[NSW] By tram to Byron Bay in 1961.

[Red and Cream]

Unfortunately, Byron Bay is not served by any rail vehicles nowadays but in November 1961 a group of enthusiasts on a tour organized by SPER,was able to travel to the platform of Byron Bay Station by train and tram on the same day. The tram in question was the C class 37 that was previously used to ferry passengers from the jetty to the town when there was a shipping service to Byron Bay and was towed by the Simplex locomotive.


The Simplex and 37.


At the end of the jetty. The Byron Bay Stationmaster was our guard for the day guideing us around the sidings we shunted.
The ramp affair at the end of the jetty was used to winch the whales up onto railway flat cars to be taken to the whaling factory siding which we visited and boy was that factory a smell to remember. "Phew!!!!!"


37 being shunted back off the jetty. We had a bit of an added attraction here as just on the other side of the jetty out of view, a group of fishermen had just pulled a large live shark up onto the beach.


Watch out for trams.


A sign of more relaxed times as 37 stands at the Byron Bay station platform.

[Dave Wilson]

Lovely, I've never seen such good photos of the tram before. I guess the branch was pretty well dieselised by then.

[Andrew]

Beautiful images, thank you for sharing.

Although hardly similar (really) the third picture down reminds me of the rail jetty at Victor Harbor SA.

[Nicky Lupton]

Priceless pics..Thanks for sharing...
Are there any reminants that remain today..??

[leopard1543]

Amazing

[Red and Cream]

48 Class diesels ruled the line at this stage and judging by the photo i have of 4816 that hauled our train to Byron Bay it was quite new judging by its pristine paint work. We crossed the the returning train at Bexhill( i think.) and this was worked by 481


I am not sure what remains there are today but judging by how the place has developed over the years i imagine it would have mostly disappeared by now, maybe someone has been there recently?

[SMS88AEC]

Awesome colors on these lovely old photos.I dont recognise that trackside view of the station but the lighthouse from the beach hasnt changed much and your pix reminded methat I walked the railway track from the beach to the railway pub in 1988 (single track by 88?)

[leopard1543]

Gee that loco 4816 looks just great
I still see a few 48 class locos up the mountains here. Actually saw 48164 tonight and it looked terrible.
Another 48 class loco (48155) was the one that collided with MKII Leopard 1555 back on 28/11/75 at Botany

[Windy]

According to the Railmotor Bible (aka Railmotors and XPTs) one of the Paybuses (FP7?) carried Queen Elizabeth II to the pier from Byron Bay station (it had an interior refit for the occasion).

[ross johnson]

I have an idea that the tramcar shown was at one time [semi]-preserved by a young fellow along with a Sydney O in a paddock off Highs Rd, West Pennant Hills Valley. This would have been sometime in the 1970's and it and the O were positioned on a short length of track under a fairly crude [carport] style roof cover. The area has has been extensively redeveloped for housing.

[Ray]

I dont recognise that trackside view of the station but the lighthouse from the beach hasnt changed much

At the level crossing end of the station. Interestingly the station is still there and pretty much intact (although the tracks are overgrown) and even partly restored into some kind of "information centre". I googled the issue, but couldn't find out what the latest developments are in the fight to reopen the line. No doubt Railpage might have been able to help, but I couldn't access anything for the last three days.

[boronia]

I have an idea that the tramcar shown was at one time [semi]-preserved by a young fellow along with a Sydney O in a paddock off Highs Rd, West Pennant Hills Valley. This would have been sometime in the 1970's and it and the O were positioned on a short length of track under a fairly crude [carport] style roof cover. The area has has been extensively redeveloped for housing.

The O car would have been 1145, which I photographed in this rather precarious position at Brookvale in 1967.

10116TJ.jpg

IIRC C 37 went to Parramatta Park, but was destroyed in the fire. The O was later sold to the Navy and used for target practice near Jervis Bay.

E&OE

[Dave Wilson]

The O at West Pennant Hills was actually 1424 from the Scarba Childrens Home at Bondi and the Byron Bay C also went there, then Parra Park on loan. Fortunately, C 37 resides in the Trade union Club in Canberra, having been sold a few years before the tragic Parramatta Pk fire. The fire destroyed the other Byron tram,however, former NSWGT steam trailer 74B, the only one to survive in original condition. O 1145 belonged to the late Bruce Pinnell and was broken up in the early 1970s. I think 1145 yielded some parts to the STRPS and diabolically, 1424 after being stripped for its seats by the STRPS, was the car sent to Jervis Bay for target practice. It was a bad decade for the surviving O cars particularly 1145 and 1424, which were fully seated and suffered destruction due to a lack of foresight and determination.

[grimmy_89]

I dont recognise that trackside view of the station but the lighthouse from the beach hasnt changed much

At the level crossing end of the station. Interestingly the station is still there and pretty much intact (although the tracks are overgrown) and even partly restored into some kind of "information centre". I googled the issue, but couldn't find out what the latest developments are in the fight to reopen the line. No doubt Railpage might have been able to help, but I couldn't access anything for the last three days.

There has not been much development with the fight to get it reopen. Officially, (and technically) the line is still open, but with no trains running on it and a rather large backlog of maintance to be carried out before a train could actually run on it. The local fight, coordinated by Trains On Our Tracks (TOOT), is focused on in the short-term establishing a community or government run commuter train service between Casino and Murwillumbah. In the long-term, but not too long-term, to ensure the lines viability they believe (and so do I) that the line should be extended to the border to meet up with the planned extension of the QLD network to the border. They also want the XPT service reinstated and a freight service established to reduce the road freight volume.

More info on the TOOT website.

Priceless pics..Thanks for sharing...
Are there any reminants that remain today..??

If you asking about that jetty and associated track then no. The jetty was partially destroyed in 1954 by a cyclone, and was later finished off by another cyclone (I can't remember when). There was until about 10 years ago remanants of the jetty, but nature rotted them and covered them with sand.

[shrldujct]

Wonders never cease! Truly amazing that these photos exist. I would love to see any other photos taken on this trip of trains on the Casino to Murwillumbah line. Please post, particularly any Casino pix.

The old Simplex loco is still at Byron bay. When I last saw it, it was in its loco shed just south of the level crossing at the old Walkers meatworks (which has been recently re developed into housing)







The loco was donated to "the town of Byron Bay" by Walkers meatworks, when they closed and is lovingly looked after by its last driver, who kicks over the engine from time to time. There are frequent references in Byron bay about running it for tourists, but as it has never had air brakes and only has a handbrake, it would not be allowed to run, and certainly not by ITSR. Hopefully in the future it can be put on public display in an undercover situation.

[Red and Cream]

Thanks for the update on the Simplex shrldujct, it's refreshing to hear that at least one NSW authority is interested in it's history and has actually preserved something,even building a new shed for the loco.

[jspinella2000]

C37 entered the workshops at Loftus on Saturday for work to start on its restoration before being shipped across to NewZealand to operate in Christchurch. It took 4 of us to push it into the workshops. The body appears to be in fairly good condition from what I saw. I can't wait to see it running on the Christchurch extension in a couple of years.

Cheers,
Joseph

http://www.josephspinellaart.com

[Desto Dave]

Fabulous stuff. Always wondered what was kept inside that shed! Here's too one day trains run again on this magnificent line.