Trike rides at Ladysmith
February 11th saw the resumption of Trike rides for the public at Ladysmith.
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| The first trike about to depart the loading area after the opening. The goods shed is in the background. The fencing is new, and a requirement to stop people wandering onto the tracks |
This was the first opportunity in 20 years for the public to ride the rails. The volunteers from the Ladysmith Tourist Railway, have managed to regain accreditation from the NSW government, and this was celebrated with a grand reopening.
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| Dr Joe McGirr, independant member for WaggaWagga in the NSW parliament provided the speech – in part congratulating the volunteers for their efforts, and he spoke about taking away concerns over the costs for certification – for instance, a $300 Medical per person – essentially the same costs as for Sydney train drivers |
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| The trike train returns from its journey from well past the silos. The lamp-room and toilet block is not original, and now sited on the northern side of the station (the original was on the southern side) |
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| The view south from beyond the silo. There is a siding hidden in the grass that served both the stockyards (now removed), and the silo. The whole trip out and back takes around 10 minutes. |
Some history
The line to Ladysmith was first opened in 1917.
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| An early aerial photo of Ladysmith |
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| The station platform was originally longer, and had a signal box, much like Tarcutta |
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| I believe bagged wheat stacked at the goods shed |
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| 3026 visited Ladysmith on a few occassions until the line shut down in 1987. This is from the 1983 trip (my photo)
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| After 1987, things started to deteriote. The sign though was still in good condition |
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| It seemed only a matter of time, before the station would be demolished (my photo) |
Reborn.
Ladysmith Tourist railway took over the lease on the Ladysmith Railway Station and yard in the 1990s. Buildings were restored, a new toilet block built, and the grounds freshened up. Trike running for the public was regular They had applied for running rights across the Kyeamba Creek bridge, but this was knocked back. The station building became a small museum
Legislative changes brought a halt to the public trike running over 20 year ago.
Displays.
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| In the former parcels office in the station building, there is an accumulation of artifacts from the line Wagga to Tumbarumba. Very useful to see – I was able to measure the size of the HUMULA station sign – letters are 12″ high – Humula is a station I am modelling. |
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| GT van, parked at the Goods shed. A GT van was occassionally pulled by the Tumbarumba railmotor. This van looks incomplete in the underframe, and that may be a clue that the shed and underframe are from different railway vehicles. |
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| A typical gate – showing the ironwork |
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| A selection of older trikes on display |
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| Grey Furgie Tractor was one of a small tractor display |
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| A display of historic cars. It was not only the trains that appealed |
Another excuse to attend (as if I needed one)
The last large structure I need to finish modelling the buildings at Ladysmith, was the perway shed.
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| A picture of the Perway shed from over 10 years ago. |
So armed with some printed images of the perway shed (pictures taken over 10 years ago), I got permission to go and measure the shed during the lunchtime break
Well, it seems that there was a miscommunication. As I was close to finishing my measuring, I was asked “what are you doing?” by one of the volunteers who had sighted me in the distance, and came up to ensure I was not up to no good. Well, the discussion that followed, ended up taking long enough for me to photograph some trikes running after lunch, all from the safety of the perway shed.
Conclusion
Ladysmith Tourist Railway is planning to run trikes every second Saturday of the month. For $5 a ride (Single adult), it is quite reasonable value, and contributes to the maintenance of the railway. They do have a website, so confirm
Until next time – I might make a perway shed…
