There are some good spots along the Hurstbridge line for taking train photos, unfortunately in this day and age, the type of traffic is limited to electric trains and a steam train once a year, so for the diehard gunzel opportunities are limited. There are occasional exceptions such as this rail-grinder captured by Martin Bennet (a local), in the dead of night back in 2009, or this ballast train, also captured by Martin in 2010.
Trains and cameras were fewer and further between pre digital, but a few interesting photos have survived into the twenty first century.Most readers would be familiar with the old red electric trains which could be heard rattling through the hills and valleys, they either had swing or sliding doors.
The photo below (courtesy of Robert Aquilina) is of a swing door train, with one tait car, crossing the trestle bridge and is dated 31/08/1941.
The photo below, from the Peter J. Vincent collection, is of X36 towing a broken down Hitachi out of Eltham back in 1978.
The following image, of K191 headed down to Eltham, was taken by Les Brown in August 1967, from almost the same spot as the P.J.Vincent image above.
Several minutes later, K191 crosses the trestle bridge over the Diamond Creek, with the old tip site on the left and a (now classic) EK wagon in the foreground. Photos used with permission © Les Brown. View the full roll from this excursion on Les’s website HERE.
Still on the up-side of Eltham, this photo of J515 heading for the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival in 2004 by Chris Nuthall. The photo was taken from the top of the signal (with permission of authorities) to achieve the view and perspective. What also makes this photo a classic (IMHO) is the lack of advertising, which more recent trains carry.
All photos are © of their owners and are used here with permission.
The collection of locomotive related images on this page, has been gathered from various sources including, institutional archives, private collections and personal works. All attempts have been made to gain permission for reuse, credit is acknowledged and sources are cited where possible.
