[kaseki]

On 12th and 13th June, I ventured west from Sydney, over the Blue Mountains and onto the plains beyond. A steam loco. was doing a series of trips, based around Bathurst (venturing as far as Orange). I decided this needed to be experienced, especially as the loco. in question was no. 6029 - a 4-8-4+4-8-4 AD60 Garratt dating back to 1954. ...

Thanks!

[ivanvernon]

645D + SMC A 645 55mm f2.8

Medium format is great for landscape, but it is great to see it used for closeups too.

[pepperberry farm]

Medium format is great for landscape, but it is great to see it used for closeups too.

thank you, Ivan..

it is my intention to normalize the usage of this camera, that it is as capable and useful as every other camera I have here...

[ivanvernon]

thank you, Ivan..

it is my intention to normalize the usage of this camera, that it is as capable and useful as every other camera I have here...

That is a good thought. However, you will find some wonderful landscape on this thread that may inspire you to start looking around for some mountains, big buildings, waterfalls, etc.!

[henkvanzuylen]

On 12th and 13th June, I ventured west from Sydney, over the Blue Mountains and onto the plains beyond. A steam loco. was doing a series of trips, based around Bathurst (venturing as far as Orange). I decided this needed to be experienced, especially as the loco. in question was no. 6029 - a 4-8-4+4-8-4 AD60 Garratt dating back to 1954.

GFX100S + Pentax 67 55-100mm lens @ 55mm - shows the train near Athol on the climb from Blayney to Newbridge
[/url][/IMG]

This, by the way, is a small crop taken moments before, with the same lens (I knew 102MP would come in useful some time)
[/url][/IMG]

At the top of Tumulla Bank, with GFX100S and Pentax 645 150mm FA lens
[/url][/IMG]

And attempt a day earlier in rather worse conditions (GFX100S with Pentax 67 55-100mm lens @ 100mm)
[/url][/IMG]

At which point I also turned around and took this (same lens, but at 55mm)
[/url][/IMG]

Leaving Georges Plains (GFX100S with Pentax 55-100mm lens @ circa 90mm)
[/url][/IMG]

Beautiful, 2 and 3 are stunning

[TDvN57]

On 12th and 13th June, I ventured west from Sydney, over the Blue Mountains and onto the plains beyond. A steam loco. was doing a series of trips, based around Bathurst (venturing as far as Orange). I decided this needed to be experienced, especially as the loco. in question was no. 6029 - a 4-8-4+4-8-4 AD60 Garratt dating back to 1954.

GFX100S + Pentax 67 55-100mm lens @ 55mm - shows the train near Athol on the climb from Blayney to Newbridge
[/url][/IMG]

This, by the way, is a small crop taken moments before, with the same lens (I knew 102MP would come in useful some time)
[/url][/IMG]

At the top of Tumulla Bank, with GFX100S and Pentax 645 150mm FA lens
[/url][/IMG]

And attempt a day earlier in rather worse conditions (GFX100S with Pentax 67 55-100mm lens @ 100mm)
[/url][/IMG]

At which point I also turned around and took this (same lens, but at 55mm)
[/url][/IMG]

Leaving Georges Plains (GFX100S with Pentax 55-100mm lens @ circa 90mm)
[/url][/IMG]

These are fantastic pictures Ed. These beasts that carried the heavy loads of 20th century industrialization across the world will soon disappear totally. Noisy and dirty as you can get, but super impressive power with only using water and fire. Amazing leap we made after having had these two elements (water & fire) with us for millennia, but only "recently" found a way to utilize its inherent power.

I must say I really appreciate your pictures and especially your selection of subjects as well. Thank you for sharing with us.

Just remembered now when I was in high school at boarding school my bedroom window was about 100m from the one-horse town's single rail line coming into town. Because of the surrounding hill country they only used Garratts there and every now and then the driver pulling out of town would do a wheelie to "clear" the wheels so to speak. Woke up the whole town. Massive machine and demanding respect.
-

[Ed Hurst]

Very nice pictures, Ed !

