When I was a young lad in the 1950s, I had an uncle who lived in Lithgow and I was lucky enough to witness this spectacle a number of times. Even as a seven year old, I'll never forgot the off-beat exhaust of the 3 cylinder 57s and 58s. They were always my favourite loco.
When I was young ... we lived in the signalman's cottage opposite the signal box ... I feel so honoured to be able to say that we lived in this beautiful historical place ... we use to walk up the Zig Zag, across the viaducts and through the tunnels ... and have a picnic lunch that Mum had made.... this was during the 1960's.
Great comment! My wife and I were married in 1971 and part of our honeymoon was driving the car along the old rail bed from Top Station to the bottom, by the main line, over the viaducts and through the the tunnels. In the late 1980’s, on a family holiday, we rode the steam train on the same journey, and each of our four children rode in the cab of the engine on the way back up the hill.
Lithgow yard was quite flat , but the ascent Eastwards was quite steep. I frequently drove 3 diesels , with a bank engine in the rear pushing. On reaching Katoomba , all brakes were checked ,and grade controls activated. We descended the mountain at no more than 40 Km/h. to Valley Heights.
One of my earliest memories is a 57 or 58, with its Valley Heights banker, struggling up the 1 in 33 grade of Boddington Hill in the wet. Each loco would only get a few turns of the drivers before they started slipping. The sound of the Chuff.. Chuff... chuff,..chuff chuff,chuff.chuff as they struggled up the grade is burnt permanently into my memory. I reckon by the time they reached the top, the sandbox of both locos would have been empty...
Love the shot of the 36 on the passenger train, bounding through, building up speed for the grade ahead. And later on the 3 cylinder stutter of the 57/58's...
I'm a Qld Driver and proud of our railways, but as a steam driver (new generation)for QR I really appreciate what is pictured in this footage. The 57 class has always held a place of interest for me, what an awesome piece of equipment. No.4 brake, screw reverser, automatic stoker, 3 cylindered engine. Australia's largest rigid frame steam locomotive built by clyde. The firemen in all of the footage here definitely know how to get the most out of their engines. Even though howling off isn't good practice for numerous reasons, it was sometimes necessary to ensure the driver had maximum pressure to get the train over the grade and was done many a time here in Qld. Does anybody have any idea what the record maximum load pulled by a 57 class was? Official or otherwise.
Trains of today can not compare to the Old School beasts of a bygone era. You can see that when the Old School trains are at Central Station in Sydney. Have to get to Thirlmere again soon.
Ascending the grade from Lithgow to Zig Zag box was the easier part of the shift for the steam enginemen. Conditions in the "ten tunnels" section that followed were very bad, with insufficient time for smoke to clear from the bores between trains, especially in the long tunnel immediately after Zig Zag. On the Sydney side of the Blue Mountains, the trains had to carefully descend long and very steep grades held by air brakes only. Electrification of the route was essential by the 1950's, although today the remaining freight trains on the line are all diesel hauled.
+phil newton It isn't - you just have to judge it based on how much your loco is rocking back and forth. If you're consistently bouncing backwards and forward or you're getting a lot of buffer compression/decompression, then you try to match the other loco's output as far as possible, simply to gain a less uncomfortable ride. But you can never solve it completely, and you just have to get used to the longitudinal rocking. (Source: I work on steam locos.)
The 1st 1:44 was a bit disappointing since one could find that online and read it at leisure without all that speed-reading skimming 'stuff'. But the old footage is definitely appreciated.
Can anyone answer why the 57s and 58s have such a pronounced 3 cylinder exhaust compared to say a Jubilee or A3/A4? Is it the cylinder size or boiler pressure? ...or just dodgy dub jobs in documentaries? Lol.
Blast nozzle size and type along with exhaust port size and how long they are uncovered during exhaust events, all give engines their different sounding exhaust beats.
A great little video thanks for the memories I was at Lithgow depot for years.
When I was a young lad in the 1950s, I had an uncle who lived in Lithgow and I was lucky enough to witness this spectacle a number of times. Even as a seven year old, I'll never forgot the off-beat exhaust of the 3 cylinder 57s and 58s. They were always my favourite loco.
When I was young ... we lived in the signalman's cottage opposite the signal box ... I feel so honoured to be able to say that we lived in this beautiful historical place ... we use to walk up the Zig Zag, across the viaducts and through the tunnels ... and have a picnic lunch that Mum had made.... this was during the 1960's.
