COOK 2015 - South Australia
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Cook is essentially a ghost town on the Trans Australian Railway. It has a caretaker population, and has facilities for resting train drivers. It's 107 kms north of the Eyre Highway. It once had a population of up to 300 during WW2, (April 1942 - October 1943 - Italian POW and Internees) and was basically closed down in 1997 when the railways were privatised and the new owners did not need a support town there, although the diesel refuelling facilities remain.
Of interest re WW2
italianprisone...
I lived in Cook in the early 60`s , back in the Commonwealth Railways, the days of the tea and sugar. The highlight of the day was meeting the " passenger" it actually arrived between 10--11PM. From the west ( Indian Pacific these days ) The Tea and Suger was quite a social occasion, there was a theatre car regularly and Santa at Christmas time. My favourite time was sitting in the fireman`s seat directing the engine driver when the fireman was on my side of the train. I was quite familiar with the engines, I actually got to drive one once, while we were shunting. Port Augusta would have freaked out if they knew a twelve year old was at the controls of one of their engines. There was always shunting when the tea and suger arrived to drop off water and diesel fuel, the empty bins went back to Port Augusta. In 1964 they shot a short movie there called Nullabour Hideout, all the kids at the school were in it, including myself, the kitchen scene was shot in our house. The blacksmith at the begining was my father. The cave scenes was Weebubbie Cave near Eucla, in the movie it appeared to be walking distance from Cook.
Hey there Marino. I saw that movie a couple of years ago. I guess you know that it's on You Tube.
ua-cam.com/video/D6I62cC14Sg/v-deo.html
They would have been amazing days. I have friends from Kybo Station (Nurina), Jill Campbell and Rod RIP. Jill is a historian of the Nullarbor, and I gleaned a lot of information from her when we filmed our Trans Australian Railway video set back in 2015.
Part One: ua-cam.com/video/tsUUUX5rEOg/v-deo.html
Part Two: ua-cam.com/video/Dk1B7xqBi2o/v-deo.html
It's sad that all of the infrastructure from along the railway has been removed, but times do move on and what were little communities are now just place names on a map. I wonder how kids of today would survive out there in the conditions that were of the time.
Thank you for your story, and your contribution to keeping the history of the place alive.
cheers, Laurie.
My cousins David and Rosa Gallas, were school teachers here at Cook, for a number of years, when the rail was in it's prime. They absolutely loved the years that they taught in the school.
Hey there Brian. City people just have no idea of the magic of rural or distant living. I haven't spoken to or had a comment from anybody who has anything other than fond memories of living out on the Nullarbor. I had a comment a couple of months ago from a person who was out there as a kid, and a movie was shot that the kids took part in, including him. It was callled Nullabor Hideout. Have a look here.
ua-cam.com/video/D6I62cC14Sg/v-deo.html
Cheers, Laurie
thanks, I will. I grew up in Mannahill and Yunta, Sth. Aust, during the 60's . Our family were great friends with the outback legend, the Late Tom Kruse and one of the participants in the :Nullabor Nymph" was the local Highways Dept worker come roo shooter, Ron Sells, was also a friend in those great days.
Very well made video. The drone footage really made it, and gave a sense of the vastness of the countryside.
My interest is railways, so you captured what I hoped to see.
I have used the Prospector railcar from Midland (Perth) to Kalgoorlie and back on a day trip, but hope to do the Indian Pacific as well.
PICTON, S. Island, New Zealand
Thank you. If you haven't already seen them, you might be interested in our Trans Australian Railway videos.
ua-cam.com/video/tsUUUX5rEOg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/Dk1B7xqBi2o/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/J66Rbw_M1ic/v-deo.html
Cheers, Laurie
There is still a lot of value in those old videos. I find learning about the changes to be more interesting than a quick drive through of the current position without any historical information. Phil.
Every time I open my video files, I find something else. Still a lot to come. The problem is, that you film this stuff without knowing the history, and it's when you get back to the desk and start researching about what you have shot, that you find so much more that you didn't know about, and thus missed. Cheers mate, Laurie.
