Between October 13th & 15th 2024, Steamrail Victoria operated their annual Gippslander with steam locomotive R711 from Melbourne to Bairnsdale and return. The tour would make history, as this tour marked the first time R711 had travelled to Bairnsdale.
Our chase starts at the historical Yarraville Station where R711 wakes up the locals. Afterwards, we rush out East, to see the train belt towards Gippsland leaving a trail of black smoke behind it. Once the train got to Traralgon it wasted no time, before we knew it we were in Bairnsdale. The train then proceeded to do its shunts and prepare for R761 to take the lead. -The previous day, R761 was transferred with sleeper carriages from Newport Workshops to Bairnsdale in preparation for R711 to arrive. Once the train was ready, it stormed back to Melbourne towards the sunset.
Timeline:
00:00 - Introduction
00:27 - 8596 Yarraville
00:55 - 8497 Hawksburn
01:31 - Nar Nar Goon
01:55 - Trafalgar
02:28 - Traralgon
02:48 - Fulham
03:11 - Munro
03:44 - Bairnsdale
04:10 - Introduction (2)
05:09 - 8498 R761 Stratford
05:59 - Kilmany
06:23 - Traralgon East
06:42 - Traralgon
07:18 - Departure Traralgon Bank
08:24 - Outro
The event was really fun, and I would like to give a shoutout to the following people who I saw along the way: @MelbourneMan22 @VictorianRailwayProductions
If you would like to see trains like this in person, please do so by following the link below.
https://www.steamrail.com.au/tours
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/victorian.rails
https://www.tiktok.com/@victorian.rails24
https://www.facebook.com/people/Victorian-Rails