Great comment! My wife and I were married in 1971 and part of our honeymoon was driving the car along the old rail bed from Top Station to the bottom, by the main line, over the viaducts and through the the tunnels. In the late 1980’s, on a family holiday, we rode the steam train on the same journey, and each of our four children rode in the cab of the engine on the way back up the hill.
Lithgow yard was quite flat , but the ascent Eastwards was quite steep. I frequently drove 3 diesels , with a bank engine in the rear pushing. On reaching Katoomba , all brakes were checked ,and grade controls activated. We descended the mountain at no more than 40 Km/h. to Valley Heights.
Excellent(!!) film! And info. Thank you Fred!
One of my earliest memories is a 57 or 58, with its Valley Heights banker, struggling up the 1 in 33 grade of Boddington Hill in the wet. Each loco would only get a few turns of the drivers before they started slipping. The sound of the Chuff.. Chuff... chuff,..chuff chuff,chuff.chuff as they struggled up the grade is burnt permanently into my memory. I reckon by the time they reached the top, the sandbox of both locos would have been empty...
Love the shot of the 36 on the passenger train, bounding through, building up speed for the grade ahead. And later on the 3 cylinder stutter of the 57/58's...
I'm a Qld Driver and proud of our railways, but as a steam driver (new generation)for QR I really appreciate what is pictured in this footage. The 57 class has always held a place of interest for me, what an awesome piece of equipment. No.4 brake, screw reverser, automatic stoker, 3 cylindered engine. Australia's largest rigid frame steam locomotive built by clyde. The firemen in all of the footage here definitely know how to get the most out of their engines. Even though howling off isn't good practice for numerous reasons, it was sometimes necessary to ensure the driver had maximum pressure to get the train over the grade and was done many a time here in Qld. Does anybody have any idea what the record maximum load pulled by a 57 class was? Official or otherwise.
This would have been terrific to watch back then and imagine the public interest to see something like this these days.
Great stuff, pity none of the 58 class were preserved but good to see 5711 preserved.
Prachtige beelden. Streling voor oog en oor.
incredible
nothing better seeing steam working hard and knowing it would take twice as many diesels to do the same job
2 x 82's can haul 2400 t east from Lithgow. I think the greatest load here was what 2000 t ?
Excellent!
Trains of today can not compare to the Old School beasts of a bygone era. You can see that when the Old School trains are at Central Station in Sydney. Have to get to Thirlmere again soon.
This must have been filmed in mid-late 1956 as the concrete footings for the stanchions have already been poured.
Hello
Is it ok if i use about 20 seconds of this video for a video I'm do i will credit you channel in the video
Hi Fred, would it be possible to use some of the old footage you've used in the video?
Ascending the grade from Lithgow to Zig Zag box was the easier part of the shift for the steam enginemen. Conditions in the "ten tunnels" section that followed were very bad, with insufficient time for smoke to clear from the bores between trains, especially in the long tunnel immediately after Zig Zag. On the Sydney side of the Blue Mountains, the trains had to carefully descend long and very steep grades held by air brakes only. Electrification of the route was essential by the 1950's, although today the remaining freight trains on the line are all diesel hauled.
Diesel electrics are a lot cheaper to run than straight electrics powered from coal generation stations. Still use EMUS running at 1500 volt DC
how is the tow bar tension on multi headed loco trains coordinated so that a slower one isnt dragging back a faster one?
+phil newton It isn't - you just have to judge it based on how much your loco is rocking back and forth. If you're consistently bouncing backwards and forward or you're getting a lot of buffer compression/decompression, then you try to match the other loco's output as far as possible, simply to gain a less uncomfortable ride. But you can never solve it completely, and you just have to get used to the longitudinal rocking.
(Source: I work on steam locos.)
I really like nsw steam but it would be hard to model it l live in Canada
The 1st 1:44 was a bit disappointing since one could find that online and read it at leisure without all that speed-reading skimming 'stuff'. But the old footage is definitely appreciated.
Just STOP video to READ Notes ! Thanks for COMMENT.
Can anyone answer why the 57s and 58s have such a pronounced 3 cylinder exhaust compared to say a Jubilee or A3/A4? Is it the cylinder size or boiler pressure? ...or just dodgy dub jobs in documentaries? Lol.
Blast nozzle size and type along with exhaust port size and how long they are uncovered during exhaust events, all give engines their different sounding exhaust beats.