port Adelaide to see an old friend I have not seen for 37 years from the 1960's Peterborough Narrow Gauge era. I count myself very fortunate when I got there, the Bayer Garratt 409 was outside of the shed in the open in all her near full glory. Of course her full glory would  naturally be under full head of steam. I was very happy to see her again.

Click on small picture to see a larger picture
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Beautiful sight at any angle



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Rear view

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Front view


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View of cab at floor level.

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Engineman's view looking forward.


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Ah yes this was the absolute best of the day.
Sitting in hot seat again. Was a great feeling.

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Stood on here a lot of times during shunting operations with these engines at Jamestown


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Nothing comes close to the ROAR of these Bayer Garratts.
If you have not heard the sound of a Bayer Garratt in action elsewhere here on my website,
 then click here and turn your sound up loud for proper sound realism:-
MAGIC  MUSIC

Click to hear Bayer Garratt sound
OR
 
Sound file 1.2megs

Click HERE for larger picture
Diagram of the Bayer Garratt 409


To all volunteers of NRM it is a magnificent setup. 
I was very impressed.



Also while in the big smoke next day I tried out the new trams. Oh! they okay, but still prefer the older ones as I have many fond memories of the Kensington Gardens - Glenelg trams in the 1950's, till Adelaide did a stupid thing and pulled their tram lines up.

I was pleasantly surprised that the new trams had a conductor selling tickets. Hooray, someone is using their head at long last, as one reason I not like to use suburban trains or buses is hard for country bumkin(s) to feel comfortable with self serve ticketing system. Okay for the local peasants, not so good for visitors. Plus makes one feel a little more comfy with a connie on board.

Where we got on was near the tram depot, and spotted two of the old trams. That was a nice plus for me.

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At Victoria Square departing to Glenelg

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Was good to see these even at a distance.







   South Australian Railways 900 class diesel  locomotive


"Lady Norrie"


Sorry no larger picture Click HERE for larger picture
Click drawing for bigger view

900 class "Lady Norrie"

Built by the South Australian Railways 10th September 1951
Diesel locomotive with A1A-A1A wheel arrangement
Entered service as broad gauge 900 class diesel locomotive No.900. 
Withdrawn from service July 1985. 
Now resides at the National Rail Museum. Port Adelaide.

  You can now view a WMV file of the 900 class loco, a memory here bought back to life momentarily.   
  Turn your sound up and enjoy best sounding diesel to grace your ears   

In the Manoora video the 900 has to stop for a red signal and then starts off again.
Towards end of video, note the different types of rollingstock carried in those early 1980's.
Note:  Internet Explorer only
This viewer will NOT work with Firefox.

"Lady Norrie" at Manoora S.A. crossing Bluebird. June 1983.  (Duration:  4 minutes)
Oh, by the way, Manoora does not look like this today. Is a terrible SHAME.

  WARNING:  this WMV file is 26 megs in size.   

If not able to view the 900 using the above viewer: 
Right CLICK  HERE  TO  VIEW  then: (Save Target As...to download
the 26meg WMV file to your hard drive.... Free to enjoy.


This video footage was taken with the very first VHS National Panasonic video camera, bought June 1980.
The camera itself was not overly heavy, but the video recorder part WAS.  
Everything was manually operated on the camera lens, a trial in itself.
When one looks at the video cams of today, this was like old brownie box, 
but it did a great job for its day, hence this rare footage of the 900 survives.


To download the 900 class sound file only
Right
Click to hear sound of 900 class diesel then: Save Target As... 
 Sound file is 1.9megs








   South Australian Railways 520 steam locomotive  


"Sir Malcolm Barclay Harvey"

Now you can get to see and hear the 520 from those good old days.

Footage starts in Mt Gambier station and then a car video chase to Cellulose, near Millicent in South Australia. 
My wife is still near nervous wreck (joke) from that day as she had to drive the car almost like Mr Wheeler, while I tried to film the 520 special train trip from the front and then rear seat of car and it was nearly like a race track chasing the 520.  This is another favourite engine of mine I've played over and over 100's of times since 1984, when I felt like reminiscing the old excitement of those good old rail days. Please excuse some wind sounds on microphone, as is hard to stop that with car window open.

The WMV video (is in two parts) of the 520 Mount Gambier to Cellulose May 1984
Hope you enjoy it as much as I still do.

 
Probably best to download the WMV files by
right clicking the Click Here icon below
Then click  (
Save Target As...) to your Hard Drive to view them in your player. 

Mt Gambier to Cellulose
(Duration:  9 minutes)
PART - 1:   CLICK  HERE  TO  VIEW  (119meg file)

Cellulose to just past Tantanoola
(Duration:  14½ minutes)
PART - 2:   CLICK  HERE  TO  VIEW   (58meg file)

  WARNING:     
To those using Dial-up, or limited downloads.
ALL these video files are HUGE to download.


 




S.A.R  ROLLINGSTOCK


S.A.R. 520 class locomotive

Steel carriage sit up car Bowmans

Sleeping Car Finniss

 


To see above passenger cars scroll across the screen 
and to hear the sound of 520 class Steam engine
Click to See & Hear 520 class
( Works using Internet Explorer )



The above 520 & the carriage graphics were made for me by Shane Stewart.  Alberta. Canada.
Shane's website
(Canadian Railroads)


 

   South Australian Railways NG "T" class steam locomotive  

S.A.R. Narrow gauge "T"  class engine

Sound of the "T" class Narrow Gauge loco

Click to hear sound of "T" class engine
OR
 

Sound file is 1.1megs


Some information on the "T" class engine.

