Camden Timber Railway

Camden - was the principal station at the end of the branch - it had a short passenger platform, and a small goods yard. The goods yard had several sidings with facilities for the main goods shed, an adjacent freezing works, a small milk shed, a loading bank, a stockyard and a sawmill. A small amount of coal, delivered by road, was also loaded here from the loading bank direct into open wagons. However, the main traffic out of Camden was milk, and the Dairy Farmers Co-op had a private siding, leading from the yard entry, to their large Milk Depot.

Narellan - was the only other main station on the line - it had a short passenger platform, and the coal siding with the large coal loader (the goods shed and stockyard were removed when the coal loader was built). Coal was the main staple traffic along the line, and there were a number of dedicated coal trains between Narellan and Campbelltown.

Elderslie, Kirkham, Grahams Hill, Currans Hill and Kenny Hill - these were simply small lineside 'on-demand' un-attended halts. On boarding the train, passengers were required to tell the guard that they wanted to stop at these platforms, the guard then informed the driver who would only stop 'on-demand' or if there was a passenger waiting to be picked up - otherwise the train ran through these halts without stopping.

Maryfields - this was specifically built to cater for the large crowds of people attending the annual 'Via Crucis' ceremonies - at other times trains would only stop 'on-demand' if any of the monastery staff needed to go to or from Campbelltown.

Campbelltown - was the principal station at the start of the branch - most station facilities were provided mainly for traffic along the Main South line through the station. However, some facilities were provided specifically for the Camden Branch line. A locomotive shed was provided to house the engines for the Camden branch and also engines for the outer suburban traffic between Campbelltown and Liverpool to the north. Carriage sidings stored the passenger carriages used on both these services.

Campbelltown also had a number of coal sidings, both for empties and for loads. As well as catering for coal coming off the branch, some coal was locally loaded from road trucks on a loading bank in the middle of the sidings. Loaded coal wagons for 'the north' were picked by goods trains passing on the Up Main South line - empties dropped off by Down goods trains. There was a milk depot in Campbelltown, and the milk wagons from Camden were combined with these and added to train 228 Passenger (usually two side-door carriages and a passenger brake van + the milk wagons), which ran from Picton each morning and picked up milk traffic along the way - mainly from Menangle and from Campbelltown - this was then railed to the Dairy Farmers plant at Darling Harbour.

There were several distinct types of traffic along this line:

• Passenger trains
• Mixed trains (goods and passenger)
• Goods trains
• Coal trains
• Special trains

Passenger trains - there were several scheduled passenger trains each way daily - the principal trains comprised simply a locomotive and a single CCA carriage - as the train was locomotive hauled, the single CCA carriage had to be 'run-round' at each end of the line. From time to time, in the morning 'peak' and the afternoon 'peak', additional passenger demand required the addition of an extra FO carriage to the train - when not in use this was stored in the yard at Campbelltown, and on odd occasions, the goods shed siding at Camden.

Mixed trains - the great majority of trains running over this line were mixed trains, that is, the locomotive, a number of goods wagons, tailed by the CCA carriage instead of a goods brake van. Sometimes the total load on the mixed trains would be very close or just exceed the load limits and the train would stall on the approaches to Kenny Hill; drivers would just back up (as far as Currans Hill if necessary) and take another run at it. If that was not successful, they would divide the train, take the first section through to Campbelltown; then come back to collect the remainder of the train, that was left standing on the line on the flat section between Kenny Hill and Currans Hill, and take that to Campbelltown. As the dividing of the train generally left the CCA car at the rear of the remaining portion standing on the line, passengers often got upset and tended to use other forms of transport instead.

Goods trains - goods trains were relatively few and ran only when the mixed trains were incapable of accommodating the increase in traffic - all goods trains were tailed by a HG 4-wheel brake van.

Coal trains - coal was one of the principal traffics that initiated the construction of this line - most coal originated at Narellan, but a small amount was also loaded at Camden. From the early days of the line, coal was brought by road from the Burragorang Valley to Narellan where it was manually loaded onto rail. By the early 1930's a substantial timber-built coal loader was erected at Narellan, and this became a 'signature' structure along the line - originally there was a small goods shed and cattle pens at Narellan, but these were removed to make way for the new coal loader. To keep non-revenue earning weight down, all coal trains used the light HG 4-wheel brake vans instead of the heavier bogie brake vans. As coal was the most heavily trafficked commodity over the line, the larger coal trains often required to be banked from Narellan to the top of Kenny Hill with an extra 20 class tank loco pushing at the back.