Still a lot of value in these old abandoned towns ....great place to get away if your vehicle is equipped with portable power/gas etc ...
l went through when they were demolishing the "first bush hospital in the State", saw inside the hospital, they ripped the 7 foot tall doors off the frames with a crowbar, right next to the hinges. So sad to see the destruction of such a historic monument.
Yep, and sadly, we have no idea of heritage in this country, I am convinced. Re-purposing seems to be a foreign word. There is no reason why some of these buildings could not have been shifted to "museum" type area. I was saddened to see that Ziggy's shack at Barton was cleaned away soon after he died. That was a piece of folk lore. It wasn't harming anyone and wasn't in the way of "progress". Thanks for dropping by and sharing. Cheers, Laurie.
Thanks for the tour. Nice work with the drone views! I went through Cook on the train (at night?) in 1969, Port Pirie to Perth, changed trains at Kalgoorlie. Drove cross country 40 years later in 2009.
At 5:50, school's rules for fools?
"Toilets are only to be used for their designed purpose."
"Children are to act in an appropriate manner at all times ..."
We had stopped off at Cook in 2007 on the train, and because of what we were doing (filming our 2015 Trans Australian Railway trip, I needed to go up there to get the footage. The drone sadly, chucked a mental not long after we got back, ran rogue, and crashed and destroyed itself, ironically in an Albany salvage yard. I haven't bothered since, it's an expensive way to destroy a camera. 😁. Cheers, Laurie
There used to be a big wooden box in front of the (hospital that was no longer there) painted in red and white, reading: ‘If you’re crook, come to Cook.’
This was in 2001, when myself and family came through on the Indian Pacific, Sydney bound. There was the old school and general store still standing. Such a shame what happened to that town. It was known as ‘The Queen Of The Nullarbor’.
Unfortunately happened to all the towns along the rail line. Even Rawlinna is being slowly dismantled.
i worked there in 1968 with john furber + len hicky. It was the most peaceful place on earth.
G'day Lawrence. I can well believe that it was. There seems to be a lot of people who have fond memories of the place. Cheers, Laurie.
Did you know a Mark Graham?
Was a train driver in the eighties went to cook a lot and yes we did fly out of cook on a six seat two engine cessna scary take off lots of small pebbles great view of the bight ans ocean heading to ceduna to refuel then flghing over the gawler ranges back to port augusta
@@TonyZander-r9u So you didn't do the return driver swap in those days?
My partner lived in Cook back in the late 80s - early 90s. Her dad worked for the railways.
Just found this. Does she have any cool stories about that time? Cheers, Laurie
Walk around at night time & see if you see things that aren't there.
Damn. Shoulda done that.
Thanks for that. Remarkable just how uninteresting the land is. Happy to see Cook. I had heard of it but that gives a great view of what's there now.
Uninteresting? Depends on your perspective and point of view I guess. I find it fascinating, but then, people reckon I'm crazy anyway 🤣
Have you checked out our Forrest vid?
ua-cam.com/video/C_-oF_SJtgw/v-deo.html
Thanks for commenting Dave, Cheers, Laurie.
We were in Cook in 2015 on the Indian Pacific. We were amazed at the place. The school, hospital and swimming pool. And oh yes they also have a souvenir shop!
The original hospital is gone, the souvenir shop, is also long gone to the best of my knowledge. The swimming pool is filled in with concrete I understand. They were open in 2007 though when I did the train journey. This video was filmed in 2015 when we filmed our Trans Australian Railway video in 2015.
ua-cam.com/video/tsUUUX5rEOg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/Dk1B7xqBi2o/v-deo.html
Thanks for commenting. Cheers, Laurie
@@lauriekibblewhite Hi Laurie,
Also the old prison cells.
My old man was a guard on the trains, I remember he said Cook was as far as he would work as he would be away for too long from his family, he also said you could get fossils from the ballast used on the lines
Hey there. They do the changeover at Cook. Guys from Perth would do the western part of the journey, and Sydney/Adelaide the Eastern stretch. There are now those modern dongas for the resting drivers. He would have seen some changes over the years I would imagine. It's a shame that it's all gone (almost). Thanks for commenting, cheers, Laurie.
@@lauriekibblewhite my old man would usually only work to Tarcoola as a guard so I'm not sure how that worked, with change overs, also we lived in Stirling North at the time, so I guess crews never really did full length trips. Id have to ask him how the system worked 😊
Got some great memories of being on those trains as a child in the guard carriage and the engine when he became a driver.
