Trams and Trains in the News 1985/6

[@ThePerson1959]

I wish the news was still read out just telling the stories like this instead of full of opinion and reporters who just want to hear their voices. I enjoyed this especially as it's about rail transport. Very interesting to look back on these events. The monorail has been and gone.

[@tressteleg1]

👍😊I guess that today it depends on which TV news you watch. Generally I consider news on commercial networks to be ‘cardboard news’ so get my information elsewhere.

[@ThePerson1959]

@@tressteleg1 Yes I do too. I usually try to watch a couple of different ones and see which seems the most trustworthy. Thanks again for your interesting posts. Love them.

[@tressteleg1]

Obviously we cannot spend all day watching news. It can get repetitive. I guess the yardstick is whether most of a channel’s stories are really news of importance, or just sensational things like car crashes which will get the ratings but are generally quite irrelevant. Anyway I’m pleased you like these, and there should be more in the future.

[@michaele7880]

Great to see news delivered with just the facts and no silly insider jokes and rubbish by the so called news team.

[@tressteleg1]

@@michaele7880 Sounds like you may be spending too much time watching the ‘cardboard news’ on commercial stations which don’t know at times the difference between real news and ‘informercials’ which are thinly disguised commercials. Also car crashes on a busy road which delay people in their travels are big stories. Too bad if half the world is at war. Who cares? 😆😆

[@AheadMatthewawsome]

R.I.P Brian Henderson (1931-2021)

[@747dom]

Bravo, this was fantastic! So interesting to learn some of the history and see Brian Henderson doing his thing (always reminds me of dinner time as a kid when I hear his voice). Cool to see the old logos and what a 'modern' ticket machine looked like in the 80's. I look forward to the next video.

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍👍

[@lancemckellar]

RIP Brian Henderson

[@Jerram89]

Gee you don’t see live crosses to get the local Union viewpoint these days!

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@jamesfrench7299]

This is the sort of stuff we want to see. Media reports are a gold mine of footage. That's why it pays to grab old VHS tapes you find in good condition disposed of. You don't know what's on them as thousands of VCRs recorded stuff in people's homes for decades. An army of passive archivists!

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@chromedog68]

and the Tangara ended up looking nothing like the one depicted, let alone ever reaching anything close to 130kph.

[@tressteleg1]

From what somebody has since told me, that prototype was designed by Comeng but the state government decided to award the contract to Goninans to help employment in Newcastle. So they dictated the ugly front they ended up with. I don’t know how fast they can go.

[@gregorygherkins1884]

0:25 No way, the tangaras look far better than the prototype. Boo

[@tressteleg1]

Have it your way. They are just an ugly Pommy import idea which started with London’s DLR. It is noteworthy that all the newer trains have more stylish fronts than those things.

[@griffinrails]

@@tressteleg1 Honestly they should have just converted the C sets to the Tangara Prototype, it would lengthen their life by quite a while. Where did that prototype even go?

[@tressteleg1]

That prototype demonstrator was apparently a very poorly built Goninans carriage considered unfit for service. I don’t know anything about converting C sets to Tangaras but the Cs are rapidly being scrapped because their electronics are obsolete and keep breaking down.

[@greeneel6518]

That was a good video with a lot of good information I really enjoyed it. It's always good to sit and watch train's

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@tressteleg1]

To Marc Conyard, your comment was in accessible to reply to, but if you see this, the viaduct looks much the same as when works were completed after the repairs. I heard that recently it was closed down for a while for maintenance but nevertheless is back in use again.

[@michaelhatton2477]

Y’know I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard audio of STM founding father Norman Chin. I’ve seen pictures and a bit of video previous but I never knew what he sounded like until now. So this is great that this footage is now public.

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@tippo5341]

RIP Hendo, best new presenter ever!!!! I remember the Emu Heights derailment well, hearing and feeling it, living only a few hundred metres away....was certainly a sight to behold for a 12/13 year old. Is amazing seeing alot of the proposals and 'future' plans....monorail has come n gone, the Tangara looking NOTHING like the one in the news clips....and Darling Harbour being the harbourside eyesore it was prior Harbourside being developed, Sydney has come a LONG way since those days....thanks for the video.

[@tressteleg1]

@@tippo5341 Yes, Hendo certainly was a legend. I seem to recall that fairly recently another nearby resident commented here about that derailment. Unfortunately the Tangara follows the ugly chisel front I think was first used by the Poms with their Docklands Light Rail Cars. Certainly Sydney has changed a lot in not that many years.

