© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

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Read more about the article Intercity memories and the lure of the railway

Intercity memories and the lure of the railway

A vintage brochure extolling the virtues of the express service. I never knew it like this. I recently received, as a reward for services to ageing, my coveted Gold Seniors Opal card. Armed with this precious token it may be that soon I will be riding the rails - on the cheap - to the four corners of NSW. In anticipation of this delightful possibility I've taken a ride down memory lane and present also some musical tributes to the fabled Newcastle to Sydney rail service. I was 18 or 19, and studying in Canberra. Many…

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Read more about the article Rail smash at Ardglen, NSW, July 9, 1926

Rail smash at Ardglen, NSW, July 9, 1926

Steam trains and long tunnels are a dangerous combination, especially when not enough attention has been paid to ventilation, and when safe breathing apparatus hasn't been provided to the train crew. Poisonous gases from the combustion of the coal can overcome crew members and the train can go out of control. This is what happened in the tunnel through the Great Dividing Range in NSW, on the line between Muswellbrook and Quirindi, on July 9, 1926. A 44-car goods train, hauled by a 53-class locomotive, stalled on the steep grade and the engine crew was overcome…

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Read more about the article American Suburban: a railway love story
Wayne Dempsey in a derelict American Suburban sleeping car at Broadmeadow, NSW. Photo by Pete Smith

American Suburban: a railway love story

Wayne Dempsey’s dream, as a young man, was to work on the railways. Specifically, he wanted a job at the Eveleigh carriage workshops at Redfern. “I haunted the place, as a boy,” he said. Wayne on one of the American Suburbans in 1962, the year he started his job at the carriage works. He distinctly remembers the day in 1962 when – aged 18 - he turned up to apply for a job there. “The deputy manager told me all about the place then asked me what I was interested in,” Wayne recalled. “I told him…

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