Double Headed Hudsons on Wycheproof Wayfarer steam tour: Australian Trains

On 17 May 2003, Steamrail Victoria ran a day tour to Wycheproof via Ballarat and return via Bendigo. The train featured double headed R class "hudson" 4-6-4 steam locomotives R761 and R707. Unfortunately, the train lost it's path early in the day on the Ballarat line and got to Wycheproof at dusk, several hours late. This meant that most of the photo stops were cancelled, with the exception of Wychitella and Charlton. This video features both photo stops as well as several shots on Wycheproof's main street, one of only two locations left in Australia where trains run down the middle of the road. This would end up being the last of the classic long steam day tours with photo stops. While there were some shorter tours run later in 2003, by the following year the demise of West Coast Railway combined with the public liability crisis both contributed to the end of a tradition on railfan tours that was enjoyed by many. Nobody ever got seriously injured during photo stops and with proper organisation it was a perfectly safe activity. Unfortunately the beurocrats and people in power see otherwise and like so many things we used to take for granted in this country, it no longer exist. I think society as a whole is much worse off because of the every increasing nanny state where people must be protected from their own stupidity. © 2003 James Brook