NSWGR 4306

Till next time
 Mathew Hughes

Catherine Hill Bay

Although not to much remains at Catherine Hill Bay from a railway point of view but
what is left is interesting. (well I think) Once a busy unique little seaside town with 
coal mines and a standard gauge railway that carried coal to a large ocean jetty for
 loading of coal ships.  Now the mines and the railway have gone Catherine Hill Bay
 has become a sleepy little town.

A close up of whats left of the trestle bridge that once crossed
 the creek near the beach

showing how close it is to the beach

The jetty in which the coal ships where once loaded

Where these gates are located is the start of the jetty that once
 had coal trains on it for unloading directly onto waiting ships

Located south of the cemetery is the remnants of this water
tank once used to fill steam locomotives of water 

The brick foundations where surprisingly in good condition

The water tank itself has definitely seen better days

Till next time 
 Mathew Hughes

Peter Boormans workshop and Andian models BBP (a quick look)

I have always wondered what Peter Boormans kits where like but seeing how he 
does N gauge and I model HO I never got the chance to build one of his kits till
 now. Peter Boormans workshop and Andian models combined together to do this
BBP (bogie ballast plough)kit in HO and I just had to get one.

Kit is packaged well

The lost wax brass components 

The brass etches 

Urethane chassis 

And some urethane detail parts

The kits looks great if not a little daunting but the parts look great. It comes with a
 very comprehensive instructions on a CD and plenty of reference photos and small
 decal sheet is included. Overall looks awesome and credit to them for making
 something different.
PS Peter Boorman was great to deal with and some other model company's could
 learn a thing or two on customer service from him

Till next time
 Mathew Hughes

Newcastle line (well what was left of it) pt3

A scene that will never be repeated again and a reminder
to take as many photos as you can because boring and
mundane things disappear forever.

How Newcastle Station looks today

Some of the infrastructure being removed

The old signal box

I wonder what else will get demolished

Till next time
  Mathew Hughes

Newcastle line (well whats left of it) pt2

This poster on the wall of Civic station made me laugh. Travel with
CityRail (except to NSW's second largest city)

Some pics of the rail line and infrastructure being removed

 

And finally the ghost station that is Civic  

Till next time
 Mathew Hughes

Wickham Station (Well what is left of it)

Hi All,
 I've never really photographed the Newcastle line much over years; I guess I just
took it for granted that it would always be there. The decision to end the line at
Hamilton surprised me but not as much as how quickly it was ripped up and knocked
down because as a Novacastrian I know things happen around here usually rather slowly.
Here are some shots taken around Wickham Station over the last fortnight.

The light rail station

Till next time
 Mathew Hughes

ADPF2003F part 2

I had not seen ADPF 2003F since it was disassembled in the Varley yard.
pics here
Now rebuilt with the body removed.
One thing I did notice that was different is the little guards to protect the
wheels from ballast.

Till next time
 Mathew Hughes