Behind the Rails
Behind the Rails: A Story about the Puffing Billy Railway
Over a quarter of a million people every year visit Puffing Billy, Australia’s favourite steam train and one of the best preserved steam railways in the world. Puffing Billy is located in the Dandenong Ranges and it runs every day except Christmas Day. The railway track itself covers a large distance, starting at Belgrave and heading towards Gembrook. Majority of the workers at Puffing Billy are volunteers who dedicate their time to help run the railway and I am one of those many volunteers. My family and I have been volunteering with the railway for some years. I am therefore aware of the work that goes into running the railway but most members of the public probably don’t realise what takes place behind the scenes. With this in mind I wanted to tell the story of some of our volunteers who help ensure the Puffing Billy continues its reliable operation today.
BEN Ben is a Fireman for Puffing Billy who is responsible for lighting the train. He has been volunteering with the Puffing Billy Railway for about sixteen years and has been a fireman for the past ten. His main responsiblity is to ensure that the fire keeps burning. To do this he must constantly shovel coal into the locomotive so that the fire will not die. Here is Ben busy oiling different areas along the locomotive. Each morning the fireman has to go along the locomotive to oil all moving parts that have oil points, which will ensure a smooth operation.
Each morning the fireman has to get up before the sun rises to make a start preparing the locomotive for the day. The fireman needs to collect wood that would be used to light the engine.
Fireman Ben is wiping away excess grease that he applied earlier around all moving parts underneath the locomotive.
The locomotive is now ready to leave the engine shed for the morning and to slowly make its way outside for further preparations.
Once the locomotive has left the engine shed for the morning, the fireman goes around the locomotive and cleans the outside of it.
These are signal levers and when pulled they tell the driver which platform they are about to come into at the station.
The locomotive is now on the move and is ready to connect to its carriages.
The guard of the train is now coupling up the locomotive to the carriages.
The conductor on the train is beginning to unlock the carriages so they are already opened for when the passengers start to arrive.
ANDY Andy’s first visit to Puffing Billy was 33 years ago. He has long been a model railway enthusiast and when he retired in 2014 he joined the railway as a volunteer conductor on the train every Tuesday and Saturday. He worked as a chef and pastry cook in many different parts of the world, among them Queensland, Switzerland and Jakarta, finally running his own restaurant. As well as volunteering with Puffing Billy, he continues to be involved in the scout movement.
The conductor of the train is busy chatting to the passengers who are travelling on the train.
The train is now ready for departure. The conductors are double checking that all passengers are on board the train and all doors have been closed.
IAN Ian is a mechanic and during the week runs his own business with wife Julie. He has been volunteering for six years, working at Puffing Billy twice a month. Ian is involved in many different areas within the railway, mainly in the workshops but also as a guard, signalman and trolley driver. Once a month Ian and his wife Julie also run a youth group for 13 to 15 year olds. Occasionally, if there is a special event at the railway, Ian and his entire family are willing to help out.
Puffing Billy has now left Belgrave station and is making its way along the train line.
Puffing Billy is now travelling over the historical Monbulk Creek Trestle bridge. The bridge itself is 91.4 metres (300 feet) long and 12.8 metres (42 feet) high.
RUDOLF Rudolf has been volunteering as a conductor for about three years. He works every Wednesday as well as most Saturdays and on Special Events.
The passengers have now arrived at Lakeside station. The train will be waiting at the platform until it is ready for departure.
PETER Since the late 1990s Peter has been volunteering his time at Puffing Billy. He works as a guard, signalman and fireman. During the week his day job is being a doctor. When asked the question “why do you like volunteering at Puffing Billy?” he gave a unique response. “I have thought about my so called motivation for working at Puffing Billy. The most accurate reply lies in the words of David Morgan, ‘To an enthusiast, no explanation is necessary. To anyone else, no explanation is possible’.”
Inside look at one of the signal boxes at Puffing Billy.
The fireman and driver are waiting patiently on the platform until they are ready to leave Lakeside and head back to Belgrave station.
This conductor is patiently waiting for his passengers to arrive back at the station so that he can assist them with boarding back onto the train.
Puffing Billy is now heading back to Belgrave.
LES Les began working in the track gang in 1979 and soon after branched out into other areas within the railway. Some of his roles include trolley driver, engine cleaner, guard, signalman, fireman and driver. Occasionally when needed, he will take on the responsibilities of traffic manager.
The fireman for this train is getting ready to pack up for the day.
The fireman and engine cleaner are working together as a team to clean out the locomotive at the end of the day, so it can be ready to be put away and be nice and clean for the following day.
The locomotive is now ready to head back into the engine shed so it can be put away after a long day.
Author Biography I am currently studying photography at RMIT. I have had an interest in this area for some time now and hope to pursue it in the near future once I have completed my studies. My main area of interest is to photograph people, whether portraiture or natural, in-the-moment type shots. I am happy to photograph anything.
Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank Rob Gale, Jessie DiBlasi and Julia Gapper for their ongoing support and guiding me through creating this book. I would also like to thank Puffing Billy and all of the volunteers for allowing me to photograph them in their natural working environment for the past few weeks.
First published in Melbourne, Australia by RMIT Images and text Š Madeline Park 2015 This book is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means or process without the prior written permission of the author. Printed by CPL Digital, South Melbourne, Victoria