Our Turn for a Train Ride

After our fun afternoon chasing the steam train on the Saturday it was our turn to go for a ride on the Sunday afternoon.

All week the weather forecast had been for a rather wet day on Sunday.  For once they got it right……Blast!  However, we were really pleased that we had been out and about taking photos on the nice, warm, sunny day and that we would be snug inside the train on the wet day.

Here’s the lad, waiting patiently for our train to arrive.

This time I remembered to take a photo of the “Bathurst” plaque on the train. I forgot to mentioned that the steam train is part of the stable of “Heritage Express”, which is a part of Transport Heritage NSW. The trip out west, which went as far as Dubbo was the “Great  Western Steam Tour”.

I was delighted to see that our diesel loco that would be helping push the train up the steep climb was a lovely older engine 4490.

The carriage we were in was a lovely old girl.

A bit of silliness while we waited to start on our way.

We finally started to get under way, travelling through the goods yards. 

As I said in my last post, our first home, when we were married in the mid 80s, was in a little workers cottage only a couple of blocks from the railway station.  The older ladies over the road talked of the time when they always had to wipe down their clothes lines to get rid of the soot from the trains before they hung out their washing.  The ceiling space of our cottage had a fine black coating of soot, even after the steam trains had long since stopped running.  At night we would hear trains shunting in the goods yard. We became used to it as background noise.  Every now and then you would hear a big bang, followed lots of little ones and we would comment that they must have a learner driver on, and have a bit of a chuckle.  By the time we moved from there, eleven years later, you rarely heard any shunting, as the railway usage gradually died off.

In all my years living here I have never travelled on a train heading west from Bathurst. Until my teens there was a passenger train to Sydney that made it possible to have a day in Sydney.  There was also the slow, overnight mail train.  In the early 80s everything changed, with the introduction of the XPT trains.  These left Bathurst in the evening, returning early in the morning.  There hasn’t been a passenger service to and from  Sydney that could allow you to have a day in Sydney until a couple of years ago, when one was started after much lobbying by an active community group.  The train is being well supported……I digress again…. of as Mick would say, I waffle on.

As I was saying, I haven’t travelled west on a train.  Mum always said the train is a really slow way to go to Orange, which is only 40 minutes by car.  The train travels via Blayney, which is quite out of the way.  In the 50s mum was based in Bathurst as a dressmaking teacher and she travelled by train once a week to teach a class in Blayney, so she would have had quite a few slow trips up this line.

Once we got out of town we could see what a dreary day it was.  Just perfect for being in a steam train.  We were fortunate in that we were on the side of the train that did not have much rain blowing in and we could still have the window open.

The weather didn’t stop others from following the train along.

The start of the long climb to Wimbledon.

I was fascinated by the cuttings.

All the different textures were stunning.

This is the spot where we stopped yesterday to take photos.  There were only two cars yesterday, and the weather was much kinder for us.

Beautiful wattle to remind us that even though it was a bleak day, spring is on its way.

What a colourful sight on the bridge with all the umbrellas.  At this stage we had started to head back down the hill, pulled by the diesel loco.

Looking back behind us.  So many of these photos were taken on the phone as it handled the wet conditions better.  Just stick your hand out the window and good luck.

Isn’t that gorgeous, all bleak and misty.

Wending our way down the hill.

Past Georges Plains Station, which is looking a little sad.

The sign is in better nick than the buildings.

More people taking photos.

Finally, this is a rather strange photo to take.  When we were kids, Mum was telling us about steam trains, and that you never wore white clothes while travelling on a steam train as you would get too dirty from all the smuts.  I took this photo of our table not all that long after we left Bathurst and if you look closely, there are heaps of little black smuts on it.  I can only imagine what your clothes would be like after a long journey.  Yes, I remembered her advice and didn’t wear white.

We had a wonderful time on our train ride, and in the end decided that the bleak weather really added atmosphere to the experience.

We do hope that Bathurst has more visits from steam trains in the future, as it was really well received, with all the 2,500 seats available over the two days being sold out.  Congratulations to all involved, (mostly volunteers), who made the weekend possible.

I Think I Can, I Think I Can…..

Do you remember the children’s book “The Little Engine That Could”?  It was one of my favourites.  If you can’t I found this little Youtube copy of a film of it.

Why do I mention this now?  Well, a few weeks ago Bathurst was lucky enough to have a steam train visit for a couple of days. Once we heard it was going to be here we booked some tickets, and they were selling fast. We decided to go for a ride on Sunday and just go and have a look at the train on Saturday.

