Fassifern, New South Wales Railways. 1968 to 1972.

About 150 klm north of Sydney Australia, Fassifern was at the foot of 2 klm of a 1 in 40 grade. Situated on the busy northern line, it was also the junction of the Toronto line and Newstan Colliery branch. In the late 1960s it provided a spectacular location to witness some of the final great steam action. Filmed by Phil Belbin.

[@pwb135]

I worked at Fassifern from 1970 to 1972 as a Junior Station Assistant, and I was always in awe of the mighty Garretts sound, smell & enormity. 6029 my favourite engine of all time!! I worked the 4am shift for 2 yrs.

[@BelbinVideo]

Wow, I'm sure we must have crossed paths at some point.

[@davecoyle4030]

Great video. I wish I was living in that time seeing these great locomotives.

[@BelbinVideo]

It was a great time, Dave, but then you'd be an oldie like me haha.

[@robertcameron5007steelwheel]

A great little video thanks for the memories I remember fassi very well working at Enfield many many trips on the north.

[@ttm2609]

That's fascinating!!! even more fascinating is the forethought the gentleman recording this for future generations, I'm born in 73. Not sure if the sound is dubbed but steam is coming to the end of its era, you can tell how they steam and look, like a beaten slave, a scruffy, uncared for dog given a bone to chew on, yet faithful, they don't complain, keep going and going, dreaming of a time, in the workshops, the holy grail of the dark arts by the planners, fitters and boilermakers, the boys in Westinghouse on the mezzanine floor, hands, tools, care and knowledge, breathing new life to the engine, I should stop drinking now 😥my goodness

[@TickholeProductions]

Absolutely brilliant footage of working Garratts, what a way to get your heart racing. And to actually see steam working on the Toronto line, thanks for sharing.

[@BelbinVideo]

Thanks, mate, plenty more to come haha

[@EveleighSprag]

Graeme you have some brilliant footage here, I really like the early morning shots at Toronto.

[@andrewr2825]

Some pretty rare shots here - Toronto line steam, the goods yard, plus the Wangi Wangi branch. Thankfully Phil captured them for us to enjoy! I played this on my 55” tv with volume up! Huge appreciation for posting this one.

[@BelbinVideo]

Glad you enjoyed it, Andrew and I'm pleased that it was OK on the big TV. Some people seem put out when the old films aren't 4K quality.

[@andrewr2825]

😀I think Graeme the “evocativeness” is the quality, and on the big screen, considering the equipment used then, it’s transferred to digital reasonably well.

[@helmutsandner867]

Fantastic videos. Good old NSWGR. Classic.

[@BelbinVideo]

Thanks, Helmut, glad you enjoyed it.

[@ericemmons3040]

Wonderful and magnificent. . .

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

Good old days, sadly gone, so too Broadmeadow loco. Great video.

[@ChargerusPrime]

It's astounding to me how in so many ways Australian railways are similar to American railroads. Those old coal hoppers are VERY similar to a lot of steam era hoppers that could be seen here in the States, especially the 2 bay hoppers. The Garrat type engines were truly magnificent at well.

[@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044]

A mix of British and American practices some gauge confusion with gum trees and 🦘

[@ChargerusPrime]

@@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044 yeah lol

[@amelierenoncule]

Grande! As youngsters in Ireland, mon ami, we always loved it when the trains passed by at a leisurely rate, as it provided us a great chance to bounce a few ripe tomatoes off some of the pork-pie-faced blokes who stuck their mugs out the window/door openings. Mon Dieu, what fun. ESPECIALLY if they were holding a pint a' bitters that they then dropped!

[@BelbinVideo]

Haha. Now I need to find a "pork pie faced bloke" to bounce a ripe tomato off. Alternatively, I wonder could I bounce a pork pie off a tomato faced bloke. I'll keep you posted.

[@amelierenoncule]

@@BelbinVideo Well, mon ami, that all depends...on the amount of bitters (or stout) that YOU have wrapped yourself around. But make haste to recognize that a PP is considerable more expensive than a tomato, of any variety.

[@AnthonyWiddowson]

Amazing film of one of my favourite locomotives, the garratts. 🙂

[@paulusintas8627]

Some GREAT footage of 6029 there!

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Simply wonderful! That last clip fo the 38 was truly magnificent. Thanks so much for all your work. :-)

[@BelbinVideo]

Thanks, Terry, glad you enjoy them. Great to be able to share with others who remember such times.

[@toast_ee]

the segment from 4:32 on sounds incredible!

[@contrapunctusrex2499]

Serious slipping at 7:10! It's like writing an essay - a lot of slip, but only going backwards!

[@chopperking1122]

if they were running low on water the lack of weight would cause wheel slip

[@helmutsandner867]

Excellent video. Classic New South Wales Railway.

[@pauldoggett7801]

Thank you for sharing

[@shedwork]

This is amazing footage - thank you!!! That has to be the best shots of working Garrets ever filmed in Australia.

[@kendale2847]

Absolutely awesome footage thankyou

[@user-je7sb8sm9s]

The glory days of steam.

[@barrybristow4646]

WOW , they ran up until that late .bazz

[@PETERWATT-ly5yt]

One thing I noticed. that some of fireman on those engines had not trimmed their tenders just A BIT LAZY and OH&S was not a big thing and if a lump of coal fell off the tender and hit someone in the head it was just bad luck! you could always find coal along the side of the track in the bush I WAS ONLY 7 but I lived in North Gosford in the 60s so I i was Lucky to see lots of steam.

[@SpottoBotto]

One of your best videos yet mate! 👌

[@collinblack_60103-]

Thank you Mr Belbin for filming all this history, I was born in March 72 so I don't remember any of this, I wish I was born 30 yrs earlier. Was this filmed on super 8 film?🇦🇺🤠👍

[@BelbinVideo]

Thanks Colin. Filmed on 16mm, this lot.

[@McAttack21574]

Where is this from, if it’s a DVD or VHS what is it called?

[@bruiser3601]

Days of Steam

[@terryirons1966]

When NSW had a real railway .....

[@aussiejohn5835]

When a real train had a guards/brake van.

[@studio-iy7ov]

And you could set your watch always on time​@@aussiejohn5835

[@godfreypoon5148]

*tronta