I have the pleasure of going to Cooma on a regular basis, on the few occasions when i dont have to rush back to Sydney on the Sunday I like to take a ride On the Railmotors at the Cooma Monaro Railway.
On Sunday Mrs NLF and myself took the hour and a half return trip to Chakola, here are some pics taken at Chakola Station.



On this trip they took us beyond the station to where the line is cut due to the collapsing Chakola bridge, which they say the cost of repair was one of the reasons the line was closed when it was.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

The headlight looks like what the PMC Galvastress bodies came with (without the headlight surrounds like the STA O305s...). Nice shots.

NLF wrote:On this trip they took us beyond the station to where the line is cut due to the collapsing Chakola bridge, which they say the cost of repair was one of the reasons the line was closed when it was.

I was told that the Government let the bridge run into disrepair as an excuse to close the line. The ACT RHS have in the past run trains down as far as Royalla, but haven't of late. I think it has to do with the rumours of the Federal Government doing the line up as far as Jerrabombera as they will run a train from Jerrabomberra to the new Bungendore Defence Headquaters.

Also if the high speed train from Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne gets the go ahead it may go along the old Bombala line then down through the mounatins & follow the coast to Melbourne-As was previously proposed by the Government in the 80's.

Herbert wrote:Interesting shots - don't suppose you got any cab shots? Strikes me as being a typical engineer's approach to the cooling system - functional, but bugger the aesthetics!

Having radiators on the roof is nothing unusual for diesel rail cars and rail motors. The advantages are obvious- all the air flow you need and far less likely hood of being smashed by flying bits of rubbish from the ground and other flotsam and jetsam. Whilst most designs have the radiators close to the roof line or neatly faired in like the 1100 and 1200 class cars of the NSWGR, the railway engineers decided to throw common practice to the winds in the case of our beloved "Tin Hares" and have the cooling units stand up like two panels from a chain wire fence!

When the CPH rail motors began running in 1923 they were powered by petrol engines (Thorneycroft Z6) and the cooling system was of a more conventional pattern, the radiators being beneath the floor. It was soon found that this arrangement led to overheating which resulted in the present system being employed (unlike STA's classic Bloaters which will always have over heating problems for lack of a suitable cooling set up). They were one of the few rail motors to feature this somewhat odd method of cooling. The system was non pressurized and relied on reticulation to transfer the heat. A hand pump was provided in the guard’s compartment to pump cool water through the system when required. I recall on a few of my trips from Wollongong to Moss Vale the guard would operate the pump after the long climb from Dombarton to Summit Tank.

Those that remember when these rail motors operated all over the state would recall that on lines of a fair grade the usual practice was to run radiator first on the heaviest graded sections.

For more information & photos of this train you can just go to http://www.cmrailway.org.au/index.html

Nice pics, how often does this line operate and how long does it take to get to Cooma?

From Sydney it usually takes 4-5 hours to Cooma (3-4 to Canberra & 1 to Cooma).

The Cooma Monaro Railway runs services from Cooma station on the following basis:-

Summer (October-June)- Saturday/Sunday at 11am, 1pm and 2pm

Winter (June 14th - end September) - Sunday at 1pm and 2pm only

Public Holidays - each day (except Christmas Day).

I find its just over the 4 hour mark (with a couple of short stops), but im close to the M7.

The 11 and 2 trips are the longer run to Chakola, and the 1pm trip only goes as far as bunyan.

TP 3000 wrote:

NLF wrote:On this trip they took us beyond the station to where the line is cut due to the collapsing Chakola bridge, which they say the cost of repair was one of the reasons the line was closed when it was.

I was told that the Government let the bridge run into disrepair as an excuse to close the line. The ACT RHS have in the past run trains down as far as Royalla, but haven't of late. I think it has to do with the rumours of the Federal Government doing the line up as far as Jerrabombera as they will run a train from Jerrabomberra to the new Bungendore Defence Headquaters.

Also if the high speed train from Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne gets the go ahead it may go along the old Bombala line then down through the mounatins & follow the coast to Melbourne-As was previously proposed by the Government in the 80's.

Or instead of posting rumour you could just look on the ARHS ACT Website.

Michelago Tourist Railway

August 2008 note: Damage from the severe storm on new year's eve 2006-07 means this line has closed to passenger traffic while repairs are made. These and other repairs are expected to keep the line closed for the foreseeable future.

Some very nice photos of the old Tin Hares. Although so close, I have never been for a ride on the CMR. I must get down that way.

Comment by On Air: 'CPH rail motors began running in 1923 they were powered by petrol engines (Thorneycroft Z6)'

Am trying to find info on Thornycroft Z6 engines, especially if fitted for marine use. Can anyone help please? The period of most interest is 1914-15 - two 40ft boats were sent out to Lake Tanganyika in 1915.