Many years ago, a couple of old trains came to town.  We went for a ride to Tarana (half way to Lithgow) one time and when the Flying Scotsman from England and the beautiful 3801 engine came to town at the same time we went train chasing.  Great fun. We only lived a couple of blocks from the Railway Station then, so we could hear them coming along.

There haven’t been any steam trains here for many years.

When we arrived at the station on Saturday there were smiling, happy people everywhere.

We were just like a couple of big kids….well, me a bit more than Mick.

Our trusty steed was the 3642 Steam Engine built by Clyde in Sydney in 1928.  Clyde had a factory in Bathurst from the early 70s till only a few years ago (although there were name changes).  Mick worked there for twelve months just after he finished his apprenticeship.

Just next to the signs above was another little plaque which said “Bathurst”.  This steam engine finished its days based here, so it in effect came home.

My first train ride was on a stream train from Bathurst to Lithgow, when I was very little. I can only just remember it.  What I do remember was that when we reached Lithgow we discovered that the engine driver was “Mr Bill”, a family friend. (I couldn’t pronounce his surname, I was so little, so I dubbed him “Mr Bill”).   He said we could have travelled in the engine if he knew we were there.  Oh well, one of those lost opportunities.  I wonder if this engine pulled that train?  I digress……..

Once the train was loaded with her passengers we hopped in the car and travelled to the overpass bridge.  It is a lovely old iron bridge built in 1888.

Here comes the train.  And yes, there was a distinct cry of “I think I can, I think I can” as she started off at the station.

However, by the time she reached the bridge she was purring along nicely.

Back in the car, we followed her along as well as we could.  Notice at the rear of the train there is a second diesel engine.  I’ll explain more as we go along.

Isn’t she lovely.

We had to wait at the level crossing at Georges Plains.  We weren’t the only cars following her.

It was a lovely day to be out and about. We drove along, losing sight of the engine until we found a suitable place to pull over and wait for the train to come past.

The train rides took about 90 minutes, travelling west to a small locality of “Wimbledon”.  We waited ages for her to arrive.  You see, just after Georges Plains there is quite a long, steep climb.  This was too much for the steam engines to manage on their own, so they used to stop at Georges Plains and a second engine would hook up to the back and help push the train up the hill.  I can’t remember the name of it.  Then, at Wimbledon, where the grade evened out again, the train would stop and the second engine would go back down the hill to Georges Plains to wait for the next train that needed a push.

Finally we could hear that distinct “I think I can, I think I can” and the train came into view.

  Once again gathering up speed as the track levelled out.

Lots of happy people were waving out the windows.  The train finished its westward travelling just past here.

Then, the diesel loco pulled the train back down the hill, back to Bathurst.  A much quicker journey.

We found ourselves a nice spot just west of Georges Plains to see it go past again.  Only the smoke in the picture above gives away that the engine is actually going backwards.

Even the modern loco is nice to watch.

One last look at the train going home.

See there I am, grinning from ear to ear as we enjoyed our afternoon.

We took a few more photos near Perthville and got chatting to an old couple who had noticed Mick’s Isle of Man T-shirt.  It turned out they had been there, raced bikes around the traps and had had quite a few interesting old bikes over the years – even sidecars.  What a small world.

Sunday would be our turn to go for a ride.  Bring it on.

August Finishes

Once again I finished the month’s section of the Nature’s Journey stitch-along by the skin of my teeth, putting the last stitches in last night.  Phew, with a day to spare.

Firstly the pink and brown border were added, using fabrics from the stash.

Then I had to make the decision as to how I would attach the diamonds.  I could do like the pattern suggested, ie basting over papers and hand appliqué, or I could baste  over papers and then machine appliqué with a blind hem, or I could do like the rest of the quilt and use Vlisofix and a machine blanket stitch.  After much procrastinating and the month very quickly passing I took the easy option and used machine blanket stitch.  It came together quickly and I don’t think the appearance of the quilt is compromised.

I'm loving how it is turning out.  It could quite easily be a wall hanging just like this.  I've cut all my coloured squares for next month.  There are now no pieces larger than a two inch square in my bag of scraps.  I then had fun pulling other fabrics from my stash.  Now I just have to cut the small blue squares and the pink pieces and get on with lots of piecing. 

Next month looks like it will certainly keep us busy if we are to finish the top, particularly as there is lots going on now that the weather is warming up.

I'm loving seeing everyone else's versions.  Thanks as always to the whip crackers.

What else did I do in August?……..not much.  There was lots I wanted to get done, but my get up and go got up and went.

My only finish for the month was two more butterflies.  A young friend who loves the colour green came to visit one day, so we each made two butterflies in her favourite colour.  They fit in nicely with my orange ones.

