Railway Digest Magazine September 2015 Back Issue

The Winton ‘Goods’
The traditional wayside goods train, conveying general freight and dropping a variety of wagons and freight at numerous stations along the line, has almost disappeared from the Australian rail scene. Some trains, including grain and intermodal services, still drop wagons off at intermediate points along the line but these trains generally bear little resemblance to the small (by today’s standards) wayside freight services, often comprising a collection of open wagons and vans, that once polished Australian rails. John Hoyle takes a look at a fascinating survivor, still treading the rails in outback Queensland. .

Winter Wonderland
From mid-July through into early August, an ongoing blast of cold Antarctic air brought temperatures down throughout NSW, and produced the sort of snowfalls not seen for 20 years in the Southern Highlands, Blue Mountains, Central West and Northern Tablelands. Though welcomed in the ski fields, the extreme weather created serious problems for the State’s transport network; particularly in the Blue Mountains and Central West.

Avon Valley Musings
Following on from their coverage of the lines around Geraldton in the July Railway Digest, the ‘Three Amigos’ (Malcolm Holdsworth, Kelvin Russell and Bob Grant) head east to explore the very active grain, mineral and interstate freight and passenger railways around Toodyay and the Avon Valley.