700 class Steam Last Runs to Victor Harbour South Australia June 1968

Last runs of the South Australian Railways 700 class mikados to Victor Harbour 1968 part 2. Part 1 is the previous day with 700 to Angaston - not posted yet.

[@MySteamChannel]

Thank you so much for sharing. I was on board with my family as a 6 year old lad. Amazing to finally see footage after all these years.

[@reidgck]

Thanks for commenting. That was a great day apart from the derailment which held things up at Victor Harbour until dark. The second division was supposed to have been hauled by a smaller RX class locomotive but 700 was kept in steam for a stand by after its trip to Angaston the previous day and was used instead of the RX. I think the 700 fans might have had something to do with that. On the way back the ttrain was double headed to before a town before the tunnels where one engine and a van was taken off as steam was apparently not permitted to double head through the tunnels. I was off the train with a whole lot of people I thought were passengers but they were motorcaders - i.e followers of the train in their motor cars. I was taken back more than a bit when the train suddenly departed and disappeared into the darkness of the Adelaide Hills. Solution was to see the guard in the van which was attached to the remaining locomotive and then board the van to follow the main train. We caught up to it a bit further down the line and I changed trains. Great never to be forgotten journey through the Adelaide Hills for sure.

[@MySteamChannel]

I remember getting off the train very late at Blackwood and hearing the other engine come through as we were walking home about 15 minutes later. Thanks again & best regards.

[@clintjohnston1261]

fantastic footage another great look back in time.

[@dj17q]

SAYONARA MIKADO it is. Thanks for uploading, I couldn't stop watching this a few times. The SAR big power were like nothing else around Australia.

[@hush6149]

Weeeeell there's the Garratts and Heavy Harry

[@robjacobs5199]

Fantastic footage and in great condition. Was overseas at the time and missed it but brought back lots of memories watching it. Thank you very much for all your work.

[@reidgck]

I live in Victoria and made several trips to South Aus to film the last of the steam there before it vanished. I wrote to SA and Dean Harvey wrote back to me and told me steam was on borrowed time. The film kept well over the more than 50 years as it was stored in a dark cupboard until it was possible to copy it digitally. Good to be able to see how some things were back then. It's there for all interested to enjoy. Great memories.

[@SmilingEntity3413]

Train gone sad 😢

[@waynewhite2323]

So cool!

[@Dave.S.TT600]

Thanks so much! In this footage *Harbor/Harbour ?

[@vsvnrg3263]

priceless. when you say derailer lever, are you talking about a set of catch points or the points were switched before the loco passed them properly or....please explain.

[@reidgck]

There is what I called a de railer before the turntable to stop anything falling into the turntable pit if the turntable is not in position,
It likely wouldn't be the correct name in railway terms, but it's worked by pulling a lever which swings a metal block over one of the rails
which derails anything attempting to go over it. There is a view of it in the first scene of the derailed bogie. Someone couldn't resist the temptation to pull the lever to see what happened. The railway men did a great job re railing the bogie as the tender would have been heavy. On some other rail systems they'd have just walked away and left the job to someone else.

[@vsvnrg3263]

@@reidgck ,i see it at 6:13. so at 6:13 the loco has moved away from the derailer. the correct railway term may be "turntable derailer" and in practice the rail workers probably shorten it to derailer, so your definition sounds correct to me.

[@darylcheshire1618]

Sometimes a derail moves in place when a set of points are moved nearby, one example is to prevent a shunting train from entering the running lines. A more common example is a set of points with a metre of rail.

[@Paganitzu]

What a journey! How long does it take to steam from Adelaide to Mt Barker?

[@reidgck]

I'd say about the same time as most trains take today

[@williamhabermann2395]

718 is my favorite 700 class steam locomotive! is this locomotive preserved?

[@bobmarshall3700]

Too bad those days are gone and Victor Harbor too has been destroyed by too much tourism and greed.

[@michaelnaisbitt7926]

When was loco scrapped ❓