Another year, another trip to Canberra (photos)

alltrainzfan · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:13 am

Well for the second time, a trip down to Floriade by train was made, and there's heaps more photos than last time - I took around 100 shots on Tuesday, to the extent that the camera's batteries were exhausted by the time we left Bowral on the way back to Sydney. Laughing

So we started out from Bankstown, in the dead of darkness (thanks Daylight Saving!) at 5.20am, and walked around 20 minutes to reach the station. An S Set pulls up from the darkness.

There's a lot of shots of sunset from the train, but not so much as sunrise. Here's a sunrise shot just outside of Wiley Park:

And no more shots till Central. Three Countrylink Trains were there: Dubbo XPT on Platform 5, Canberra Xplorer on Platform 4 and Casino XPT on Platform 3.

EC2524 brings up the rear of our train, and XP 2006 on the rear of the Casino XPT.

EA 2504 on the front.

XP 2008 with the peculiar "blue" nose leading the Dubbo XPT

And so the Xplorer departed on time at 6.58am for Canberra. It was very smooth, and these were a few shots of the landscape and Moss Vale.

Yep, there's only one way out for the Sydney Xplorer, and that's that way!>>> Laughing

Our fast progress was halted out of Bundanoon, where the ARTC was doing trackwork. We were dead slow travelling from Bundanoon to Marulan, stopping numerous times and couldn't go fast. As a result, we were late 25 minutes at Goulburn

C508 and 4814 at the head of sleeper train at Goulburn.

Now I'm not sure whether or not others have experienced this or not on the Canberra Line, but it was either the Xplorer was driving way to fast, or the line is in desperate need of repair. The trip from Goulburn to Canberra was extremely bumpy and swayish, but nothing compared to what we got on the way back. Arrival at Canberra: 11.45am.

As from requests from viewers of my Canberra trip last year, here's two shots of the flowers and a "View from a Hill" (Roxette lyrics).

We did a tour of the National Library - well worth looking. Arrival back at Canberra Station was 4.40pm, where we dwelled, and I was looking rather worried. The Canberra Xplorer due at Canberra at 4.30pm hadn't arrived yet. Then the announcements went: "Countrylink wishes to advise, that the Canberra Xplorer service arriving at Canberra is running 1 hour and 10 minutes late. Countrylink apologizes for any inconvenience". Darn! We were going to be very late back to Sydney. There was time to kill, so I went outside to take a shot of the fuel train (hard when the station master doesn't want you past the luggage areas):

I won't say the number as this can be used elsewhere for guessing~

And passenger's frustrations were running high in the station. There were many requests about "the train which is locked behind the gates - why not use that?" (the Xplorer behind the gate was the one we took south this morning) Well, at 5.40pm (our train was supposed to leave at 5.05pm) the Xplorer poked its head through in the distance, and roared into the station, much to the relief of passengers.

The train arrived with its Red Marker lights on at the front and white marker lights, headlight and ditch lights on at the rear already!

EC2527 to do the honours and lead us back to Sydney.

The staff were quite quick to prepare the train, but all they did was empty the rubbish and turn the seats around, but didn't clean the train. So within 5 minutes, we were asked to get onboard and be rather quick. Departure was at 5.50pm - 45 minutes late. But the ride was unbelievable from Canberra to Goulburn. The train was rocking everywhere, it was impossible to stand up without support, let alone sit still. We were swaying from side to side quite violently, and the train was bouncing along the tracks, so the trip could be described as a rollercoaster almost! I felt sorry for the staff in the buffet - they were trying to get meals prepared but twice they dropped hot food on the floor because the train was moving around so violently. Was it the tracks, or bogie condition of the train, or was the driver desperate to make up for lost time? It seemed to make up time, so I guessed that we were travelling as fast as possible, because we made it to Goulburn 37 minutes late, despite stopping at Queenbeyan, Bungendore and Tarago stations for around 4 minutes each.

Tarago

Our progress out of Goulburn was a bit better, albeit slower as we reached the trackwork sites, but didn't stop once. Campbelltown was dealt with at 40 minutes late, then for some strange reason we went to Strathfield via Granville instead of Sefton, and arrived at Strathfield at 10pm - 45 minutes late. Arrival at Central was 10.13pm - almost 50 minutes late. Ah well, I couldn't complain, because after all, I spent more time enjoying myself on train, right? Razz

The grandparents were alright - they enjoyed a good snooze on the way back.

Here's the final shots of sunset, which was after Goulburn, right when I was having dinner, so I constantly ate and took photos at the same time, much to the bemusement of the passenger sitting next to me. Thankfully dinner was after Goulburn - I got myself a cup of water at a station, and once I left it on the tray table from Tarago, the cup tipped spilling water all over the table and carpet, as the train was moving around so violently, so eating dinner could have been a bit hazardous at times. Laughing

Panorama:

Sun's going down.

Getting lower.

And lower.

So it's:

Going....

Going...

Gone....

An enjoyable trip once more despite the rocky travel and lateness. Want to go elsewhere next time though... Smile

2001 · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:02 pm

The ACT division of the ARHS are based in Canberra. They operate steamers to both Bungendore and Royalla. IIRC, their museum in Canberra is open on the weekends.

Also, IIRC, the Bungendore train is on one Sunday each month.

2001

Member Falls Creek 2018 Olympics Committee.

CS2905 · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:26 pm

Smithy4869 · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:49 am

It's a pity that the MTR is no longer operating. Perhaps consideration could be given to applying for a Government Grant for the necessary repairs to get this historical line going again.

Within my Group, Darling Downs MRC, we were able to get a State Gaming style grant for $33,000 for Stage 1 for our new Clubhouse. This might be the answer.

We used the services of a professional Grants Application guy who deals with the preparation of the applications. Costs $250 and we were successful first time round. Surely you would qualify.

There are so many Grants out there to be given to community groups that it is amazing that more Rail groups don't take advantage of this.

Smithy

2001 · Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 1:05 pm

CS2905 · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 9:55 am

Somebody in the WWW · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:22 am

drwaddles · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 11:00 am

xplorer2501 · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 12:05 pm

M636C · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:47 pm

The train often is seen still shunting the Shell sidings between 0800 and 0900, and could be photographed from a laneway beside the Harvey Norman shop in Fyshwick.

For an evening departure, a side lit shot could be obtained crossing the Queanbeyan River Bridge, either from the small park in Oaks Estate next to the river, or by walking down to ground level near the bridge on the West side.

The latter overcomes the large number of trees blocking the view of the bridge from the park, although picking a spot often gives a clear space for two locomotives.

It tends to follow the evening Explorer and has been seen in Queanbeyan between 18:00 and 18:30.

The locomotives (uncoupled from the train) could be photographed over the fence from the road on the "Causeway" side of Canberra yard around 12:00. Lately the 80 class has been seen on the Canberra end around 12:00, suggesting that the X will lead north (unless the crew change the order).

M636C

M636C · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:16 pm

For anyone interested, 8005 and 8050 were the oil train power today.

M636C