@@Outdoorstype Apologies for not catching you 'live'. You are not as late as I was 😄 As yet I've not checked through your videos, so you may have already done a NSW branchline I'd researched for over 16 years. Please forgive me if this is the case. The Narrandera to Tocumwl line during WWII was critical to the war effort, as well as holding records for the largest volumes of grain transported annually. I was a PMG Telecom Technician based in Deni (Deniliquin) back in the 1960's, and would travel to Sydney for one-week block training courses. Each month (well for ten of the twelve months). I knew the line fairly well. Some years later after I'd moved to NZ, being in contact with someone else this line meant something to, we decided to collaborate to create a "virtual world" authentic animated model of the line. Our project was two-fold, spanning 40 years (1940's to 1960's). The two-fold?, yep; the branch-line, and the largest airfield in the Southern Hemisphere; "McIntyre Field" at Tocumwal. We were creating this as accurately as we could. The communities/towns that developed along that line today are mainly totally unaware of their town's historic connection with that line, and Australians at large have been sadly totally ignorant of how intrinsically that line and McIntyre Field are such a huge part of "who we are"; as this Australian Nation. Sadly the project sometime ago 'slipped off the back of the stove', but all the research I still have. In fact this was shared with the then curator of the small Tocumwal airfield's museum. Of course this has since been all shared with Matt and his team at the new museum now there. Matt and his team have recently done several trips to Canberra; to research the history of McIntyre Field. Craig (the guy who also wanted to create something to bring to light the region's history) and I had spent several years creating this based on the Trainz Siimulator program. This program is quite powerful in it's ability to very accurately recreate very authentic layout of those earlier times. Am happy to chat/share with you if interested. Nice to be here! 😇
Thanks for that info. I'm also trying to bring the knowledge of history to those who don't know via RU-vid, while targeting a wider 'non-train person' audience who appreciate the beauty of the country, engineering, and architecture. I've added Tocumwal to the list. I still have to work for a living so I have to plan and budget a long way ahead. I'm also based in Adelaide, so everywhere is a long way away to start! Maybe a journey next year to also follow the old Balranald line while I'm out there. You never know.
Superb effort Mike. I took my wife and her two sisters on the Pichi Richi Railway a couple of months ago and it's a great ride. They are from Hong Kong and so it was unlike any kind of train experience they'd had before. So good to see it's expanded in recent years to make it all the way to Port Augusta.
Thanks for watching, Peter. Coffs Harbour was named 'Korff's Harbour' by John Korff, a naval architect and shipbuilder who took shelter in the bay during a gale in 1847. The name was changed in 1861 when the town site was reserved. The area was opened up for selection from 1863 although there was little settlement until 1880.
I think the Goolwa to Victor Habour is a great railway. A brewery or pub at the start, middle and end. The section between Port Elliot to Victor Habour over yhe top of the sand dunes loiking out to the ocean spectacular.
Great doco again. Why would anyone watch TV when there is talented people doing this type of interesting work. Oh and don't forget the Tasmanian North East Railway. It is still there closed and shut since 2004.
My mum grew up in the town of Laura but went to boarding school in Adelaide in the 1960s. I remember she used to talk about taking the train to and from Gladstone, and her Dad driving down from Laura to meet her there.
Very well done. Love your drone shots and think I saw you at railfest I was chasing trackside Saturday in uniform as one of the volunteers on the Sunday. The inside carriages and cabs is not normally part of workshop tours. Lovely work keep it going mate
Thanks! Compliments such as these, from you as one of the amazing people that keep the show running up there, are very highly regarded and very much appreciated. I'm pretty chuffed. 😊
@@Outdoorstype no dramas mate I’m one of many and film plus research a lot into the history all the time take it them form possible truths but love volunteering up at pichi richi head back up in a week for a week holiday up there. But I do film when I can between volunteering and other things
Great work and research well done. I was working for a company in East Bendigo part of the old Mayfield Park freezer and meat works. We parked our cars on a redundant loading platform. I notice a steel spike then another. Timber sleeper burried then relised it had been a railway spur off the Heathcote Bendigo line.
Thank you for this!! I am a new resident of Woodside, rider of the Amy Gillett and have recently explored some of the forthcoming new sections of the bikeway and wondered about where the old train line started and finished. I've been googling without much luck in terms of detailed info. Your video will help me to check out the specifics all the way to Mt Pleasant! I think I should check out more of your videos...
I met him once and he's a nice guy. We're all just humans but I agree the whole situation is f..k.d. I've spent time in Dorrigo since and didn't waste any of it checking out the train grave yard again. Shame really, because the world should know of this place and be able to explore it and learn from it.
Great video mate! A beautiful part of the world! Did you know a major company that ships reefer containers all over Australia is based at Coffs? Sadly Lindsay brothers moves everything by road around Coffs. Cheers
@@Outdoorstype yep also there was talk of a logistic company with a name starting with Q opening an intermodal centre near Coffs, but it don’t think it’s going to happen now - pity
Great video, was there and had a look around those old abandoned siding tracks a few weeks ago. The fence that you’ve shown in the video hadn’t been put up then and I drove around that area where the old tracks are. The day I left Coffs I saw workers setting up the area for the fence to be put in
Glad you enjoyed it. The foreshore area has become a bit of a council battleground over potential development by the looks. Any trace of the yards looks set to disappear.
The old loco shed for the penfield line still stands and was in use for many years by a team that my father was apart of. They used ot at the time as a reverb chamber and many other things. The tracks were still in the floor and outside it. Unsure its use now as he has been retired for about 6 years
@Outdoorstype was at the time my father was there. He could not say much in his 36 years there. I went there a lot as a kid on family days and played around in it
Very interesting. I never knew that there were so many locos and rolling stock at Dorrigo rusting and rotting away. 😮 Unfortunately all governments in Australia dont see existing rail transport outside of the major cities a priority - let alone closed lines. 😥
I often get blow back for this, but I believe we will eventually have to bring back some of these lines..Over use of road freight is very costly both financially, as well as in road deaths and injuries. It won't happen in my life time but some small projects, like extending passing loops for greater efficiency, should begin sooner rather than later. Small improvements done over the decades will bring benefits, so I have decided to only support political parties with a proper transport plan, and not just another report study.
I think the Genessee and Wyoming case explains a lot. A for-profit company will always seek to profit by not having to maintain a railway if the government lets them and would rather use the roads us dumb taxpayers pay for. They just used the railways they bought for a steal until they were beyond repair (more profit) and probably never intended to repair them. It's quite anti-social and the government never followed them up on their commitment.
@@Outdoorstype I can't express how annoyed I was (without using some very bad words) when the Liberal government of the day (when asked if they would legally force G&W to uphold their contract) just didn't care. They believe there are more votes in roads than rail.
Slow moving but seismic changes like these occur over decades, but hey, I started a RU-vid channel so I could avoid a career in politics. All our politicians should have done more for rail. 😂
The footage, the soundtrack... this was the most emotional movie I've ever watched! In all seriousness, It sucks that there'll no longer be the possibility of returning the passenger loop line that connected the Outer Harbor to the Gawler lines, especially when Melbourne's Suburban Rail Loop project has recently showed us just how much demand there CAN be for lines other than the "hub-and-spoke" pattern of Adelaide's commuter railways. Imagine being able to take a train direct from Largs to Mawson without having to go all the way in to Adelaide and wait for a transfer!
Hahaha. This video was nominated for an Oscar award for best historic drama, but sadly didn't win. Upgrading it would make sense but at least they're not selling off the corridor.