When first put into service in 1903 the ‘T’ Class 4-8-0 locomotive was affectionately known as 'Big Ben'. This name was lost in later years but the class remained the biggest 3 ft. 6 in. gauge power of the S.A.R. for just on half a century. A total of 78 were built between 1903 and 1917 and proved a most successful engine.

Their leading bogie wheels had outside axle boxes which were a common feature of earlier classes of narrow-gauge engines on the S.A. R. Similarly, they also combined sloping cylinders with a footplate which sloped over the cylinders and terminated at the front end of the smoke box saddle.

The top of the boiler was crowded with protruberances both large and small. A headlight was added to all engines from the 1920s on in sympathy with the desire of many enginemen to see where they were going at night. The smokestack was a masterpiece of spartan economy which replaced the elegant copper-flanged chimney that adorned the original engines. Behind this was a silencer to smother the sound of the air compressor exhaust which for many years kept the residents of Naracoorte awake all through the night.
Following this was a snifter valve (to break the vacuum when drifting), emergency blow-off cock, the essential steam dome, the blowdown silencer, the Westinghouse generator, the safety valves and finally poking through the cab roof-the whistle.

The footplate presented no less a collection of handy looking equipment. Most engines carried a spare drum of sand (over the cylinder) followed by a mechanical lubricator (worked by a link from the cross-head), a lead weight, the sandbox, another lead weight, the re-railing jack, and two more lead weights. The lead weights, incidentally, were added during the lifetime of the engines to increase their adhesive weight. As built, they were inclined to be a little slippery on starting and even with the lead weights they were likely to spin their wheels in inexpert hands.

In the final rebuilt condition with superheater, improved front end and cyclone spark arrester they were ugly, ungainly engines but somehow they carried an aura that assured them of many admirers. With their chins jutting forward and their small (43 in.) drivers digging into the rails, they were completely overshadowed by their out-of-scale tenders. Their long dachshund boilers always guaranteed enough of the essential ingredient to keep them working when the going was hard and fast.

Their clothing covered in patches, their smoke boxes dirty and rust-streaked, their paint-work marred by the sediment from their blow-downs, the 'T's were nevertheless kept in good mechanical order. The Peterborough men would not allow rundown engines on the main line. The 'T's handled the bulk of the Broken Hill ore for 50 years until replaced by the '830' Class diesels. They worked on all the narrow-gauge divisions of the S.A.R.; the only line which never saw them being the Glencoe line in the South-East, whilst on the Beachport and Kingston lines they only worked part of the way.

A truly universal narrow-gauge locomotive, they were used for shunting, passenger trains or goods trains with equal confidence. Although designed by S.A.R., builders included Walkers Ltd of Maryborough, Queensland, and James Martin of Gawler, S.A., as well as the S.A.R. at Islington. It is interesting to note that five were converted to the 5ft. 3 in. gauge for a period, classed 'Tx' and used on the light Murray Lands branches, later being changed back to narrow-gauge Class 'T' again.

Cylinders:......................................... (2) 161 in. x 22 in
Boiler Pressure:............................... 185 lb.
Diameter of Driving Wheels:............ 3 ft. 7 in.
Tractive Effort:................................. 21,900 lb.
Roadworthy Weight:........................ 74 tons 14 cwt.
Length over Couplers:.................... 54 ft.

 




     VIDEO  OF  INTEREST    

Adelaide Model Railway Show - 2008
Adelaide South Australian Railways National model show 2008 HO scale


By William Adams

MORE rail movies by will409 at YouTube click HERE


Click on small picture to see larger picture


S.A.R  &  A.N. TRAIN  ORDERS

( Thanks John Evans )


Click HERE for larger picture

S.A.R  Train Order 1969
Jamestown  Narrow Gauge
This Train Order taken by yours truly.
Click HERE for larger picture
A.N.  Train Order 1990
Mt Gambier Broad Gauge
Again by yours truly at Mt Gambier Junc.

These next 2 train orders cross each other. 
One from Jamestown end, the other from Peterborough end.
This was an unusual movement extra 91 was showing as a passenger, headed with a Garratt.

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Train Order given from Jamestown
Note: Train Controller changed over
from this order to the next train order.
Assistant TC ran the Pirie board till 12am.

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Train Order given from Peterborough
Note: Afternoon shift was 2 controllers.
Midnight shift was with one controller who ran the whole board on his own till 8am.

( Thanks Bruce Killmier )

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Brief History - South Australian Railways.

CLICK  HERE








SONG  "Rusty Rails"
By a Mt Gambier group, 'Round The Bend'


Only rails in/through Mount Gambier now are rusty rails.

"Rusty Rails" by group "Round The Bend" copyright 2000


For 56k modem users the sound file is 3.5 megs.




An Interesting Railroad Fact



Does the expression, "
We've always done it that way" ring any bells?

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. 
That's an exceedingly odd number. 

Why was that gauge used? 
Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? 
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did "they" use that gauge then? 
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Okay!

Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? 
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? 
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? 
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever!

So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. I'm really getting into this origin thing...it's great!

Now the twist to the story... 
There's an interesting extension to the story about railroad gauges and horses' behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs.

The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So! A major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.... and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important.



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