My latest post was originally going to be about my recent exploits of the Blue Mountains with my partners in crime Bwana (Andrew) & Sydney_Gunzel (Liam) from Railpage of whom were great enough to give me a day of train chasing, foaming and window licking*… And then yet again I got busy during the week so sorry for the delay.
But with all that a side, the attitude and behavior that I saw come from some people last Saturday is just, well, pathetic. Reason why I say this is that last Saturday (20/9), when the NSW Rail Transport Muesum combined with the Powerhouse Muesum ran their heritage steam locomotives 3526/3642/3830 on a triple header up the Blue Mountains to Zig Zag and back (granted, this was bound to happen), the crowds of gunzels chasing the trains was quite a lot. Not that I’m saying I’m suprised by that…
My point is as well as the Zig Zag railway (who also put on a great show of running their steam trains), the attitude of some of the people was just the dark side of the day. To me I think that if your really passionate about rail heritage THEN you think that you would actually put your hand up, slap some money on the table and help out once in a while. NOT rock up in on the day, camera and ute in hand and bloody abuse the staff and everyone else around who are trying to do their best providing for everyone else whom may be around….(e.g Families, Kids). Also, just because your there on the day taking photos of the train, doesn’t give you the right to be above the law! I mean being over the yellow line and in the rail corridor is just the stupidest thing ever!
Now, I’ll admit this now, I have not yet helped out with any rail heritage group (another post to come about that) but you think that with all the logistics involved in running a very fail prone train, far away from home base would mean at least something to some of the ‘rail enthusanist’ out there to be grantful about seeing a triple header in full steam, and not treat is as a right!
I happened to run into a person a Wentworth Falls who came all the way from Newcastle! And out of the whole day, he was the only kind, friendly, respectful (not just for the train but for others too) and grateful that I saw on that day. He was ever telling someone in front of us to get back be hide the yellow line on a count a Sydney Bound Interurban was coming past. I mean, that is just top stuff, looking out for one another. It’s just unfortunate that said person in front of us couldn’t care less. But even thought I couldn’t care less if some of these idiots ended up underneath a train, I didn’t want to see it or happen around me at all! I came out here to have (or at least tried to have) a good time doing something I like. So safety is another thing that should be considered among some of these fence jumping and corridor invading individuals.
But I can say this. The people I saw working their train last Saturday, whether it be driving, carriage attending and anything else that involved running a train deserve my biggest respect, and probably a pat on the back for what their done**. So to the people of the Rail Transport Museums, Powerhouse Museum & the Zig Zag Railway, coming from someone who didn’t even see steam in it’s hay day, awesome stuff! Cause if it weren’t for you guys, then the show you guys put on last Saturday would not off even gotten off the ground.
*Still my all time favorite, I think I have the Victorians to thanks.
**I would offer alcohol of some sort, but I’m still a little bit too young for that..