[@nopeoppeln]

that Monorail aged like milk that was 5 years in hot temperature thank god, we only have these around airports here in Europe, with one massive exception which is Wuppertal flying trains look cool, but i still prefer an old tram running along a narrow street

[@tressteleg1]

I’m working on the next video of news clips now and the monorail is in them again. Wuppertal’s successfully does what it was designed to do and serves a useful public transport purpose. Most of the others are just joyrides or the result of some government which wanted ‘anything that is not a tram!’

[@nopeoppeln]

@@tressteleg1 i heard Melbourne has very European style trams which work and Sydney has a good railway network but I think that’s it Australia’s not really the country of transportation

[@tressteleg1]

Melbourne still has around 200 older locally built bodies on imported trucks and electronic controls while the latest E class, around 100 now, fall into the same category. Earlier fully imported trams came from Europe. While Australian cities have quite high populations in the millions, they are spread over much wider areas than in Europe so providing public transport is not terribly economic so services can be limited. However if you lived near a tramline or rail line in Melbourne, and didn’t normally go to out of the way places, you could easily live there without a car. Up to a point, the same applies to Sydney with a railway that is probably better than Melbourne but with bus reliability worse than Melbourne trams. When you have time, you Will get to see a variety of Melbourne tram types in these videos. Driver's Views, Rides & Sounds - Melbourne Trams kzbin.info/aero/PLLtOIHp49XNAm1qAXx3Oc73LehZsggS3t

[@nopeoppeln]

@@tressteleg1 dang, for the biggest tram network in the world, there isn’t that many routes as I thought and they’re all not as long as I thought

[@tressteleg1]

There are 24 regular routes and several cross the city from one side to the other. The 75 to Vermont south is the longest at 22.8km. There would not be too many longer than longer than that in Europe excluding lines which may run through two or more operators altogether.

[@mt-mg7tt]

This is a great compilation! I didn't realise that they ran the single deck interurban sets in Illawarra. They did other things such as diesel hauled electric carriages , in the lead-up to electrification. Sad to see the last rail motor (and passenger service) on the Moss Vale line.

[@tressteleg1]

@@mt-mg7tt Yes, from electrification for a few years mostly 4 car U sets did the local runs, mostly Thirroul to Port Kembla. Some started further north. Every day one set (possibly 8 cars) ran to Sydney for servicing, and a fresh set came back in its place and stayed for a few days. Generally trains from Sydney ran all stations to Thirroul then express to North Wollongong. The U set followed soon after to serve the other stations. Yes, some DD trailers were hauled by 48 class for a couple of years before electrification. This video may be of interest. Double Deck and Other Wollongong Diesels 1985 kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5C1hHt_rMafi9k

[@mt-mg7tt]

@@tressteleg1 Thanks!

[@roadwolf2]

I think you were right about the anchors for the overhead pulling that viaduct apart

[@tressteleg1]

Thanks, but not many seem to agree. And especially no government would admit if their own designers overlooked something resulting in a disaster like that.

[@aussiejohn5835]

How good is this and most of it I remember from personal experiences. I was there for the last day of the trams. I was there for the first and last day of the "Monster" rail which went absolutely nowhere of any consequence. I feel like I should be heritage listed lol!! I look forward to the next episode.

[@tressteleg1]

😊😄👍

[@AuMechanic]

4:18, and nearly had a nasty crane tip over on camera.

[@realjohnboxall]

Outstanding, thank you. Folks from the gong were so lucky to have such variety in rolling stock.

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@samuelanketell8190]

I was looking at modern photos of the Stanwell bridge and I think they were lucky to save it because there's a couple of big whoops in the coping along the sides at the top that indicates there was a hell of a sag in it, from the findings I read the original brickwork on arch 6 was going to collapse due to subsidence from coal mining under the ground beneath the bridge . Shame it's out in the bush & obscured by tall trees because it's a fantastic structure. 👌

[@tressteleg1]

While there is no doubt that there is terrain movement under this viaduct which would not be helping things, the horizontal pull of the overhead must be a factor. I guess they were lucky that the problem just showed up gradually rather than the whole bridge break apart at the same time. You can be sure they continue to keep a close watch on it, especially after rain. It used to be possible to walk to it, but all is probably fenced off now. They would not want a brick falling off and hitting a hiker on the head!

