The sound of a once-familiar train whistle echoed across Narrabri on the long weekend and transported many older residents back to the not-so-long-ago days of steam train travel. Seventy-year-old steam locomotive R766 chugged into town to offer three days of rides to neighbouring stations.
There was no shortage of passengers keen to experience the romance of steam train travel and enjoy a unique outing aboard the ‘picnic train.’
Heritage enthusiasts call it ‘the magic of steam.’
The veteran loco, formerly with Victorian Railways, built in Glasgow and commissioned in 1952, has been restored and is run by volunteer steam rail heritage enthusiasts.
Who didn’t catch the train on the weekend? With crowds thronging the Narrabri railway station platform and full loads, it seemed as if everyone in town took the opportunity for a ride. The popularity of the trips confirmed that interest -and nostalgia – for the steam age is well and truly alive.
For most, it was a ‘first’ – actually seeing a steam train and then climbing into their booked compartments, which were so familiar to earlier generations of North Westerners, for a ride to Turrawan, Boggabri or Gunnedah and back.
Excited kids – and adults – filled every one of the trips over the long weekend.
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