2018 05 12 - The Westcoaster -

Private charter by Eddie White, 'The Westcoaster' sees the return of steam to the south-western broad gauge line to Warrnambool. Train #8295, powered by R711 with its matching Spirit of Progress carriages completes the journey effortlessly.
With the 220+ rail fans aboard, train #8295 reportedly makes maximum track speed in excess of 100 kph along the Melbourne to Geelong section of track, making it a difficult train for enthusiasts to chase.
The extreme wind caused a few microphone issues, as such some music by one of my favorite bands Tangerine Dream is played, appropriately titled 'Love on a real train'.
The last time a steam train visited Warrnambool was in 2004 & the last time R711 visited was in 2002. Hoards of people from near & far turned out to witness the event.
We capture it at a number of trackside locations consisting of North Melbourne, Little River, Pettavel, Warncoort, Stoneyford, Boorcan, Sherwood Park & Warrnambool.
Towards the end of daylight hours, the train was turned & we captured the event, which took significantly longer than anyone anticipated.
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[@paulcox2198]

Great video and appreciate the journey you took down to Warrnambool.

[@motivepowerphotography8780]

Cheers Paul, worth the drive to see R711 do what it does best.

[@michaelcarter7387]

Top video Ian, thank you so much for your effort !

[@motivepowerphotography8780]

Cheers Michael.

[@vsvnrg3263]

excellent locations. cant say i'd seen any of those perspectives. great to catch the buggerup at the turntable. i would have thought that this turntable was used regularly by the west coast railway and so capable of doing the job. the slop as the loco tries to centre itself and has to centre itself indicates a possible need for maintenance more than crew training. this is a big machine. congratulations to the crew for precision where such precision should not be necessary. great show. what is the interesting industrial structure at pettavel (2:40)? as i believe this was a 'super r', why did they undo something which seemed to work well? if there was only 1 r class i could understand the retro-conversion. had diesels not spoiled the party the conversion is something victorian railways might have done, bearing in mind most of the fleet was modified in some or many ways. i trust the mu console thingy was left in it.

[@motivepowerphotography8780]

The structure is the Boral Cement Works. The crew were doing there best to get the loco balanced, but the underlying problem is that the unit to drive the turntable drive wheels was under powered, hence the need for man power at the end of the day. A credit to all that worked on the train, as their involvement is paramount to a safe & enjoyable event. Cant comment on the details of the R as I dont know myself.

[@vsvnrg3263]

thanks for the info

[@Dalts1985]

The MU Diesel Control Stand is still there... However it is black~banned by the union to protect heritage crewing arrangements that being any trailing diesel, must have a fully manned crew, thus it unfairly drives up operational costs when such a modification was applied by WCR for exactly that reason, to avoid added expense❗️😢 Regards The Turntable at Warrnambool: In WCR Days the procedure was to turn R711, on arrival, then proceed to “The Tank Road” to be “reoiled” & watered, hence the weight was lighter & easier to balance on “The Table” ~ The Turntable was always manually operated in WCR Days too...

[@vsvnrg3263]

dalts1985, thanks for special insight.