Climbing the Summit

Digitally re-mastered from the original broadcast quality tapes , it features trains that passed by my camera during one day at Heathcote Junction Victoria in March 1990.

[@Tookarooks]

What a cool clip. As a young fireman back in the day l remember running these trains. T Class leading empty wagons to Kilmore, once loading was done X Class leading back to Westall for unloading as dynamic brake on X class was paramount for train handling back to Melbourne for a change over crew at consist office North Melbourne. Apex train was fun..

[@johnphillips592]

Thanks for your comment , glad it brought back good memories , you may like to look at Climbing the summit revisited , 30 years after the first filming the link is studio.kzbin.infofimysSRjVyA

[@patrickbryant5224]

Great video. Very enjoyable and the audio was very clear for this old fella.

[@johnphillips592]

Thanks , glad you enjoyed it , have you watched Climbing The Summit revisited kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJrQqqaJh8-Jr6M plenty of changes , enjoy.

[@roywinslow4491]

That was a truely enjoyable video. How much has changed since 1990. No more Cobram Pass, Melbourne Limited or Intercapital Daylight Express and certainly no new Falcons heading for Sydney!

[@johnphillips592]

Thank you Roy , yes back when they ran a real railway.

[@user-gm8xc9eq5r]

A very good journey back in time (over the summit)

[@johnphillips592]

Thanks , yes things have changed , check out my Climbing the Summit revisited kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJrQqqaJh8-Jr6M

[@jesal-mj4nr]

Thanks for uploading John, this was a favourite video growing up and still is. A great look back at what is now 30 years ago! cheers

[@johnphillips592]

Thanks , it took a while to edit but worth it.

[@johnd8892]

Thanks for providing this. At 26:34 we can see some of the 1990s Australian made Ford Capris (Mazda based) in the car train as well as the mostly EA Falcons. Surprised T411 was enough to pull the train. Modellers usually would put several six axle diesels on such a train. Good to see how things were really run back then in what just seems like yesterday.

[@NoBody-ht1oh]

Thats why they are modellers. Stuck in their own world

[@csm101000]

this was so awesome

[@johnphillips592]

Thanks , glad you enjoyed it as much as we did making it .

[@louiskats5116]

This is truly amazing this video, just blew my mind. This is how life was what 30 years ago 360 months ago 1560 weeks ago No Internet, no hi vis clothing, no climate change, B-Doubles, mobile phones & I was 20 years old. I remember catching the train 2 years prior to goto RMIT from Sunshine Station. Every morning the Intercapital Express would pull up at Sunshine platform which is no longer there, & the passenger's going to Sydney would board, plus the passenger's who just disembark from the Overlander going to Sydney would board too. It was all hands on deck for the station crew, suburban trains held up etc, I would see my train waiting at Albion station, they were the days. I would see the passenger's having breakfast whilst waiting. As a 18 year old it was normal everyday stuff at Sunshine Station every morning. I I remember looking at the NSW Loco's colour scheme & thought how nicer it looked to our VR colour scheme at the time. I was hoping to see a C Class, I thought abit ambitious the T class going all the way to Sydney with all those cars in tow. Lots & lots of memories, great video thoroughly enjoyed it ☺☺☺☺

[@johnphillips592]

Thanks Louis , looks like the video has brought back many fond memories , that's great .

[@ThePaulv12]

Yeah there was climate change. At the time of the Montreal Protocol of 1987 (CFC crisis) the mood was 'we acted fast on CFCs let's get our carbon under control.' I'm a qualified mechanic and the discussion around the lunchroom table at the time was Greenhouse Effect was ridiculous - it was up there with crackpot vegetarians. Recently I was at a market and found some old National Geographic magazines. The first one I opened was 1958 and as I was flicking through an article on Greenhouse Effect painted a worrying picture for the earth if trends continued. The rest as they say is history. On RNs Science Show the statistic that we've released more carbon into the atmosphere since 1990 than all humans released up to 1990 is more left wing hysterics to some no doubt. Science gave us the EMD series of prime movers and the ability to harness electricity (among other things - 'what has Rome ever done for us' LOL) but pig ignorance is worn as a badge of honour on social media - and they all embolden each other. Now I'm a truckie. B-Doubles were in widespread use in 1990 but the A trailers were dual axle (16.5t) not the three axles (20t) as is standard now. B trailers were still a standard tri axle type (the 16.5 and 20t ratings are Standard mass without Mass Management applied).

[@louiskats5116]

@@ThePaulv12 B Double yes when they first came out at 23 meters not the 26 as today Bogie, Bogie Tri correct. I would say about 1992 B Doubles really hit there stride. The rest of your comment well written.

[@RichoBCV]

EA Falcons behind T411 on SG - classic!

[@johnphillips592]

Yes amazing how things change so much

[@ianwoff7000]

Love this video, both the footage and the leisurely but informative narration.

[@johnphillips592]

Thank you Ian , glad you enjoyed it .

[@ianwoff7000]

@@johnphillips592 Seeing the kids head off for school on the rail-car and then return after school is brilliant, and makes it very "real life".

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

Spot on video there John, and documentary style with excellent narration, I seem to recall watching similar video awhile back produced by the V/Line media unit. Again, your efforts much appreciated...Dave

[@johnphillips592]

Yes that was made by me , I was the railways Chief Photographer , I used the original footage that I still have to make this version.

[@NicholassTrainChannel]

Nice video John great to see vintage EMD diesels at there best. cheers Nic

[@johnphillips592]

Thanks Nic , glad you enjoyed it

[@bigman4225]

hi john thank you for this video. i recall being on one of these apexs but my diary doesnt say which one i ran. i will have to chase down which one i was on cheers

[@thomasmardy8362]

Loving the commentary

[@johnphillips592]

Yes Bruce did a good job .

[@matthewmassarotti2596]

the narragator sounds the the guy that did the farewell L class & some other dvds as well like some of the railcars from channel 5 productions

[@johnphillips592]

Yes , it's the same narrator .

[@matthewmassarotti2596]

@@johnphillips592 haha I thought so. I was watching both of them & I notice a big change like landmarks & the Kilmore east train the wagons have shunk gotten smaller lol

[@johnphillips592]

@@matthewmassarotti2596 The wagons changed when Pacific National lost the contract to Qube and they got those wagons from an iron ore operation in South Australia .

[@matthewmassarotti2596]

@@johnphillips592 oh I c

[@robbiewales3007]

Sadly X36 is no longer around

[@melbourneandregionaltrainv2103]

Amazing also why do some of the horns repeat and I also love the sound of X36 at 15:22

[@johnphillips592]

Not sure but some crews did know we were there

[@vicrails1506]

Love the work. Do u know if there's any more goodies in the bag to come?

[@johnphillips592]

I have a few more coming ,thanks for the comment

[@vicrails1506]

YES cant wait. thanks