Cabride on steam loco 5917, from Sydney, down the Illawarra line, Dec. 2020

A trip down the scenic Illawarra line, South from Sydney, Australia, in the cab of Baldwin built 5917, with its beautiful three chime "riverboat whistle", hauling one of the many popular "Picnic Trains". The crew really work hard to give their passengers a great ride.

[@cliffleigh7450]

The only locos in Australia with that lovely Hancock whistle.

[@grahamsengineering.2532]

Excellent video Graeme. The Engineer really knew how to get that loco moving quickly without wheel slip.

[@aliciashepherd8912]

That looks like real work

[@TheDaf95xf]

Fabulous ride guys 👍🏻😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@graemedurie9094]

Hard and hot work! Thanks for the video.

[@noddy8607]

Love the 59s. Another great video.

[@collinblack8474]

Thanks for sharing this with us. Merry Christmas.

[@adamec-km7te]

Beatiful video, awesome sound. Like and greetings from the Czech Republic!

[@380130]

Great video and plenty of variety in the shots. The driver works harder than I thought and you can see when the driver motions to the fireman to put more coal on. Nice end shot as well

[@andrewr2825]

Now, I’ve just installed a sound bar to my tv and had this pumping out today and it was like being in the cab - but I guess unless you’ve been in the cab of a loco like this one, a video doesn’t do it justice! Great video and thanks for the vids throughout this covid riddled 2020! Hope 2021 is a better one for us all 🎅😊

[@TickholeProductions]

Thanks Graeme for sharing you experience from the cab ride.

[@World.of.railways]

Nice steam locomotive! Perfect! Best Regards from Germany, Railherbie

[@fordlandau]

Father Christmas stoking !

[@flamingfrancis]

On the in-laws side of the family our GGF was a loco driver back on the South Coast run (some seen here) in the early days...apparently they used to have soaked wheat bags at the ready when entering the longest tunnel on the trip (Bald Hill?) and they would cover their heads due to potential intake of nasty gases.

[@gustavosalazar2017]

Uff,, genia l siga asíii,no cambié gracias..kalycol

[@kayesampson3671]

Drove "Bantam Class" locos in 1968 at the Steel Works on the slag. Fun and games with steam. The only job i ever "Loved". but like an idiot left to drive doubles. Such is life. Pete 379

[@cameronfane1]

I love seam trans you can't beat team thank you

[@geoffcrumblin9850]

Great video, sign me up.

[@jonathanarmstrong7508]

I wish I could have a cab ride lol I’ll be joining the picnic train next year

[@brycenew]

Red hot vid mate! Real as 🔥

[@fordlandau]

59s among the last Baldwin builds. The company failed as it could not make the change to diesel. Great loco. Good film.

[@Callumrileyw4]

These are d59 classes their based off of 59s

[@slepper98]

Thanks for sharing, I watched them go by as best I could this month. Unfortunately the trees have grown and the view is now obscured. A real shame. Cheers and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

[@tld8102]

It would be nice to film the whole Kiama picnic train experience

[@piccaluga35]

Thanks for the superb video documenting this spirited run. I have to say I was a bit surprised the firehole doors were open in the tunnel... isn't generally doors shut and blower well on when going through tunnels to avoid blowback?

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Brings back som many memories-how I'd love to ride one again. ;:-) Who trains the crews nowadays?

[@cat793cdumpy]

Great video guys. I would have thought the the 59 class being a fairly large loco would have had automatic stokers.

[@SydneyRover]

It is a smaller locomotive than the 38 which does not have an automatic stoker. The only classes of loco on NSW that I am aware of to have auto stokers were the 57, 58, and 60 class.

[@cat793cdumpy]

@@SydneyRover In South Australia I am sure the 500 class 700, 710, 720 and 740 all had auto stokers. I am not sure about the 520 class.

[@jeffarmstrong1308]

AFAIK NSWGR mandated that locomotives have a certain grate area before they would put automatic stokers in.These things were problematic because they were something else that had to be maintained on a machine that already had high maintenance costs. Therefore they were avoided if possible - manual labour was cheaper than mechanical in those days. I'm not sure of the numbers but I read some time ago that the 38 Class were supposed to have a larger grate but the design was changed to the absolute maximum area that still let them have manual stoking.

[@laaity]

Im surprised the locomotive doent have a machanical stoker

[@railscenes4959]

Wow! Love that whistle! Coal burner too! Is it hand fired only or does it have a stoker engine? American steam that size would have a stoker engine, not always, but made it easier to keep up with a heavy train over distance at speed and/or steep grades. Thanks for sharing!

[@alistairwhite2906]

Hand fired with a 47ft grate so lots of hard work. Not many engines in Oz had stokers.....

[@johnclarke2553]

Wonderfu

[@cameronfane1]

boys you have missed some coal on edge of fire box

[@jamesm2101]

Hi How did you get a cab ride on 5917

[@jimmyboystrainvideos]

If you volunteer for the picnic train and want to work up in the locomotives. I’ve seen Simone (One of the drivers) let one of her sons have a cab ride. Another option could be if your really good friends with the workers. Other than that it is difficult as they need all the crew in the cab to operate the locomotive.

[@cameronfane1]

get coal in the fire boys

[@Mwfrizzellandsons]

What is that round wheel he’s turning in front of his knees?

[@jeffarmstrong1308]

It controls the Walschaerts valve gear of the locomotive. The valves will be wide open for maximum steam usage (and power) when starting up. This is a very wasteful practice once under way so he will close the valves back to a more conservative mode that will maintain the speed he wants the loco to travel at. Steam locomotives don't have a reverse gear as such - they simply changed the direction the steam flows into the cylinders. The valve can be completely reversed so the locomotive will go in the other direction.

[@nevillecanning4831]

Bit worried about the "Firemen". They looked somewhat like ring ins from the early opener. Nothing like some experience for next run.

[@simonf8902]

Normally only one fireman is needed. The driver was giving instruction. The bearded guy looks very unfit.