Model Trains and Things

Tomorrow is Father’s Day here in Australia and these two photos are ones that I always associate with Father’s Day even though they weren’t taken at that time of year.

I was stationed in Lithgow from November 1976 to March 1978 and back then Lithgow was a very different place. There were coal mines in the centre of town, it was the place where westbound trains changed from electric to diesel power and eastbound trains shed their diesels and went east behind elegant 46 class.

Trains still ran on the Mudgee line, steam locomotives still shunted the Portland cement works, coal was conveyed in BCHs, the Oberon branch still had a regular service and the main western line was still double tracked as far as the railway bridge at Kelso.

And you could still take your kids down to stand beside the tracks on a Sunday morning and watch the shunting take place. My favourite Sunday morning spot was trackside between the old station and the Up yard and I often went there with my son who was just a toddler.

Ken was with me when I grabbed this shot early one Sunday morning and it’s stuck with me because it was one of those magic father and son moments that are often too few and far between. On this day the driver of the 49 brought his loco to a stand right in front of us while the points were changed behind him. In that short time he made a real impression on a little boy when he leaned out of his cab and said hello to my son.

It was something that stuck in Ken’s mind for a long time after that.

On another Sunday morning trip trackside I caught 4914 as it passed the old Lithgow coal stage.

Time marches on though and Lithgow has changed incredibly. The 46 class are long gone, the coal mines have closed, trains haven’t run on the Mudgee line in over a year. The track to Oberon is still there buried in the dirt and grass … or so I’m told and much of the western line has been single-tracked.

And the toddler who was so impressed by the simple act of a friendly train driver … well he’s now a strapping young man who has served in the Army for many years.

If you’ve got children then share your hobby with them - there will be times that neither you nor the kids will ever forget.