The Trip to End All Trips

Well what a week so far.  The week started on Thursday morning when PK and Kevvie rocked up at sparrows.  Kevvie came down the back a for a quick 10 minute visit to the shed.  We then hit the road and went down to Darren’s.  Again we went down to Darren's Shed for an introduction for Kevvie to Darren’s layout.  Not 10 minutes later the adventure started.  We hit the road proper and went down south via the Lions Road. 

We were about to drive under a bridge down near the Qld/NSW Border, and we came across a crew replacing Bridge transoms. So a few photos later we were back on the road south.  Next stop was Casino.  There was a road/rail vehicle running through the platform and up towards the bridge over the Richmond River.  It was just out of view, so we went back to the car and were about to head back off, and you would never had guessed it, just as we backed out, the road/rail vehicle ran back through the platform.  So no close up photo.

Next stop on the tour was Grafton.  We ran into the Sugar Shunt and took some great photos.  Next stop was Coffs Harbour.  We worked out the northbound XPT was coming through, so we decided to head down to Boambee Creek and ended up with some more great photos.

We ended the day at Port Macquarie.  The next day we drove to Taree and after a couple of minutes, we met the southbound steelie running through the loop.  A few minutes later, a northbound cement and sugar train came through on the main.  Some more great shots were captured.  Next stop was Martins Creek Station.  Ten minutes after arrival, we met a northbound Newcastle set.  We went over and got some photos of the ballast loading facilities.  Our next stop was Patterson.  We took a few shots of the railmotors and infrastructure and then, you guessed it, we met a train again.  It was this mornings Steelie again.  It was followed by a southbound Newcastle set that we passed earlier at Martins Creek, and then a southbound XPT came through as we had a counter lunch at the local pub.

Again, another stop.  This time at Telarah.  A railcar set arrived just as we did and departed almost immediately.  We then headed to High Street Station.  Within minutes, we ran into three railcars, three loaded coalies; PacNat, Aurizon and a Fetchers train (I think).  We also saw a northbound SCT freighter and then a northbound XPT.  More great viewing.

Our viewing day ended at Hornsby Station, watching the start of peak hour before heading to our hotel.  The next day was a day organised by Marcus where we visited 6 people’s layouts, and one Club Facility.  What a great day.

The reason for the whole trip was the next day.  It was the Modelling the Railways of NSW Convention on Saturday held at Loftus TAFE.  An early start ensued and after a day of spending time learning in lectures and also giving my presentation three times - (no mention of money's changing hands here between myself and various model railway businesses).  We ended up at the home of a very prominent model train person for a layout visit and enjoying a run.

Today we headed south.  Actually we headed north to go south (Sydney’s roads are very strange) and again visited 4 more layouts and 2 Club facilities.  Another great day!  While we are all now starting our way home, I will eventually share some of our photos later on during this week and next week.