Snuggery Triangle a memory from the 1970's

There was in the 70's - 80's two return trains a day out of Mount Gambier to Millicent and Snuggery.

The first train departed Mount Gambier at 10:30am for Millicent and only went to Millicent and on way back shunted the two paper mills at Snuggery for any loading. When the briquettes for Apcel started up in 80's, these were sent always out on the morning Millicent and while train was at Millicent these wagons were unloaded and then picked up on the return journey and the briquette empties would go out on the 6pm evening Victorian jet. 
Note: Between 6am to 8am the morning inward Vicy would bring these briquettes in anywhere between 6 to 12 hopper type wagons and take the empty briquette wagons back out that evening. An odd wagon would often catch fire, smoking like a steam train, especially if light rain on them as the coal would catch fire for some reason and we would have to get the local Fire Brigade to quell fire with a lot of water, then rush the wagon to Apcel so they could unload it straight away. Good fun. 

The daytime Millicent had basically Millicent loading, plus some super for sidings on way and would go to Millicent. Single ended 930's were mostly not used on the day Millicent. Were used on night Snuggery, but occasionally they were used in emergency to Millicent. Once at Millicent they would then run in reverse back to Cellulose then turn the engine on triangle, also at same time shunt Cellulose for loading on the evening jet trains, the 8:30pm Mile End jet and mixed Passenger to Adelaide with sleeper cars and the 6pm depart Victorian jet. It would also shunt Apcel for toilet paper etc and Tanty for Dolomite bogie wagons for evening Vicy jet. The day Millicent normally would not take out empties for Cellulose or Apcel Mills unless urgently required, but would pickup all available loaded wagons for both evening jets. Though in latter years the Millicent would often take empty louver vans for Apcel, as Apcel was getting quite busy then. Cellulose was gradually a non event. 

The second train departed at 6:30pm called the "night snuggery" This took out empties as well as loading for both mills 

In earlier days Cellulose was a big concern. Big tonnages of inwards white pulp paper from Sweden for mixing in with cardboard, and truckloads of recycle waste paper. Also boxcars of paper rolls and cardboard came out of cellulose using mostly M type vans. If these wagons of paper rolls got away in a loose shunt with crook handbrake, the rolls were so heavy they would bulge out the end of the box car, fortunately not often. Cellulose was busy place till around late 70's, then Cellulose slowly closed down in early 80's (well I think as memory fades a little now). Shunting in Cellulose was a major job to do. Remember, only hand signals and hand lamps used in those earlier days, no radios. Always a guard and a porter were booked for the late afternoon Snuggery 6:30pm departure that only went as far as Snuggery and return. 

Here is a rough rundown what went on once you got to Snuggery on that 6:30pm night train. Cellulose only had about 3, maybe 4 spur lines and they were always very near full of loaded and empty wagons. One could not swing a cat out there at anytime. A near nightmare for train staff. The Triangle was very important as train staff would take train to Snuggery, stop the GB (Guard's Brakevan) between the two triangle points on main line, then cut off GB. The train was always marshalled in correct shunting order before departure from the Mount and it was only a matter of first pushing the whole train completely into Cellulose (was a big place with a long track fortunately) and first couple to the loaded box cars often 20 or 30 of them, throw the points in front of engine and pull whole train out back onto mainline with engine now facing the Mt Gambier direction. It was usually a long string by then.
A crossing signal had to be installed right at the Millicent road crossing so the train could pull right up to Millicent road crossing and not set off the crossing gongs and lights. A button was installed at crossing and also in the Train Control box in middle of the triangle switchstands.  Then push the loaded box cars back onto the GB on main line. Then go and place the empty box cars, remember you still got a long string of empties and loaded pulp paper and some Apcel empties for later as well. 

All hand signals or should I say in earlier days a hand kerosene lamp, later replaced with battery lamp with a long track curve into the cardboard loading dock and normally was reasonably easy to see engineman. There was always high packs of recycle cardboard bales and white pulp heaps stacked close to track blocking off the view of driver. The porter most times had to climb on top of the paper stacks so he could see the guard and engineman at same time to relay hand signals. It was often hair raising stuff, also chucked into it was raining and windy at times. Miserable weather and in middle of the night. Remember also, this is the South East where "it rains 11 months of the year and drips off the trees the rest of the year", but of course not the last few latter years. The hardest part was not to smash into the dead end inside the cellulose building with the long strings. The dead end was built pretty solid, so it would stop a string of wagons dead, or damaging the coupling on M type vans. Also that would slam the engine crew hard back into their seats, not good on the old neck. Was a good reason to keep awake and to be very vigilant for hand or lamp signals. Also drivers have different habits, so you on the ground had to learn their driving habits quickly. When two way radios finally came in mid 1980’s it was pure bliss. The main part was not to get run over out there. 

Then you picked up the empty white paper OB's and the long car container wagons etc that had been used for waste recycle cardboard from Mile End, place them on main line with the loaded paper roll M type boxcar wagons. Now you could place all the loaded waste paper wagons and white OB pulp paper onto separate roads, then finally back onto the train, couple up air hoses and do air test and write up wagon numbers and tonnages as you were now done with Cellulose. The most worse part now over. 

But that's not all, you still had all of Apcel's empty VLX type vans with Obf's of soda ash next to engine. It was now just a matter of pressing the crossing signal button to set off the Millicent road crossing gongs and wait for green light, then pulling the whole train over the Millicent road Xing till just clear and go to work shunting Apcel nearly same again, but not as much track at Apcel. Pull out the loaded VLX type vans and empty soda ash obfs and place the empties and inward loaded soda ash. Oh, also there was Gy’s and Obf’s of superphosphate to place at sidings like Tantanoola, Marte and later pickup super empties and loaded dolomite on way back to Mount. Then get back home around 4am or 5am if your lucky just in time for the morning 5am shunt crew to then pull your train to bits. Any Mile End loading out of Snuggery would go out on 152 the daytime roadside train to Tailem Bend, thence Mile End.

But then this story has a sad ending, the big bad wolf A.N. came along in sheep's clothing and huffed and puffed and slowly trashed it all, so only thing left is a sad rail ending for South East and that Cellulose triangle is now no more in 2007, the final ending to an interesting SAR rail era. Glad I was very fortunate to have worked and lived through that time and can still remember those good old rail days. 

Other pictures in South East.


Mt Gambier Limestone Coast Railway Red Hen 405 heading for Penola. 12th December 1999

Mount Gambier 938 & 838 152 goods Wandilo bank. 9 April 1982. Mt Gambier left on horizon.  Photo:  Morris Broad.

Mt Gambier jet at Penola, engine 963 7th April 1992.

Loco 963 at Coonawarra 7 April 1992.

Wolseley on 16 August 2000

Naracoorte Loco turntable 12 July 1991

Avenue on Kingston - Naracoorte line.

Lewis Ave Mt Gambier, (near State Mill) 1 July 1977  Loco T384 hit stock truck

Absolute signals for entrance  to Station Yard.