Cockatoo Run Doubt Has 3801 Lovers Steamed Up

Illawarra Mercury

Monday August 28, 2006

MEGAN LEVY

The Cockatoo Run train journey could be axed later this year, a casualty of an ongoing custody dispute over the historic locomotive 3801. Reporter MEGAN LEVY and photographer SYLVIA LIBER jumped on board the Cockatoo Run to experience the enduring appeal of steam.

STEAM travel whisks passengers on a journey not only through space, but through time.

For brothers Steve and Richard Doyle, one blast of a steam whistle jolts them back to their days sitting outside the Civic picture theatre in Auburn selling newspapers.

As kids, they would wait in the pre-dawn for the locos to rumble into the railway station across the street, then they would race across to hand-deliver the news to the drivers.

"We would sell the newspapers to those guys, and probably not sell any more between 5am and 6am," Richard said.

"We developed a fascination for steam trains."

Sitting on board the Cockatoo Run as it pulls out of Wollongong Railway Station, it is clear their fascination has not dimmed with time.

They have coaxed a group of 20 family and friends along for the heritage train ride over the escarpment to Robertson, and today they're in for a special treat.

Hauling the heritage carriages is the 3801 locomotive, Australia's most-loved steam engine - an equivalent of the Flying Scotsman.

The train is full to the brim with mums and dads, kids toting toy trains, and grandparents for whom steam train travel was once a viable mode of transport.

They reminisce about the old days of jumping on a train at Central Station to visit distant relatives for the school holidays, and of hanging out the carriage windows waving at trainspotters lining the tracks.

Today's trainspotters are armed with digital cameras as the loco sets off from Wollongong.

The piercing whistle and rhythmic clatter draws families onto their back porches to wave as it thunders by.

On board, passengers have opened their picnic hampers and spread out goodies, including the odd bottle of wine, for the six-hour daytrip.

Driver Ron Webb has guided the Cockatoo Run on more than 500 trips since he joined 3801 Ltd, the not-for-profit company that operates the loco.

What is it about steam trains that makes grown men get that familiar glimmer in their eye?

"It's a romance of the past that gets into your blood. It's the loco itself, the sound, the smell, the whirring of the side rods. It's a machine that's alive," Mr Webb said.

"People love to wave to the train, and of course people on the train love to wave back. I guess it's something from years ago when trains were the only thing that people saw in country areas.

"There were very few road vehicles, so there was that sort of contact between the train and people living alongside the tracks."

But uncertainty lingers over the famous loco's future, with the lease expiring in November.

A tug of war has broken out between the present operators 3801 Ltd and the NSW Rail Transport Museum at Thirlmere, who both want to operate the prized locomotive.

And the dispute threatens to derail the Cockatoo Run.

The 3801 loco only travels on the Cockatoo Run several times a year, with heritage diesel locomotives hauling the carriages at other times.

However, the Cockatoo Run is a division of 3801 Ltd, and without its flagship locomotive, that company is likely to fold.

The NSW Rail Transport Museum at Thirlmere has said if it wins the battle, it will continue to operate the locomotive on heritage tours throughout the state, but not as often as present.

The dispute has left 3801 Ltd's 137 volunteers and eight staff facing an uncertain future.

Retired industrial arts teacher Kevin Dodds, the train manager and volunteer co-ordinator, said 3801 Ltd ran heritage-based tourism to give people a real experience of bygone days.

"It's so important because, in my book, Australia hasn't looked after its heritage," he said. "A lot has rusted away in paddocks."

Mr Webb said it would be sad if the Cockatoo Run was axed.

"If you see 3801 in a museum, it's just another piece of machinery with no life in it. We're able to bring that atmosphere to life," he said.

"I think it's a very sad day, not only for the volunteers and the staff of the company that have put such a great effort in, but also the support we have received from the people of the Illawarra.

"Train travel is antiseptic these days. There's not a lot of communication any more. Here there's a real family atmosphere."

But the background tussle has been set aside for the day as the steam train eases into Robertson.

Passengers spend several hours wandering through town and enjoying a leisurely lunch. Then it's all aboard again for the homeward journey.

Mr Webb and Dapto driver Bob Donovan guide the heaving mass of metal through the steep bush, alternating as driver and fireman. Up front, it's a hot and sweaty job, shovelling coal into the engine's belly. They lean out of windows to catch the breeze as steam spews into the air.

This is the romance of steam Mr Webb had been talking about.

And he should know. Apart from being a lifelong railway man, he met his wife Rosemary through his involvement with the Cockatoo Run. He proposed at Hawkesbury Railway Station, and now she's in the dining cart serving up a storm as a volunteer.

That's a steamy romance.

© 2006 Illawarra Mercury

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