[@kevinduffy6712]

@@tressteleg1 It would not have been mining subsidence it is more of the hill both sides moving , AS it is actually on an escapement ?. Which are renown for movement !

[@darrenrichardson1738]

DARRENR 🏠 have OK yes

[@tressteleg1]

😊

[@PhlanMichellePurss]

IDK if anyone has said it yet, but THANK YOU for the trip down Amnesia Lane Tressteleg! Looking forward to future Episodes.

[@tressteleg1]

Working on the next one now but it won’t be ready for some time yet. Other subjects will be coming in the meantime.

[@griffinrails]

tressteleg1 I’d love to see something on the new Holsworthy line, if it exists.

[@tressteleg1]

Unfortunately my Sydney driver has never been easy to get emails from, and that especially applies now. I’m not sure there will be any more from him.

[@daniellefko6527]

This is a blast from the past news reels state rail is no longer now 13/14 years old I was.

[@tressteleg1]

👍😊

[@saxongreen78]

Scenes like that Fairmont getting smeared over the tracks were once a weekly occurrence here in Victoria - however, most were fatal. (Worst intersections in Australia.)

[@tressteleg1]

Careless motorists are the usual reason for level crossing collisions.

[@saxongreen78]

@@tressteleg1 True enuff...but poor infrastructure certainly doesn't help.

[@SilverSetFan]

Wow so cool! Thanks for uploading this!

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@kerrijohnstone7588]

Well, the Royal went well sorry the monorail, I quite like that until they knocked it down

[@tressteleg1]

@@kerrijohnstone7588 Unfortunately monorails are built and designed by particular companies and consequently are patented so nobody else can copy. The design might be adopted by a couple of cities here and there, and that’s about all. So with no new sales likely, the company loses interest in the project, stops making spare parts, and the operator is stuck with a line with no spare parts and no permission for anyone else to help out. That’s why they shut. That applied to both Sydney and the Gold Coast.

[@dennisparrott9540]

Yeah a lot of pie in the sky stuff,never saw any of it!!!

[@tressteleg1]

@@dennisparrott9540 True, but at least people were suggesting things. It’s when the suggestions run dry up that we may need to worry.

[@AlonsoRules]

Ah, the Sydney Monorail - what a waste of money

[@tressteleg1]

The government was adamant that they wanted a ‘modern sophisticated monorail’ no matter what. It was supposed to shift large crowds from the entertainment centre but was never much more useful than a leisurely ride for tourists.

[@stephenhunter70]

@@tressteleg1 Seeing as it's destination was the Sydney entertainment centre to me a Victorian It's no wonder only tourists used it. If it was ever going to be used by locals it should've gone somewhere they lived also.

[@tressteleg1]

The government built it with the claim it would be good for taking crowds to and from the entertainment centre and although it certainly served that venue, its capacity was far too tiny for such a big hall. Tourist were the fill-in traffic at other times which in a small way filled that purpose. A big failing was that it did not go near Central Railway Station, Town Hall or Wynyard so unless you wanted a George or Pitt Street bus, it connected with nothing.

[@jw_media4577]

do you live in Melbourne

[@tressteleg1]

I did 1987-94 while I was a tram driver but Gold Coast now. Most of those stories were recorded in Wollongong.

[@algieturas612]

David 'call me Dave' Hill...

[@tressteleg1]

@@algieturas612 😆😆

[@Elliottblancher]

17:34 Australian Doodlebug

[@tressteleg1]

Ah yes, the wonderful CPH class Rail Motors, commonly called Tin Hares. Diesel-hydraulic.

[@matthewwalker6590]

Thank you so much for this video. My late mother's family and friends grew up in Wollongong and this brought back so many great memories. My first train trip to Wollongong was similar to the train at 11:57 in this video (I don't remember what the exact name of the carriages are). I did however remember travelling on the other track as there was track maintenance workers along the route and it was quite slow going. I wasn't totally aware of the broken viaduct at Stanwell Park mentioned in the news segments, since I was only a young boy at the time. Also I did remember seeing electrification for the first time in late 1985 when it took me by surprise. My mother's family house was located between Wollongong and Coniston on a hill with a perfect view of the railway line and I use to see so many trains that mostly are now long gone. Unfortunately, I could not remember seeing the Wollongong-Moss Vale CPH Rail Motor service at all, I guess I was not lucky.