What I find intriguing is the name of the places you cite : Bathurst, Blayney, Athol(ville), Newbridge ... all names we find in New Brunswick, one of the Eastern Maritime provinces of Canada. I worked with a guy named "Mike Blayne" for more than 10 years here in Quebec ... The World is smaller than we think !!


Regards

Thanks!

Beautiful, 2 and 3 are stunning

These are fantastic pictures Ed. These beasts that carried the heavy loads of 20th century industrialization across the world will soon disappear totally. Noisy and dirty as you can get, but super impressive power with only using water and fire. Amazing leap we made after having had these two elements (water & fire) with us for millennia, but only "recently" found a way to utilize its inherent power.

I must say I really appreciate your pictures and especially your selection of subjects as well. Thank you for sharing with us.

Just remembered now when I was in high school at boarding school my bedroom window was about 100m from the one-horse town's single rail line coming into town. Because of the surrounding hill country they only used Garratts there and every now and then the driver pulling out of town would do a wheelie to "clear" the wheels so to speak. Woke up the whole town. Massive machine and demanding respect.
-

Thanks everyone, so glad you like them! Steam railways were my original route into photography, so it's good to return to it now and again :-)

Richard - re. place names, I can only assume that it's because both countries have British influence from the colonial days. After all, those names seem to come from that part of the world.

Theuns - normal, working steam is just about dead. I chased it in China nearly 20 years ago, though it continued in small amounts until recently. I've also seen it in South Africa and Poland. There are one or two places where it might, if you stretch a point, be said to be continuing here and there. And who knows what's going on in North Korea? But it's basically gone...
So where was that boarding school? I saw lots of Garratts running in South Africa (most of my shots are 6x7 slides, stored at my Mum's place in the UK) - but one day, I can show them to you!

---

Last edited by Ed Hurst; 06-14-2022 at 04:16 PM.

[pepperberry farm]

That is a good thought. However, you will find some wonderful landscape on this thread that may inspire you to start looking around for some mountains, big buildings, waterfalls, etc.!

there isn't much of those things out here.....

there is plenty of this, however:






645D + SMC A 645 200mm f4

[RICHARD L.]

there is plenty of this, however:

After driving across Indiana, Illinois and Missouri on Interstate-70 in the 1980's, I tried to describe the scenery along the road to my mother : "Oh, 1500 miles of corn, really. Just like in Saint Hyacinthe, here in Quebec, along the Trans-Canada Highway (Hwy 20)".

Regards

[cdd29]

After driving across Indiana, Illinois and Missouri on Interstate-70 in the 1980's, I tried to describe the scenery along the road to my mother : "Oh, 1500 miles of corn, really. Just like in Saint Hyacinthe, here in Quebec, along the Trans-Canada Highway (Hwy 20)".

Regards

I live in Indiana... nothing has changed. "exotic landscape' would be the occasionally hill or tree.. Maybe a rock every now and then. Occasional road kill so you can play "guess the corpse."

[pepperberry farm]

exactly.. and from here, it only gets worse as you go west...

once you get to Colorado, there's a change of scenery, but nothing until then ..

[RICHARD L.]

once you get to Colorado, there's a change of scenery, but nothing until then ..

In reality, the "change" occurs gradually in Kansas. Eastern Kansas looks pretty much like Missouri but they call Western Kansas the "High Plains", where you see cows grazing extensive pasturelands more and you start to feel you're higher in altitude (NPR Radio calls itself the "High Plains Public Radio network"). Then there is Denver, the "Mile-high City" where things really change with the Rockies. No wonder they call the central U.S. the Heartland of America.

Best Regards

[ivanvernon]

there isn't much of those things out here.....

there is plenty of this, however:






645D + SMC A 645 200mm f4

Looks like Ohio.

[pepperberry farm]

Looks like Ohio.

looks like a lot of farmland does....

[cdd29]

"exotic" Indiana landscape (we don't have much to work with around here...)