GrahamH's photos

A warning sign on a cyclone wire fence seen while walking around a coastal town out from Bundaberg, Qld, Australia. March 2025. HFF to my Ipernity viewers for 11/08/25.

A view of the seating in the "Mary Ann" carriages. See PiP for a view of all three. March 2025. www.maryboroughwhistlestop.org.au/maryann.html HBM for 070425 to my Ipernity viewers.

Andrew watches while Evan drives the turntable round and Steve is doing something in the cab. The object partly seen on the lower right is the movable solar panel array which charges batteries to power the turntable or batteries in the carriages used with the steam locos. April 2025.

The track between the platform and the shed was found to be a little out-of-gauge due to sleeper ageing. This photo shows the rails lifted and put aside and the old sleepers (all timber) removed. The old ballast and soil are being moved to the southern end of the site using the loader. The rails will be relaid using a mix of steel and timber sleepers, and gravel ballast. April 2025. The PiP shows the worksite from the other end. The red board indicates the line is not to be used. The green loader can be seen getting another scoop of spoil for removal. The shunt tractor is parked. It will be used at the end of the day to pull loco 106 back into the shed. The rear of one of the railmotors is seen in the shed. It is having a variety of passenger upgrades done. The replaced sleepers will be cut into shorter lengths and used in light-up of the steam locos.

The Mary Valley Rattler loco running around the carriages at Amamoor, the current limit of operations. Seen here running onto the turntable which is part of the loop track. Some passengers are braving the intermittent rain and super soggy ground to watch the loco being turned. 26/03/25. Happy Bench Monday to my Ipernity viewers for 30/03/25.

One of two fungi which have appeared in our front lawn during weeks of rain. See PiP for close-up. March 2025. (Trying the camera in new phone).

One of two fungi which have appeared in our front lawn during weeks of rain. Can you see the tiny black ant? See PiP for close-up. March 2025. (Trying the camera in new phone).

The steam locos at DownsSteam are lit up using scrap timber. Today I used all my time on site cutting up old pallets. First I organised a work table using some pallets made from plywood which we generally don't use in the firebox. I used the battery-powered circular saw to cut the cross-ways wood from the frame wood. See the PiP for the first of the wood as we use it. March 2025. Happy Table Tuesday for 18/03/2025 to my Ipernity viewers.

To assist crew operation the steam locos at DownsSteam we have added a water level gauge to the tender. In use we found the level was sometimes difficult to discern. I tried several things which were not suitable then asked another volunteer if he could 3D print a suitable plastic ball. He was able and that is the white object in the tube floating at the top of the water. I added a knot of bronze fly wire at the base of the plastic tube so the ball wont vanish into the tender when the water is mostly used. See the PiP for the whole gauge. This photo is of 106, and 1037 has a similar arrangement. February 2025

These are the equaliser air tanks, part of the airbrake system, from DH41. They belong under the short end above the bogie. The one on the right is as I removed them from the loco with a thick coating of oil and dirt. The one on the left is clean after much wire brushing. February 2025.

Sandblasters came today to prepare the DH's frame for painting. The truck supplied the material and the compressed air for the work. See PiP. March 2024.

Ed is wiping off ash and dust off the 1037's rodding. This has accumulated while standing for a few months while waiting for spare parts. January 2025.

We have an interesting view out our lounge room window. Around September last year after my wife had done some weeding and mulching with old lawn cuttings some bower birds started using this as a bower.They haven't built any vertical walls as I have seen elsewhere. Multiple males have been using it to display and as a source of blue things to take away to another place. The blue items are mostly clothes pegs and bottle tops. This photo shows a young male re-arranging the decorations. They are generally sensitive to us. If they see any movement through the window they fly away. australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/satin-bowerbird

DH41's axles have had bearing lubricated and are painted. Now they are being prepared to be fitted back into the bogie frames. January 2025. See PiP.

Ed is moving coal towards the front of the tender on loco 1037 in the DownsSteam workshop. February 2025.

A bench in a place which decades ago would have had a scenic rural view. See PiP for plaque. February 2025. HBM to my viewers for 24/02/25.

A general view of the work area at DownsSteam as viewed from the cab of DH41. From right to left. Part of the loco water tanker and the not yet restored air conditioned passenger cars are on the loop road. The Queensland Rail track is just beyond the green hedge parallel with loop road. The railmotor is on the platform road at the platform in between charter runs for a school holidays group. Loco 106 and the wheels of DH41 are on shed road 2. Between the shed roads a tour guide is show a group of visitors through the workshop. Loco 1037 and the shunt tractor are on shed road 1. Another smaller workshop, the Westinghouse Shed, is hidden from view. Next is a shipping container which has been storage but is currently unused. Over the top of the container can be seen a little of the roof of an air-conditioned car setup as a training room. Lastly you see the road access driveway to the site with, at the left, a former oil tanker as part of the rainwater storage system. January 2025.

Rust in the cab frame of our 'new' diesel loco. January 2025.