[@tressteleg1]

I’m pleased that it brought back some happy memories. There is a couple of other Wollongong area videos which I have posted, and you will find them amongst this link. I did a return trip on the Moss Vale rail motor once, up the hill in the late afternoon, down the hill next morning. I can’t remember exactly when it left the Gong but I think it was between 5 and 5:30 pm. You will probably see it in the Moss Vale video. Sydney/NSW Trains Lineside kzbin.info/aero/PLLtOIHp49XNAvkewc94vibzB_jyDKGtXQ

[@patricktongs9766]

I was guard in the eighties and done the Moss Vale rail motor for a few years..would take a passenger train from Sydney to the gong and then to Unanderra and leave from there late arvo stay at the old barracks at Moss Vale and leave about 6.30 next morning after taking on passengers from the Spirit of progress and the Southern Aurora coming from Melbourne..thanks for the video.

[@tressteleg1]

That would have been an interesting job. A couple of times I caught it from Moss Vale having got off the Spirit of Progress in the morning and once did the trip up and back just for fun. I think you may particularly like the video below and perhaps will recognise a crewmember or two. Wollongong to Moss Vale & Return by CPH Rail Motor kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqTOhaaCd9KpmdE

[@patricktongs9766]

@@tressteleg1 Yes it was one of the better jobs not so choice in the winter as the barracks were old and very cold and not like Goulburn where you had you’re own air con room much more comfortable..but good memories.

[@tressteleg1]

@patricktongs9766 Funny you should mention Goulburn Barracks as I actually stayed there once. There was a driving instructor called Bob Holderness (we lost him last year) and he arranged a cab ride (and some driving instead of his student) on the late afternoon train Sydney Terminal to Goulburn. Somehow Bob arranged for me to stay at the barracks as well. The trip south was memorable as the locos were a 44 and a 48. Somewhere along the way the 44 suffered a fuel blockage which left the 48 to do all, or at least most, of the work. But we did get there, even if a little late!

[@shanejohnson4898]

85/86 You couldn't keep the Illawarra line outta the local news The cross country to Moss Vale The Stanwell park viaduct And the South coast line electric opening It was all happening down that way

[@tressteleg1]

@@shanejohnson4898 Yes it was an exciting time to be living there.

[@KeithLyons-z4h]

What did they expect by putting a 21st century rail system across an 19th century viaduct.? I don't whether they have fixed it but electric trains have been running both ways normally since 2001. Have they replaced the viaduct? BTW-Great video.

[@tressteleg1]

The stress of the overhead masts on the bridge would have done it no good, but it is also claimed that the 2 valley sides were creeping closer together. The damaged arch was removed and replaced by a rather mundane steel span, no doubt with allowance for movement. I expect that the railways continue to monitor the valley. The repairs were completed some months after the 1986 Official Opening late 1986 and I believe has caused no trouble since.

[@peterkirgan2921]

I was a fitter on the railways for many years working on the tangarra was easy ! It was like a Ford Falcon pretty ordinary!!!😂😂😂 lol

[@tressteleg1]

Nothing better than inside information 😊

[@Jerram89]

Prototype Tangara seats pretty much identical to what the EMUs in Brisbane had at the time

[@tressteleg1]

Up until then, Sydneysiders had always expected tip over seats to face forward. The fixed seats were not popular and I think some were changed to tip over, maybe.

[@tressteleg1]

Thanks for that. It makes sense that the interurban ones were fitted with tip over seats. But apparently the new ones will not be. Surely the existing V set seats could easily be overhauled for use in the new trains which would please most people.

[@alextriandafyllou8766]

"Do not spit in the car" I guess those day's people were afraid to sit down.

[@tressteleg1]

I believe that the need for those signs arose from a habit some men had in the earlier part of the 20th century in which they chewed tobacco and apparently when finished with it, were liable to spit it anywhere. Even on the floors of trams it would be an uninviting sight! I don’t recall seeing anyone doing it from the 1950s onwards.

[@rjl110919581]

thank you for special detail video old service on NSW transport

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@aswdismee-on-Roblox]

0:49 Tangaras never got fitted with security cameras.

[@tressteleg1]

No, too old for that, I guess.

[@sydneytravellervlogs4659]

Amazing! Could you please upload a footage of the Eastern Suburbs Rail lines opening in 1979 if you can find one?

[@tressteleg1]

Home VCRs were rare in 1979 so I did not get mine until 1983, so sorry no ESR.

