A day at Heathcote Junction - November 2005 скачать в хорошем качестве

A day at Heathcote Junction - November 2005

On Sunday 20th of November 2005 I spent a good part of the day watching trains at Heathcote Junction. For those not familiar with this location, it's the point where Victoria's North East mainline crests the Great Dividing Range, with 1 in 50 grades climbing both sides. There are two 1600mm Broad Gauge tracks, as well as the 1435mm Standard Gauge single track to Sydney. This was the former location of the junction for the Heathcote line, hence the name. On this day, 4-6-4 Hudson R707 was running a crew training special to Seymour. We see it racing up the grade on the Down trip, and later returning on the Up, pausing in the platform just before the summit - I assume for the trainee crew to practice starting on the grade. The train is made up of cars acquired from the recently defunct West Coast Railway, and still carrying their distinctive light blue livery. As well as the steam special, we see a number of regular V/line passenger services, and a couple of Standard Gauge goods trains. The first train shown is the morning Down Albury, which was always double headed in those days. Please note this footage was previously uploaded over a decade ago. This is an improved and extended version of that footage.