There is something very special about steam that can never be replaced. The raw, mechanical power and the utterly romantic sounds and looks. Just amazing.
I grew up in a Sydney, born in 51 lived a few hundred yards from Mortdale station. never tired of watching steam loco's . the sound, smell and look of these man made marvel's will stay one of my favourite parts of life..
Fantastic video and extremely well produced. The sounds are amazing. We rode this railway in April 2016 on a visit to Melbourne whilst staying with my sister in Sydney. The train was absolutely bunged with people then. Greetings from Northern Ireland.
Strangely, back in 1954 when I lived in Victoria I won a trip on the "Last Run" of Puffing Billy sponsored by the local paper. The train even had a plaque on the back saying "Last Run." I remember it was so slow going up the hills that several people hopped out and walked along side. Fortunately for us all, some brave people resurrected this absolutely marvelous railway. The Dandenong scenery is most spectacular and colourful.-
Props to the camera guy for avoiding the wild zooming and panning and shaking of the camera so often seen in train videos, making then unwatchable. I write this to encourage more videos such as this one. This is how it should be done. Nice work, camera guy.
People (especially kids) have been sitting on the window ledge for years at Puffing Billy, There's bars which stop you falling out and trees/structures are well out of reach. I did it plenty of times when I was a kid and it was lots of fun.
Great videocamerawork of a most unusual railway. Professional quality in my eyes and what a joy it must be to take a ride through this great landscape.
Brilliant quality and a beautiful video! In early 2013 I hiked from Belgrave to Lakeside following the tracks to take the last train back and still recognize most of your shots.
No wonder why the people were so fascinated by steam power back then. The sounds, how it looks and all the small mechanisms almost makes it seem alive in a way.
I went on this in the late 90’s to early 2000’s think they had some Thomas the tank engine design to a steam train but that train you filmed was the one I went on all those years ago
The railway has done numerous risk assessments and all the due diligence required to ensure this is a perfectly safe activity that is enjoyed by thousands every year. Given that this has been occuring at Puffing Billy for over 50 years without people falling out of the train, I would say the activity is pretty safe! When I was a kid I used to do this and it was great fun and I don't think it would be possible to simply fall out of the train.
Sitting on the window edge has been a tradition at Puffing Billy for many years. For those who know the railway, it actually looks a bit odd when you see a train there without people hanging out the side. ;)
thanks for posting, this is an awesome video and my 2 year old son is obsessed with it. we watch it at least 3x a day right now. he loves steam engines and all of the people on the trains too. awesome!
avlisk . . . . you took the 'words right out of my mouth' with the kudos to the camera person. I hate when the camera person is jerking it all over the place. This is the way filming should be. Looks like they had it on a tripod or something. GREAT JOB vrfan2006 !!!!!!!
Thanks, Puffing Billy is one of Australia's premier preserved railways. The cold and clear weather on the day certainly helped to capture the video and especially the sound.
I wouldn't have anything to capture on video if it wasn't for the dedicated staff and volunteers who keep Puffing Billy running, so if anyone from Puffing Billy reads this, well done to everyone down there as well :)
Thanks. For more shots of the Garratt, try a search for "Garratt Steam Locomotive in the Hills" when G42 ran to Gembrook for the 50th anniversary of the last train to Beech Forest.
aki854 If you're willing to work your way up through the ranks, Puffing Billy does have volunteer drivers. Volunteering at a tourist railway is a very rewarding and enjoyable way to spend your free time on weekends.
G42 is what is known as a Garratt locomotive. It has two seperate engine units with a central boiler. There's an entry on Wikipedia if you want to find out more about this type of loco.
Can't please everybody. :) It's actually in interesting mix of british and US influences. The buildings and carriages are British in style, but the NA's are actually copies of Baldwin designed and built locos and there's upper quadrant semaphores at Emerald along with automatic couplings.
From Germany:watching your video, the british character in buildings, locos and carriages remind myself to the Alfred County Railway in South Africa - and then she comes: a Beyer-Garratt (but not from this line). Thanks for posting! 116 stupid watchers dont like your vid? I can`t understand.
This is a very nice video but there seams to be a lot of folks out the windows some with there legs out if you did thar on some other trains there would be a good chance that you would loose your head and then your legs maybe I am just a worry wort. the train moves very quitly if you did not hear the steam you would not know it was there. Thank You for this wonderful video
The Puffing Billy Railway makes sure the vegetation and other lineside structures are well back from the carriages so it remains a safe activity. It's not something you can do on most railways.
