I just love steam engines, so when I heard that the Canberra Railway Museum was running trains to Bungendore over the Fathers' Day weekend I organized the Oldies into doing one of the trips. Originally the engine was going to be a big 60 class Bayer-Garrett, the last operating one of its type in Australia. Bayer-Garretts were the largest engines in the southern hemisphere. I always wanted to see one of these huge articulated engines up close, but it was not to be. The Garrett had mechanical troubles and was replaced by a smaller 30 class. Still, it was live steam and the crew were happy to let this small bear see everything, even in the driver's area. At Bungendore the engine was uncoupled and switched to the other end of the train; it ran backwards on the way back to Canberra. The track from Canberra has a steep section through Molonglo Gorge. We have had lots of rain and the views down the gorge were impressive, with lots of rapids and fast flowing river and creeks. Actually, because the demand was so great and there were so many
carriages, there was a diesel engine attached to give extra power for the trip through the gorge. Maybe next time I will get to see the Garrett.
Labels: Canberra, train
# posted by Bart Bear @ 10:10 am