@@vandalcreed That makes sense. Tarcoola is where the Ghan heads North and the IP heads west, and so it's a perfect spot to have the change over of staff I would have thought. There didn't appear to be much infrastructure for accomodating them, but then, we weren't looking at that. My memories are sitting down by the goods shed as a 5-8 yr old watching the trains at Maylands in WA ... all gone now, just a suburban passenger track these days. Also the Massey Harris factory had a network of rail tracks into it's yards ... again all gone and now a housing estate. Cheers, Laurie.
Great video, enjoyed it.
Thank you. Enjoy the channel. Cheers, Laurie.
Great bit of history there....? did you camp out there Laurie at Cook or a day trip...
Day trip Joe. Because of a shocker problem on my son's cruiser, we had to bypass Cook when we filmed the Trans Railway video, and I did it on the way home, because it was important to the overall story... cheers Laurie
Anybody know what the music was called during the drone footage. Sounded great
Hi Teresa, it was a song from the Google Music Library, which is there for us creators to use to avoid the copyright wrangle. Just did a Shazam on it and it says Rainy Sundays by Dbmusic. Checked my library - voila, Rainy Sundays by 126ers.
Cheers, Laurie
@@lauriekibblewhite Many thanks for that, loved video on Cook
be a possibility for an off grid semi self sufficient comunity there, looks like lots of clear blocks that could be rehabbed with maybe transportables, and the bore fixed up for local irrigation, modern teck would make it quite easy, solar, hydrophonics, jackhammer gardening, perhaps a container carriage dropped off into a siding when trains stop for staff changeover . how long that will go on before AI drives the trains?
Interesting thoughts. Bit far from the local shops ... I suppose they could resurrect the Tea and Sugar train. AI is a scary thought ... if it gets out of control. Cheers Laurie
Laurie can i use some of this vision to use on a project ???? Cheers Daryle
G'day Daryle. I have no problem with that. Appropriate credit acknowledgement would be appreciated. Cheers, Laurie.
very interesting australia, agent dies and does not have the opportunity to know other countries around the world thanks for showing your country...
It's my pleasure. Hopefully I've given a fair coverage. You will have noticed that I keep away from cities ... too many people 😁. This is the real Australia (I hope). Cheers, Laurie.
I don't understand the meaning of this video. I see airco's on the houses, i see satelitte equipment but nobody walking, working, shopping or talking. Where are the last inhabitants?
Hi Jan. Please forgive me if I am wrong, but a quick look at your profile suggests that you may live in Holland. Welcome to my channel.
I can understand your confusion in this regard.
Cook was one of a number of towns that was built to service the Trans Australian Railway line when it was constructed back in 1917. As steam changed to diesel, and the wooden sleepers were replaced with concrete, the reason for the towns diminished and they were taken away. Cook remains as a changeover point for drivers on the Transcontinental runs, and a stopover point for travellers on the Indian Pacific.
May I suggest that you have a look at our film which follows the railway line and explains the history. Cheers, Laurie 🙂
ua-cam.com/video/tsUUUX5rEOg/v-deo.html
thanx it makes it clear now.@@lauriekibblewhite
@@FoelyZ89 You are most welcome. Cheers, Laurie.
Gives me Wolf Creek vibes
C'mon, it's not that bad 😂
cook seems very flat..lots of good historical information. good video !
nice drone footage by the way !
The Nullarbor is very flat. It's a big limestone shelf and is about 1100 kms wide at it's widest point. Cheers mate, Laurie
It is the same as in South Africa where there is know trains because the covermind is curupt
@danielgouws1470 Not the case here. At least a dozen trains pass through here each day. The change from steam to diesel, and from wooden to concrete sleepers, made much of the support work redundant, thus shutting down all the little villages along the railway.
I stopped there on the I/Pacific about 25 y/ago, i`m sure there are more buildings there that when we went through on the train.
Yes, there are. Those new buildings at the end of the town are units for the traih staff, when they change drivers. Meanwhile, there are also buildings that have been removed or dismantled - such as the hospital. Cheers, Laurie.