Photo Gallery: Rail Museum Run Hosted by the TC Register

Image thanks to Syd Reinhardt

The TC Register hosted a run to the New South Wales Rail Museum with lunch at Bundanoon Hotel this past Sunday, the 25th of August, and club photographer Ingo Weinberger was there to document our adventures.

The run took us through lovely country roads on the way to the NSW Rail Museum, where we enjoyed a guided tour that provided a very good explanation of the workings of steam engines and signals. From there we hopped back in the cars and wound our way to Bundanoon Hotel, where we enjoyed lunch and some socialising in a private room before another enjoyable drive back into Sydney.

Read on for a few thoughts on the run thanks to Ingo Weinberger, with additional photos by Syd Reinhardt.

Image thanks to Syd Reinhardt

Our first stop was Thirlmere Rail Museum, where we enjoyed a guided tour. We first saw ‘Big Wheels’ a locomotive that differs since it has the cylinder and valve gear connection inboard, between the tracks, before an explanation how those big levers which control the points function.

We then took a stroll to Thirlmere Station where a steam train was ready to take off at 11 am for an hour-long run around ‘the loop’. Check your street directory to find out where and what this is.

After that, club members were getting ready for the run to the Bundanoon Hotel to partake in food and drink. I stayed on at the museum to take more photos and discovered that ‘The Mighty Garrat’, a massive articulated locomotive, had been restored.

I then made my way up to the ‘Roundhouse’ where engines and rolling stock is serviced and restored, then met again with our guide who kindly opened the instruction car. All those silvery cylinders operate compressed air brakes. A steam engine, when pulled in for servicing and cleaning, might take up to six hours firing up to be ready for work.

Thanks to Ingo Weinberger