Don River Railway - Last West Coast Steam Excursion

Clips documenting the last steam excursion in 2004 by Don River Railway on the Tasmanian West Coast line from Burnie to Rosebery and return, hauled by MA2 and M4 steam locos. Includes a brilliant clip from a mobile camera along Metaira Road at Ridgley.

[@rodshephard3837]

Brings back memories as a young boy travelling to my Uncle and Aunty from the beautiful old Burnie station to Devonport....and another uncle was a guard on the railways...used to travel with him in the guard van-treasured memories...thanks Foxbat...a great doco...

[@Robochop-vz3qm]

This is epic.

[@kentrobison588]

My father's company built the wood chip line from near Launceston. I worked on it for a while in 1971. A delec pushed the rail train forward with a unique tracklayer designed by one of the company engineers. I saw two red and white steam locos in the roundhouse at Launceston but never saw them running. I was told that sometimes the work train was pushed by a steamer before I arrived..

[@WhoMichaelWho]

Great historical info. Thankyou.

[@jillgalna2716]

I travelled this line from Burnie to Rosebery in 1962. Rosebery to Queenstown was a bus trip and then we were on the rail again from Queenstown to Strahan. Happy memories revived again. Thank you.

[@WanderingFoxbat]

That must have been just before the road from Waratah to Rosebery was opened...

[@jillgalna2716]

I don't know if there was a road or not. We were travelling Tasmania as much as we could by rail in September 1962.

[@eduardbeljaars5936]

Love this! I was on the EBR 100th birthday trip in 1997 and this brings back many memories. Thank You!

[@Kenneth194]

Hi. What an excellent video. I found this last night and could't beleive my eyes. The quality is excellent. As a child in the early 1950's I used to watch engines similar to these trying ascend the incline past our farm into Winnaleah from Herrick on the North Eastern Line. On frosty mornings slippage was so bad that i have seen them spend more than 30 minutes travelling the last 600 or so metres into the station. To hear theose sounds see the smoke and steam and see the sand flowing regenerated great memories. Thank you so much, Ken

[@WanderingFoxbat]

So pleased to hear this video was so nostalgic for you Ken. My mate and I had great fun filming it.

[@kerryjames7150]

Those smoke rings are incredible

[@Tasrod]

Just beautiful. So much planning and good camera work to make this video. Love the steam vortex rings on the incline at 14.50. I was going "I think I can, I think I can".

[@WanderingFoxbat]

Yeah. I thought I'd better upload this old video for posterity sake. Pity the resolution was a bit ordinary in those days...

[@Tasrod]

Very good for those days.

[@Match2100]

Thanks for uploading this, I was on this trip. I started at the DRR in 2003 and this was my first mainline excursion. Little did I know 10 odd years later I'd be working for Tasrail and driving trains down there! I never realised just how much of the heavy lifting the poor old MA did!

[@WanderingFoxbat]

No worries. What a pity we can't have more steam excursions to Rosebery...

[@Match2100]

I understand why having driven down there, the track is in really poor condition, but even if it were perfect it's so remote that in most places if something happened you'd really struggle to get assistance in

[@WanderingFoxbat]

Mmmm. Passenger railways run through remote areas all over the world. If the track is so poor, why is it ok for TasRail to risk you and the other drivers? I think it's all about modern management and the liability issue - it's spoiling everything these days with the insurance industry parading the over-emphasis of risk to generate income. Ok, I've had my rant... ;-)

[@clintouttrim2053]

yes im sure the track would be fine for a few more years yet at the low speeds of such a trip,and it could be gradualy repaired/refurbished ect.

[@Bushkid11]

2:42 what is up with MA2'S whistle!?!?

[@cliffleigh7450]

The MA is pretty good at blowing smoke rings (from 14 min mark).

[@genegade]

At 3:06, what’s happening when the RPMs suddenly speed up? Didn’t realize that was possible!

[@WanderingFoxbat]

That's wheel slip on the steep 1-in-40 gradient. You may also see how the sand feeder on the red loco was not aligned correctly and most of the sand was not on the rail.

[@genegade]

Wandering Foxbat fascinating. Is it bad for the engine to rev that high?

[@WanderingFoxbat]

Not at all. It's common for the driving wheels of a steam loco to slip for a short time when moving off from a stop, or on steep gradients. Of course, wheel slip will wear the driving wheels and rails, so is avoided.

[@thomaselliott573]

It was a shame you did not explain what this was about

[@thomaselliott573]

It is great footage

[@WanderingFoxbat]

Hi Thomas. My apologies. The Don River Railway used to run steam excursions on the main lines regularly. This was just another steam excursion for the general public down the western line, normally only used for transporting mineral concentrates from the West Coast mines. As it turned out, this ended up being the last steam excusrion on the line as the Tasmanian Railways owner at the time (Pacific National) decided not to permit any more excursions due to liability insurance issues. Now the Tasmanian Railways have returned to government ownership, but liability and insurance issues remain. Personally, I believe Australian liability restrictions are gradually destroying lots of community events - very sad.

[@thomaselliott573]

@@WanderingFoxbat Thanks mate. Australia has become over-regulated, almost like a nanny state, in order to make people believe they have the security they want to vote for someone. Tasmania is the most beautiful part of Australia. This really is a sad state of affairs. People deserve a chance to love life.

[@thomaselliott573]

Do you know Paddy Acheson?

[@WanderingFoxbat]

@@thomaselliott573 Indeed, I do.