[@KeithLyons-z4h]

Before they laid the rails on the ESR I sneaked onto the site betwwn Edgecliff and Kings cross and walked the tunnel past Kings Cross station to central by climbing up a ladder and jumping over the fence next to the dental hospital .-I picked the right time after everyone went home for the day.... I don't know why they didn't have security patrols and I could have been the only person to have done this.

[@MarkHenstridge]

What a huge con it was around the world to get rid of trams!!!

[@tressteleg1]

This fad to scrap tramways and replace them with ‘modern flexible buses’ was largely in the English speaking world although France, Spain, and Greece and others also followed suit. With world cities like London, New York and Paris being rid of trams by around 1960, smaller cities just followed like sheep. They did not want to be ‘left behind’.

[@someguy8427]

"tressteleg1 news" lol

[@CoatsyJnr]

Wait, these don't look like our current Tangara trains

[@tressteleg1]

No they don’t! Much better looking than the bog - ugly things that went to Sydney 😊

[@michaelhatton2477]

@@tressteleg1 See I’m of the COMPLETE opposite opinion. These prototype designs do nothing for me; look too 80’s (yes I know it was the 80’s). Whereas the ones we’ve got I just love the design. A real 90’s looking train before the 90’s had even began. I may be biased cause these were the newest trains on the network I grew up with before the Millenniums came along but I have a real soft spot for the Tangara’s. I feel they get a bad rap among Gunzels.

[@tressteleg1]

Maybe you are getting blinded by childhood memories. The front design is much the same as the Docklands Light railway in London and they were equally ugly but nothing can compare with the flat fronts of the K sets while that ridge around the edges must go against all the rules of aerodynamics that anyone could imagine.

[@michaelhatton2477]

@@tressteleg1 I probably am, in the same way that many older gunzels have blind childhood memories of the red sets. I do agree the K sets are pretty flat looking but I don’t really mind them cause at least they’re air conditioned and the seats are somewhat comfy.

[@tressteleg1]

It was the sounds of the gears of the standard/red sets which attracted me and motor/gear noise I continue to find interesting. The various warbling noises of electronic controls do nothing for me. And my liking for the front of the initially proposed Tangara trains could in no way be described as a yearning for the past. In fact it was really an improvement of course upon the XPTs which I thought looked quite smart. Air conditioning and seat comfort is another matter quite apart from looks.

[@boofalooaloo6875]

lol MONORAIL MONORAIL MONO .... god we are literally Springfield

[@tressteleg1]

👍😊

[@griffinrails]

You could LITERALLY use that joke with the monorail being from the Worlds Fair, it's what happened for the '88 Expo in Brisbane. That monorail is still around in SeaWorld! "I've built monorails in South Bank, Broadbeach and SeaWorld and by gum it put them on the map!" "But World Sq's still all cracked and broken!" "Sorry mom, but the mob has spoken"

[@kevinduffy6712]

The bridge would have been built on the cheap labor in them days as was a lot of railway infrastructure . As it was a great way to create employment in the depression and after the wars . A lot of post offices and government building were built for that reason too !.

[@tressteleg1]

The bridge was fine for 70 years until the overhead wire masts were attached. I’ve never heard anyone else saying it was built on the cheap. The rock under the earth on top is sloping, and when water seeps through, the earth slides down the slope. This includes the Coalcliff tunnel which itself is unstable for that reason. I lived in the area so got to learn something of the problem affecting much land in the foothills of the cliffs. As for the 46 class derailing, if you are referring to Granville, it fell off the tracks because the sleepers were rotten and the rails spread, letting the wheels fall through.

[@kevinduffy6712]

@@tressteleg1 I meant cheap Labor. The 46 class had been in 42 derailments be for Granville. The loco involved in Granville had worn flanges as well as loose check rails and timbers etc in the crossing . This loco was renown for splitting the gauge in sidings because of the axle configuration. I met David Hill a couple of times . One was when the new bridge was opened at meadow bank John Witton bridge I was track supervisor there while it was completed and opened . My length was one of the last to be upgraded out of the money that had been allocated after the Granville disaster . I was responsible for the track from North stratified to Epping and all the sidings in-between. Have look at the video that is available on here called day of the roses It is a slightly dramatized account of the second inquest as to what happened . Before i got the track supervisors job i was assistant ganger team 1 metropolitan We j used to go down there regular ,to re do the top and line , as it is 1 of the busiest freight lines in the state The tonnage is phenomenal what goes over there

[@tressteleg1]

@@kevinduffy6712 Thanks. Obviously you were much more involved than most people who comment here.

