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Spencer Station, Melbourne Australia
The location manager on QUEEN OF THE DAMNED sent me on a fine outing on Saturday, November 4, 2000. I had asked him a couple of times if he knew where I could go explore a railroad yard. Tim is a terrific guy and just the Friday before, I mentioned that the upcomming weekend would be a good one for me to look for some train sites. About an hour later, I had a complete itenerary for Saturday.
First, a "double-header" steam train would be departing Spencer Station at 8:20 in the morning. I could just go to the station, which is in the middle of the downtown area of Melbourne, and walk right up to the train.
Secondly, he had contacted Rob Roy of "Steamrail Victoria", an historical train preservation society. They had control of an old steam rail yard near Williamstown. This was just out of Melbourne, across the West Gate Bridge then about 10 minutes south on highway 37.
I was all set.
About 6:20 AM I got up and head for Spencer Station. With both my Olympus C-3030 and my Canon EOS ElanIIe in hand, I head for the platforms. There was a bridge that allowed me to see all of the tracks, so I went there first. Sure enough, the train arrived about 7:40 AM. It had 11 old cars following. The cars were both sleepers and private coaches. There were several vintages of cars but the locomotives were K-Series. These were not too big, but they were in beautiful condition.
(as with all my pages, click on each image to see a larger view)
When the train arrived, I noticed that a few other people had gathered just to check out these beautiful engines. After a few questions, I found that these were K-Class. Most of the pictures I had seen of Australian K-Class engines were with the "air foils" on either side of the front. This must not be a particular characteristic that is important to classing locomotives.
They seemed in terrific condition. I enjoyed getting a close look at things like the steam driven generator that generated power for the lights. There was also a ram driven air compressor, presumably for the brakes.
The car on the far left is loaded with bags of coal for the trip.
Inside the cab, the handles and knobs were well worn. There was bucket of water and a rag handy for the two engineers to keep controls cool. I am not sure if there was a distinction between the two that road in the cab. I am sure that at some point in history, there was a clear distinction.
I love this picture because you can see the reflection of the
fire in the glossy black paint.
I just missed the photo of one of the engineers cleaning the condenser
coils.
Under the opening in the front was a radiator that he used a special
"comb" to brush it clear of soot.
Here he is just closing the cover.
It had a wheel lock in the middle and opened on a hinge to the right.
I crossed over to the other platform to watch the train leave.
ANOTHER TREAT!
Not that the double K-Class Train wasn't enough of a joy, I noticed this R-Class in the Station as well. It was just sitting there "lashed up" with a modern Deisel Electric. I doubt if I will ever see a double setup like this actually working again.
