Images/Photos

[Trinfly]

Railways or paleontology are my two favourite subjects - and I use both for my part time job as a tour guide in far western Qld.

Used to host rail tours of the Swiss Alps, a favourite place of mine - my wife describes Switzerland as the world's biggest train set.
Gave me a chance to visit the Large Hadron Collider at CERN a few times.

After Covid ceased travelling for a few years, I lost the appetite for long distance flying. The novelty wears off when you do it too often.

For a while I was the go-to guy for ABC and commercial stations if they wanted a "train expert" to talk about a subject. Took the late Peter Harvey through the disused tunnels under St. James for a channel 9 special. Ray Hadley even did a 20 minute interview with me about trains on the North Coast, where he hails from. I got him to admit on air that he doesn't mind the Bulldogs.

I once did an interview with Wendy Harmer about the CERN complex. Luckily it was a soft interview, otherwise it would have challenged my limited knowledge a bit.

Also have a passing interest in cosmology, and WWI aircraft.

Listening to music is my favourite pastime, but I'm not familiar with popular modern music, unless it is jazz, blues, or fusion, like Fat Freddy's Drop.
I stream most of my music these days through a class A amplifier, or play vinyl on a classic belt drive turntable with moving coil cartridge - which most audiophiles would consider Nirvana.

I love the comment re Hadley and Dogs,

 

[Chris Harding]

I love the comment re Hadley and Dogs,

My sister heard it live on air, and rang me straight after the interview finished, to say "I can't believe you got Ray Hadley to admit he likes the Bulldogs"
He actually did say, "I don't mind the Bulldogs".

For the previous 12 months he had panned us at times, but it's all just words for shock jocks, to get a reaction and the callers ringing in.

I started the interview by saying "I'm not sure you'll want to talk to me Ray, because I'm a Bulldog supporter", and the above was his response.
I was lined up to be interviewed by another person at the studio, but Ray saw the talk was about trains, so stepped in and did the interview himself.
He likes trains.

 

[Chris Harding]

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Cockatoo Island’s floating crane Titan, Sydney - 1992

Titan was a steam crane. She lifted Flying Scotsman off the P&O freighter when "Scottie" came to Australia.

Titan was often seen around the harbour; it was a heavy lift crane that could be taken practically anywhere that could take its draft. It was available for hire.

It had compartments that could be flooded to make it stable when it was lifting, and emptied to make it lighter for towing. It was deeper than it looked, but not suited for use outside the Heads. Titan was sold to Japanese scrap dealers, but sunk off the coast, in large seas, while being towed to the breaking yard.

 

[Chris Harding]

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Portland, NSW - 1974

I've always had a soft spot for the 26 Class saddle tanks.

Originally intended for the Blue Mountains as a heavy duty freight engine, their wheelbase was too long for the curves, so they were relegated to suburban work, and eventually became shunters in regional yards like Thirroul and Bathurst.

2605 was sold to the Portland Cement company. They used it to take loaded cement wagons from the Portland cement loaders to the connection with the Mudgee line. 2605 is now restored at the Lithgow rail Museum. Ironically, it is the only loco in Lithgow that actually worked over the old Zig Zag (Zig Zag uses ex Qld engines).

 

[Chris Harding]

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I've travelled over all those lines. Anyone who has taken the light rail to Dulwich Hill has travelled on the Darling Harbour and Pyrmont sections.

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Tram tracks being removed from Elizabeth Street, Sydney - December 1961

They are removing the connecting track to the Watson's Bay line. It was little used, as trams ran to Watsons Bay from Queen's Square, just out of the picture to the left. Watson's Bay trams had a depot at Rushcutters Bay, while Elizabeth St trams were housed at Dowling St (the largest tram depot in Australia, and home to over 300 trams).

 

[Chris Harding]

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King Street, Sydney - March 1895

The King St cable cars. These were the same as the San Francisco cable cars. They ran to Rushcutters Bay. They were replaced by the first electric trams.