[@jw_media4577]

👍👍👍👍

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@nadnerb2k]

Gold, thanks very much

[@tressteleg1]

👍😊

[@CoatsyJnr]

The monorail connected with the light rail

[@tressteleg1]

Yes, but when the monorail was built, it connected directly with absolutely nothing despite the promises. When the monorail was found to be in adequate, that’s when the tramline was built and the two did connect.

[@tonymccarthy6713]

Thank you for an imteresting train and tram history. I found it all facinating.

[@tressteleg1]

Thanks. There will be more in the future. 😊

[@tonymccarthy6713]

@@tressteleg1 Thank you, will look forward to that.

[@Shew0000]

Was that Suzie Ellerman?

[@tressteleg1]

If it was a Wollongong district story, it probably was her (WIN TV).

[@wesleyquinnbine7341]

Is This Only For NSW.

[@tressteleg1]

Well real rail fans find interest outside their own backyard. Future editions will include a lot more Melbourne from when I lived there.

[@nathanpike3718]

I hope you put more videos like this on, are lot of memories I can reminisce on.

[@tressteleg1]

I am working on the next one right now but it will have to take it to turn behind others before I publish it. Did you see the earlier one for 1985/86? It still has only had 1500 views, half this one!

[@nathanpike3718]

No I didn’t is it on your page here?

[@tressteleg1]

Here it is. Trams & Trains in the News for Reasons Good & Bad 1984/85 kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpTVpIeXYtSBidE

[@FootyOnTheRadio]

love this.

[@tressteleg1]

😊👍

[@vsvnrg3263]

excellent! so why does the old rail car at 8:55 have a grid on the roof? it looks like a cow catcher. i was especially interested in the bridge crack-up. this old continent still has parts that move. i don't think engineers have a good understanding of the nature of masonry judging by the mounting method shown at 18:00. it wouldn't hurt to make a baseplate 2, 3 or 4 times larger to reduce localised stress on the brickwork. engineers also made what i consider to be the same mistake on the skyrail stanchions in melbourne. they wobble when freight trains go past.

[@tressteleg1]

If you mean at 17:50, those are cooling radiators for the engine. As for the viaduct, it’s interesting that it stood there for 60 odd years without a problem but started cracking up within months of the overhead been put on it. They are lucky they were able to save any of it. I wonder if the freight trains will start cracking up the sky rail. That would be egg on the face.

[@vsvnrg3263]

@@tressteleg1 ,cooling radiators. that seems right. i'd say the overheads work is a coincidence. a straw that broke a camel's back. the cracks are consistant with that pier sagging. the foundations dropping. the newcastle earthquake is proof that there is some potential instability around. as they say in the building industry, don't worry about cracks unless you can fit your fingers in them. those cracks will take more than fingers. as for the skyrail cracking under the weight of freight trains, i doubt it. the engineering behind steel reinforced concrete in compression is truly well understood. having to redo the mounting bases of the stanchions is likely ............in 50 years time.

[@tressteleg1]

I knew a Wollongong train driver whose son worked on that electrification and he and his mates reckoned the overhead was a major contributing factor to the bridge problems. But of course If the overhead were a factor, it would be sure to be hushed up otherwise the whole thing would look like incompetence.

[@vsvnrg3263]

@@tressteleg1 ,noted, but the weight of the catenary is a very small weight addition. they removed about 100 tonnes or more in the rebuild. vibrations set off by hammer drills might open a crack that was already there or ready to appear. or there is always the chance that the hammer drills set up the right vibrations to upset the bridge foundations. the surrounds of the bridge are sandstone. it decomposes to sand. the river will be made of sand. sand can liquify under certain conditions including water and vibrations. there was quicksand at a tip in melbourne where i worked. when there was spare time i used to play in the quicksand. it involved standing on sand under water and pumping your legs quickly until it liquifies. there is no danger doing this. however i've seen enough tarzan movies and cheap b grade westerns to get uncomfortable as your gumboots sink up to 300mm. it is the pier set in the river that has yielded.

[@tressteleg1]

If the viaduct were straight, there would not be a problem. However it is on a curve and with this electrification massive amounts of cast-iron weights are used to tension the contact wire and another pile of weights is used to tension the catenary. It was the horizontal pull of the wires added to the leverage of the masts which potentially could affect the bridge.

