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G'day BW,
I have found yer Kings Lynn route diagrams.
96 miles from London town equates to the same distance that Lithgow be from smog hollow town.
What is the steepest grade encountered en route to Kings Lynn ?
The steepest grade on the Blue Mountains is 1 in 31; averaged to 1 in 33 for the 20 miles worth from Valley Heights to Katoomba.
An all stopper interurban service (skip stopper within the Sydney metrop) to Lithgow takes 2 hours 50 minutes run time.
Yer Kings Lynn platform 1 is long enough for our 8 car V set interurban, but platform 2 is a tad too short.
Though, a number of the Lithgow interurbans are only 4 or 6 car sets.
The peak hour commuter jobs are 8 cars.
Back in the glory days there were a number of named interurban services.
Booked seats, and even a buffet section on one of such prestige jobs for a short period.
The only named job remaining today is the "fish", though it does not possess a name board no more.
And we kyboshed booked seats on interurbans in the late 1970s.
But, jump into a seat regularly used by some Mountains commuter and you cop some angst.
Originally two jobs ran, one having the name of "fish" and the subsequent being the "chips".
Yeh, trad Pommy friday tucker inspiring them names.
There was also the Summit and the Heron.
Woe betide anybody who blocked the Fish, that being the most prestigious.
While attending the week or safe working review for the stupid 2000 olympics at Transport House in smog hollow, I rode the Fish home to Lithgow each arvo.
I represented the Freight section, with two other drivers each representing Cityrail and Countrylink pas mobs.
The "Fish" had lost a lot of prestige by 1999, and I suffered a number of drama trips during that week.
It was not tabled to stop at Emu Plains.
But, some mongrel would jump aboard the Fish to ride to Emu Plains for the express run in lieu of riding a squirt.
He would press the Cattle Emergency button upon approach to Emu Plains to stop the train to get out.
Most of them cattle emergency buttons had been covered over to prevent such access.
But, some still existed in the dunnies.
The driver and guard then running through the 8 cars checking which button had been pressed to reset it.
I performing this task on the occasions while I was commuting home on the train.
You needed the ink tube from a biro to insert into the small hole above the button to reset it.
So, getting fed up, I told one driver to stop beyond the platform to thereby prevent the mongrel from being able to get out.
When stopping on a platform, even non-tabled, the guard must open the cattle doors.
But, stopping beyond the platform, the doors would remain closed.
So, we got the mongrel that particular trip and he had to continue on to the next tabled stop to get off.
He being the only one to exit at Emu Plains, I had checked the other days and could recognize him.
Yelling abuse at him from the cab door did not dissuade his caper.
Another trip, we got stuck behind a squirt on which some mongrel had gone berserk with a knife.
That squirt (suburban emu) dead in the water for 20 minutes odd until the coppers arrived to resolve the drama.
And, I even did something rather dangerous on another trip, a sackable offence if dobbed into management.
Having suffered the usual delays, we were LATE but finally rattling down hill through the 10 tunnels approaching Lithgow.
We suddenly ran into a wild goat lurking in one of the tunnels.
It snagged the Train Stop apparatus dumping the brake pipe air.
In an effort to prevent the train coming to a full stop, I quickly opened the cab door and hung outside.
I kicked at the lever plunger on the front bogie attempting to get it to reset to vertical and thereby close the dump valve.
Me being outside the car hanging onto the door handrails inside the tunnel.
But, I got it reset allowing us to continue without stopping down to the station.
Hanging outside was a regular caper when jumping off adjacent to Lithgow Loco Depot after travelling pas home.
Get out and climb down to the bottom cab door step, shutting the cab door, and waiting for the train to almost stop.
Jump off and wave to the driver to continue down to the station.
A good 20 minute hoof back up to Loco to sign off duty if riding all the way to the station as was intended.
Naturally, such a caper is Totally Verboten today.
After the week of commuting anguish on the Fish, I was most happy to avoid such enjoyment from then on.
No annoying cattle (two legged variety) problems on freight trains.
Yer Kings Lynn station appears to have been rationalized, and two car storage sidings replacing original platforms, I presume.
Lithgow only has two platforms, actually an island platform wedged between the Up and Down, in the cutting.
This will require intense modification for the newbie wide body interurban cars being built in South Korea.
Cambridge is an interesting location with terminating dock platforms in either direction.
You go past a nearby Enfield.
Enfield was the major freight yard and loco depot in smog hollow Sydney, until privatization.
Still exists today, but in a very reduced capacity.
I spent many hours resting in Enfield crew barracks adjacent the yard.
Well, attempting to, you had to claim a room on the road side of the double decker building, not railway side.
Rattle rattle rattle, bang crunch whallop all day or night long otherwise.
So, back in them days, most crews would hoof over to the Enfield pub to guzzle some amber fluids (sleeping tonics).
It was called a "round trip" when you did NOT go to bed at all, remaining at the pub for most of the 8 hours.
That all hit the buffer stop when the Seven Hills terminator occurred, and random beath analysis was introduced.
Steve.
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