The middle rail is actually a slot in the road where the grip mechanism under the car accesses the continuously running cable under the road. Cable cars travel by gripping the cable and releasing it. They only run at the one speed - the speed of the cable.

The cable is operated by a winding house with a big steam motor that drives the kilometres of winding cable. Someone had the job of staring at the cable as it went on and off the winding drum, looking for fraying of the wire. To prevent them from dozing off, they were sat on a stool that was very tall - tall enough to cause physical harm if you fell off it (like sitting on a tall ladder).

Melbourne had the largest cable car system in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

[Chris Harding]

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Bird-cage lift, Sydney Town Hall - 1932

A lot of early lifts in Sydney were hydraulic - powered by water pressure. The Pump House at Darling Harbour provided the water pressure for Sydney's lifts. DJs had them - they were very smooth and fast to ride.

 

[Rockford]

In hindsight you kind of think, what were they thinking. That running a single super long cable to pull along the trams was the best solution, not mention the logistics of getting it to work reliably.

 

[Bulldog Wrestler]

Vegetable garden at Bare Island Fort, La Perouse, Sydney - December 23, 1927
Between 1912 and 1963 the island was used as a war veterans' home.

 

[Bulldog Wrestler]

 

[Bulldog Wrestler]

 

[Bulldog Wrestler]

The Red Cow Inn, Penrith - 1890

 

[Bulldog Wrestler]

Darling Harbour - mid-1980s

 

[Bulldog Wrestler]

Port Waratah, NSW - July 19, 1969

 

[Bulldog Wrestler]

Waratah Station - December 22, 1972

 

[soc123_au]

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The Red Cow Inn, Penrith - 1890

It's still there too. Doesn't look much like that anymore sadly.

 

[Trinfly]

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Hurlstone Park - 2023

@Chris Harding i would love to stand at front of one these locos at full speed probably a big no no in OHS pov.

 

[Chris Harding]

@Chris Harding i would love to stand at front of one these locos at full speed probably a big no no in OHS pov.

A 48 Class? They are not the fastest runners on the system, and not great riding at 100 kmh. The bigger locos are much more stable and comfortable. The 48 has all the comfort of a WWII submarine, but I admit that they are fun to ride.

Modern locos have comfort cabs, plush seats, air conditioning, hotplate, microwave, CD player, noise and vibration insulation, and a toilet. They don't have the raw feeling of early diesels, where the noise, grease and smell of the engines were part of the experience.
They are powerful, but they are controlled like a modern automatic car, and accelerate in a smooth effortless way. They cannot match the excitement of the surge of power from a big 38 Class steam loco when you cracked open the throttle on an express train. 38s could do wheelies -I'm serious.

The issue today is that should something happen, and the driver has a civilian in the cab, the consequences for him would be dire, and the operators could face massive damages claims from them and their family.

There was a time when State Rail would have you sign an indemnity, but lawyers today would find holes in the document and sue for millions; such is the state of things. It's why my society can't run tours through the disused tunnels under Sydney. Someone might trip over and sue Sydney Trains.

Gone are the days of friendly drivers happily letting a kid ride up front with them. It's just too risky if they're caught, so you have to think about their jobs and what would happen to them.

 

[Chris Harding]

Empty private hoppers being returned to the exchange siding, where the mining company's engines will take them back to the coal loader.
These wagons had no air brakes. You had to walk along and apply brakes by hand.
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Waratah Station - December 22, 1972

 

[Chris Harding]

The 19 Class is shunting coal hoppers up the ramp that feeds the overhead bins of the coaling stage. Locos were placed under the coaling stage to quickly load their tenders via shutes.

The loco underneath has just coaled, and is backing toward the water column to fill the water tank of the tender. It will clean the firebars, rake out the ash from the ashpan, then be ready for the next run.
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Port Waratah, NSW - July 19, 1969