[@elisa2hot]

Gosh everyone looked so healthy and fit back then.

[@tressteleg1]

Less addicted to Maccas and other ‘food’ of debatable value.

[@tressteleg1]

👍

[@GG-ud8id]

And caucasian.....

[@tressteleg1]

@@GG-ud8id Yes, things have changed a bit in the intervening years. Have you been to the Mall around Box Hill station in recent years?

[@si_vis_amari_ama]

I really miss that older Aussie accent.

[@markharwood]

And we complain today about track maintenance... the permanent way in those days looks like an accident waiting to happen!

[@tressteleg1]

After Granville, New South Wales lifted its game somewhat. If you’re talking about that V set derailment cause by the dislodged container on the freight train, it had nothing to do with track condition. And the track on the Stanwell Park viaduct was pushed out of shape by movements of the bridge.

[@markharwood]

@@tressteleg1 I agree with that it just looks dodgy in general appearance compared to today. The higher prevalence of concrete sleepers now probably looks better.

[@peejay1981]

@@markharwood Maintenance is much better these days. I noticed it from around 1998. Also, there were a number of very high profile breakdowns in the late 90s/early 00s that seems to help politicians understand the need to fund it properly. They may have also noticed that a well maintained track has much lower ongoing costs, which I guess would help getting good funding to bring it all up to a high standard.

[@jamesfrench7299]

I read that in the 70s it was decayed everywhere. They were playing catch up in earnest when this footage was taken. Neville Wran got the ball rolling in the 1980s to the standard we see today. He started the concrete sleeper programme.

[@tressteleg1]

Apart from Granville which was caused by a misunderstanding between two track gangs, I don’t recall any derailment caused purely by bad track maintenance. The trains just bounced around a bit more, as they still do in parts of Melbourne which still have wooden sleepers.

[@australiantransportvlogs5191]

Wow!

[@tressteleg1]

There will be more to come in the future 😊

[@australiantransportvlogs5191]

@@tressteleg1Sounds great!

[@worland322575269]

it just goes to show that the Australian Labor Party doesn't care about the people of Australia, rather that they care about keeping the unions happy.

[@tressteleg1]

What makes you say that?

[@PhlanMichellePurss]

6:30 Nanny Berrygherkin would have had the Viaduct closed today! We used to be the Premier State, Now we are the Nanny State!

[@tressteleg1]

Only if it involved converting it to a silly Metro!

[@griffinrails]

KoalaKiller needs to be kicked out ASAP, she has done NOTHING BUT EVIL!

[@CliqueSpace]

A most unfortunate thing about electrification between Sydney and Wollongong is that I was dragged into becoming a commuter, long after being bound to a particular location to do the work that I once did (programming computers) became redundant by the advent of computers. Now, I'm a 47 year old pensioner who lives in a houso in Bulli because I couldn't appropriate behaviour long ago made redundant by the technology through which I tried to make a productive niche. Nifty Nev's government getting all gooey eyed over trying to suck commuters Sydney's way has rendered my opportunity into nothing. I sometimes spend time on KZbin whinging about it when the opportunity arises. In 1986, I came off my pushbike. Spent about three months in Wollongong Hospital recovering from blunt force trauma to my brain. No noticeable intellectual damage - I had thought I had (I had hoped I had) dodged a bullet. Unfortunately I did not for I could not appropriate behaviour cherished by my dead ancestry (some of them featured in this footage), and would hence be punished with a pension and a houso lest it otherwise be the underside of a bridge, a prison cell, or perhaps even the front of a train. Your video brings back memories of a childhood promise lost to ancestral ignorance that economic necessity perpetuates. Perhaps a viral pandemic might change things, but perhaps any change will come too late for me.

[@tressteleg1]

Bulli Beach was my home 1971 to 1987. Before electrification plenty of Wollongong people were driving their cars to Sydney every day to work. Faster electric trains would have enabled some to travel by train instead. Anything to do with computer technology is forever changing and at too faster a rate for some unfortunately.

[@CliqueSpace]

@@tressteleg1 I agree. The evidence suggests that, unfortunately, some decedents it seems must suffer because of the wilful blindness of their ancestors. It would seem a small price to pay to keep an economic monster alive. Good compilation.Thanks for sharing. Have a good day.