The minimal railway activity on Saturday was more than compensated for by the fantastic time I had on Sunday!! For a birthday present Jenni gave me a Driver for a Day experience at Rosewood Railway Museum, which is operated by the Queensland Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society. This involves both firing and driving the C17 class 4-8-0 ex QGR steam loco up and down their track near Rosewood for the day. Needless to say, driving steam locomotives has been a dream of mine since boyhood, and to drive a full size mainline locomotive was an absolutely amazing experience!!
I was particularly impressed with the instructing crew, who are volunteers. They were really welcoming, and offered some great information during the day while allowing me to drive and fire without hovering over me, which was much appreciated. In short, it was everything I could have hoped for! To say I felt at home on the footplate would be the understatement of the year!!
We 'started-up' the loco from cold in the engine shed, although it had operated the previous day, so was still warm. I found it really interesting the amount of work the crew has to do with all the checking, oiling and greasing around the loco. The crew is very familiar with every nut and bolt of the engine! Once steam was up we headed for the 'main' line.
Unfortunately I didn't take any more photos as I was too busy having fun! But it was an absolutely fantastic day, and I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an interest in steam.
Saturday is traditionally a day devoted to trains around here, although today there was a bit less train content than expected. The Southern Downs train to Wallangarra came down from Warwick and I had planned to follow it from Stanthorpe to our place, but it was running very late, so I gave up on that idea and got stuck into some work at home. It was the first time this year that it has run down here, owing firstly to flooding and then loco repairs, so it was good to see it, even though late. We heard it coming from home, and raced down to the nearby level crossing to see it.
It was a really stormy day again today, and I took a photo of a storm moving towards our cottage. It doesn't look quite as bad as it actually was!
We spent some time at our cottage today as there were no builders around, had a beaut lunch on the verandah, and cleaned up the kitchen area. I had built all the cupboards from Ikea parts, and it is fantastic to now see it installed. I love the oak benchtops!! We also installed the shelves in the cupboards, and I was very tempted to start packing them with food supplies!
I'm really happy with all the mowing and brushcutting that I've been able to do recently, and with all the rain we've had, the area around the cottage- the front yard- is looking very green and attractive!!
All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday!
A superb day today, absolutely perfect. Good progress on the cottage, particularly the bathroom being waterproofed and the shower-recess defined. The bathroom is minimum sized and I was a bit worried that it wasn't going to work well, but it's going to be fine!! Some more painting has been done, so I took a few more photos this evening.
Below: Looking north.
In a previous post I mentioned that the railway line that runs beside Whistlestop, which is part of the Warwick- Stanthorpe- Wallangarra line, is being re-sleepered with approximately 30,000 new timber sleepers. Yesterday and today they were working right beside our place, with lots of action and a 'hornfest' every time they needed to cross the level crossing. There are about 8 0r 10 machines, all with a different task, although quite what that task is isn't obvious just by looking at them. This is a massive project, and we are so lucky that it's happening.
Here's to more of the same tomorrow!!
As promised, here are some photos of a couple of the recent arrivals for the Trainbarn. These are MTH 200 series Standard Gauge cars, dating from the 2005 catalogue, and are in like new condition.
Most of the trains that I'll either run or display at the Trainbarn will be grouped the same as the sets that Lionel catalogued in the 1930's. With these cars though, I'm going to make up my own train which is going to consist of the red hopper cars (all the same), the caboose, and a grey steam engine, probably a 385E, or even a 400E. There was a similar train set in the Classic era with 500 series hopper cars, but I haven't seen this done with the bigger 200 series cars. Should look really good!
One of the slightly unusual features of these cars is the grey painted truck sideframes. Normally these are satin black, but MTH issued various cars with grey trucks in 2005. That's why I'd also like to pull this train with a grey and brass steam loco.
Obviously these cars are reproductions of Lionel's, made by MTH, but for running on a layout I'd much rather buy these than the Lionel originals. The standard of the baked-enamel paintwork is exceptional. I might be biased, but I think these are stunning!
It's been a while since the last post on this blog, but there is plenty to report! The cottage is progressing well, and it is tantalisingly close to us being able to move in. The huge difference now is that the verandahs are on! And the front door is in place, although it still needs some trim around it. And the ceiling is lined, ready for painting. Some of the painting outside is finished, mainly the two sides. The front and back still need some work.
I am very happy indeed with how it's looking! I really like the colours that we have chosen, including the trim. The outside is Dulux Hog Bristle. I have planned and dreamed about this project for a long time, and it's fantastic to see it becoming reality, and looking very much as I had imagined.
The weather wasn't great today for photos, very changeable and stormy, but anyway this is the back of the cottage, looking westish. We plan to eat many of our meals at a table on this verandah, and of course, the barbecue will be here too. The view from this verandah is looking straight at Girraween National Park, and no civilisation in sight!!
This is the lounge room, and the front door. I'm really happy with how it is now, but it will be even better once it's painted too! We're doing the walls Hog Bristle half strength, and the ceiling, including the rafters, Antique White. We have a beaut fireplace and hearth ready to go in here too, and with weather like today (8°C) we may still need it!
So, that's the cottage, and I am incredibly excited about it! I did some mowing in our 'front yard' today too, ie what you see when you step out onto the front verandah. It took me at least two weeks of really hard work getting the grass down in this area when we first came home. Now that it's down it only took me the morning to completely mow it, and it looks superb!! Unfortunately no photos as I had to quit early due to a thunderstorm. I'll take some in the days to come. There is still a lot of long grass in the general vicinity of the cottage, and as I mentioned previously I can now tackle this in bite-size chunks, but it is very reassuring to know that the part that is mown is very easy to look after. Mention should be made of my current favourite 'toy', my John Deere lawn tractor, without which I just couldn't manage this. There's almost nothing I like better than mowing with Big John!!
Many of our overseas friends have the impression that Australia is a land teeming with snakes, spiders, crocodiles etc., which we usually dispel as being a myth. Well, I have to report that within an hour of starting work again on Whistlestop I had a fairly close encounter with a snake! It was either a harmless grass snake, or a baby big bitey snake, I didn't stop to find out!
The Trainbarn has been simmering on the back-burner for a while, as getting into the cottage takes precedence, but perhaps needless to say there has been a fairly steady stream of trains arriving for the various layouts and displays, mostly courtesy of eBay! I'll post some photos in the days to come.
I look at the cottage taking shape, the beautiful property that it is on, all the plans and hopes for the trains at Whistlestop, even my current part-time work situation, and really, I have to pinch myself to believe it is real! It is just so good! Combined with the other aspects of my life, particularly our three daughters all leading very successful and interesting lives, and I just feel incredibly blessed.