While I’m going, I’ll show you some fun magnets I made a few months ago.

While we were travelling through Queensland in March we visited lots of op shops and antique shops.  We visited one, and I can’t even remember which tiny town it was in, but she had loads of stuff, too crowded to really see anything, and really expensive for what it was.  However, on the counter she had a tub of cute buttons for next to nothing, so I bought some.

What to do with them?  Stick a magnet on the back.

While trying to find some round magnets I came across a pack of cute magnet buttons, so bought those too.  By the way, I finally found some good magnets at Bunnings. I don’t normally have magnets on the fridge, but there are quite a few at the moment.  The kids from next door have fun moving them all around.

I did make some progress on my knitted scarf, but that seems to be on the back burner at the moment.

I had hoped to make a start on putting the binding on my big drunkard’s path quilt, all 10 metres of it, but that has been put on the back burner for the moment.  I have challenged someone to a race to see who gets their quilt binding on first, so I must start soon.  It just may not be next month.

I’m disappointed that I didn’t get a Christmas item made this month.  The first month I have missed this year.  I will have to make up for it next month.

I have lots that I want to do next month, but I’ll just have to see how I go.

So, just two little butterflies for OPAM.  At least it is something.

Catching up on July – Macquarie Towns Motorcycle Rally – Not Just Motorcycles

We have attended this rally a couple of time before and it is nice to pop down to Windsor, only two hours from home, and join in a rally in warmer weather.  We are always amazed at how much warmer it is so close to home.  Do you think we are feeling the cold?

This year we opted to take “Sophia” the red Moto Guzzi.  Sophia is a bit of a home body, so this was a little unusual for us.  We used to use her for all our travelling, but we worked out that she wouldn’t have been used for more than a day trip since 2002, when we bought “Snubby”.  We also worked out that Mick and I haven’t done more than a day trip on a solo bike since 2008, when he put the sidecar on “Snubby”.

We travelled down on the Friday afternoon and proceeded to go for a walk.  There is so much to see when you are just strolling along.  You can have a look here to see our walk from last year.  This year I forgot to take my camera, so just took a couple of photos of the sunset on the phone.

We were blessed with the best weather on the Saturday, getting up to 20 degrees.  Rather different to home.

There was a great roll up of bikes with some rather stunning ones among them.

The format is that you go for a ride and stop somewhere for morning tea.  I have no idea where they took us, as there is a maze of roads in that area, but we ended up parking in a rather picturesque little spot.

Our first stop was in the little hall to collect our Devonshire tea.  This motorcycling caper is rather civilised at times.  I loved the big old tea pot and crocheted oven mitt.

After morning tea we went for a wander around and discovered we were at a lovely little sandstone church.

The interior was simple but nice and bright and well maintained.

I got chatting to a lady and discovered that we were actually at the oldest church in Australia and the first Presbyterian church in Australia.  It was built in 1809.  Previously church services were held under a tree across the road.  The tree is still standing.

Next to the church is The Schoolmaster’s House, which was built in 1817.  The church itself was the school and is the oldest existing school building in Australia.

You can enter and view the schoolmaster’s house.  The stairs are nearly like a ladder they are so steep.

The two upstairs rooms have very low ceilings, which of course, are no problem to me.  I liked the fact that there was a patchwork quilt on the bed.

Once outside we had  a wander around the lovely grounds.  The reason the church is here, is that the Hawkesbury River is just behind where I took this photo.  This was one of the very first areas along the river to be settled.

The graveyard is also very historic, with a few First Fleeters buried there.

We really enjoyed our little break at the church.  The Schoolmaster’s House has a tea rooms and craft shop in it.  I picked up a brochure with a self guided tour of the Church and grounds.  We’d like to visit again some time and have a proper look around.  It was an unexpected peek into our early history that I had no idea about.  What a bonus.

Once back on the bikes, we continued to wander all around the place and crossed the Hawkesbury River on the Sacksville Ferry.  I love these old car ferries.  They always make me feel like I’m on holidays.

The cliffs along the river were stunning.

And that is all the photos I took.

We enjoyed lunch at a small local school, where we were spoilt and then had the afternoon to ourselves so wandered around Windsor again.

There was a presentation dinner in the evening with some fun trivia games and “Sophia” was lucky enough to be voted second in her class of 1986 – 2005.  This was a surprise as it was a rather large class with some beautiful bikes.  Then again, Sophia is rather lovely and there are only two in Australia that look like her and the other one is in Western Australia, if it still exists.

The organisers of this rally do a wonderful job and we hope to attend again.  It is also just a good excuse to have a nice weekend away.