x. Bitter Sweet Farewells

8th December 2007

I entered the full-time workforce about the same time steam was retiring. During the Sixties most of my student money went on finding the “real” steam action, but as the decade drew to a close, the steam hold-outs were few indeed. But the railways still had enough steam to power some amazing special tours, and the railway societies were busy arranging them from Perth to Auckland. From short excursions on rail cars to major safari’s over three day long weekends, complete with sleeping and dining cars, the Sixties saw hundreds of specials. Among the most ambitious and most romantic were those organised by Dean Harvey in South Australia. He had plenty to work with – three railway gauges, two systems, locomotives ranging from Shark nosed 4-8-4’s to diminutive Colonial Moguls, carriages of all shapes and sizes, from the most luxurious to the most spartan, a tantalizing mixture of British and American practice, and countryside from well watered hills through beautiful vineyards to vast empty deserts – all within a few hundred miles of Adelaide. He also had willing officials at the South Australian and Commonwealth Railways and the Silverton Tramway Company. And, the SAR’s Refreshment Services Branch was arguably the best in the country and provided excellent provender.

I was wealthy enough to travel on a couple of tours arranged to farewell the Peterborough Division narrow gauge and the southern remnant of the old Central Australian Railway, but there were many others I missed. Although a lifetime resident of Melbourne, I have a special affection for South Australia. So without denigrating the efforts of others, this is my appreciation of Dean’s efforts. Enjoy!

Panache	Steam in the Paddock	American Trim	Fading In Style At Burra
Dessert in the Desert	Signs of Aging	Too Much Smoke	Photogenic Bridge
Near the End	Dowd’s Hill	Garratt Country	The New Horse
Baroota	Luxury in the Desert	Refugee from the South East	Nonsense at Cockburn
Disguise and Makeover at Silverton	Dogleg to Nowhere	Blaze of Glory	Beyond the Photo Line
Double Header and Baroota	Steam Turbine	Hot Chocolate	Last Chance