Goulburn NSW, once a major service centre for trains on the main southern line into and out of Victoria, played host to another type of rail event in early October: Streamliners 2016.

Image courtesy John C Benson

It was a big deal with a whole gaggle of locomotives coming in from all over Australia to celebrate 65 years of active service of the Streamliners on Australia rails. You can also visit the Facebook page for more images and information. What happened after the event though is just as important.

On December 2 this year Southern Shorthaul Railroad train 4578S departed Northern Power Station at Port Augusta South Australia heading for New South Wales. Consisting of 90 empty hoppers formerly used on the Leigh Creek coal train, it was the second of two transfers. Hauling the train were five of the Streamliners from Goulburn (all operated by Southern Shorthaul Railroad:

• B61 ‘Bernie Baker’,
• S317,
• GM27,
• GM10, and
• S302.

This video has some great vision and sound of the train departing the power station, being passed by several other trains before approaching and then crossing Mambray Creek. The last scene, between Gladstone and Caltowie, shows the train struggling on the 1 in 80 (1.25%) grade accompanied by the sounds of locos working hard and doing what they’ve done (in regular revenue service) for just on 65 years. Enjoy!

Late Addition: Need more Streamliner love? Follow this link to a YouTube search page for the event. Lots of vision there!