Special trains - during the line's life, there were a few special trains:

Once a year, a special train ran (a 20 class loco with an 8-car end-platform set) from Sydney to Campbelltown and was then 'shuttled' between Campbelltown and Maryfields during the day - this only occurred on Easter Friday, and was in connection with the 'Via Crusis' celebrations at the monastery adjacent to Maryfields.

After arriving at Campbelltown, a second 20 class was added to the front, and a third 20 class pushing at the rear. The train would draw into Maryfields platform with the rear 20 class just clear of the access road into the monastery. Once passengers had disembarked and any returning passengers boarded, the train would reverse down the slope to Campbelltown, the single 20 class now leading , and the two 20 class now at the back acting as extra braking power. At the end of the day, the two extra locomotives were removed and the original train made its way back to Sydney.

After 1957, there was a slight change to this special working, the two front 20 class were replaced by a single 41 class diesel, and the rear 20 class was replaced by a 30 class. During March 1944 after four small diesel-electric locos were imported from America to 'assist the war effort' (two of them later became the NSWGR 79 class), one of them, USArmy 7923, was tried on the Narellan to Campbelltown coal traffic for a day - however, it was not satisfactory and was consigned straight back to Sydney.

In October 1960, in connection with the 'Festival of the Golden Fleece', the Camden Historical Society chartered a special train - a single CCA carriage hauled by the vintage 4-4-0 locomotive 1243 - this was the only time a tender engine ran over the line. At Camden it had to run round the CCA and return to Campbelltown tender first.

On the 31 December 1962, trains on the last day of operation demanded extra accommodation, and several 20 class locos and extra carriages were brought in for this occasion. The culmination of this was the 'big one', a special similar to the 'Via Crusis' trains - two class 20's at the head of the train, an 8-car end-platform set, and another class 20 at the rear. When the train pulled in to Camden, never before had a train this long arrived - it was far too long for the platform and yard, and passengers were required to stay aboard as it then straight away returned to Campbelltown.

After conversion from a tramway, the standard locomotive on the line became the 20 class 2-6-4 side-tanks. As the line ran beside a main road for most of its length, regulations required that the locomotives be fitted with cowcatchers, front and rear, and also headlights were fitted front and rear for night running if required. However by the mid to late 50's cowcatchers were considered no longer necessary and were removed.

By 1957 most of the 20 class were becoming life expired and 30 class 4-6-4 side-tank locomotives took their place. Class 30's used on the line were only the headlight fitted versions. Also in 1957, the 41 class Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives were trialled on the Narellan coal trains, and proving successful this time, became a normal allocation to these workings. 41 class locomotives were restricted to the Campbelltown - Narellan section only.

As there were no turning facilities at Camden, the line was confined solely to using tank locomotives (apart from the one special mentioned above). All tank locomotives were faced toward Camden - this was primarily to ensure adequate water covered the crown-sheet of the firebox on the long 1 in 20 climb to Kenny Hill. Although the tanks ran in reverse up the slightly steeper 1 in 19 heading back to Campbelltown, this section was shorter, and trainmen ensured the boiler was full before attempting this climb. Neglect of this important procedure risked having the top of the firebox uncovered by water, thereby blowing a 'welsh plug' and releasing steam into the firebox at high pressure, violently blowing out the fire and risking injury to the crew by burning coals or scalding.

At mentioned above, the main carriage used was the CCA type - this comprised five separate compartments in the one carriage - 2nd class non-smoking, 2nd class smoking, 1st class non-smoking, 1st class smoking and a guards/parcels section. Some observers stated it was a 'whole class of train, all in the one carriage'. Other carriages were mostly of the end-platform FO type, however from time to time when unavailable, a few other older bogie side-door or centre-corridor carriages were drafted into temporary use.

Because of the nature of the line, most wagons were predominantly of 4-wheel type, and in fact was quite a restricted selection of wagon types running over the line. Coal was usually hauled in LCH (and occasionally CCH) hoppers, and S-trucks and K-trucks - in the last few years of operation bogie BCH coal hoppers were permitted as far as Narellan. Milk was railed in LV, MLV, MLK vans and BMT bogie tanks - some carried Dairy Farmers nameboards on the side.

General goods were carried in S-trucks, K-trucks and LV vans - open wagons were usually tarpaulined to keep the weather out.

Most other types, especially bogie wagons, were excluded from operating over this line, and when they did, only did so with the Line Superintendant's approval.

Speed - The maximum speed allowed on the line was 30mph during the day. If the engine did not have an electric headlight then during hours of darkness the speed was limited to 15mph. When multiple engines were coupled together and run "light" the speed was restricted to 20mph.

As the line had numerous curves, and in some instances some were quite sharp, the following speed limits applied around these curves:

The maximum speed across the bridge at 36m 38c was 20mph for 41 Class locomotives and 5 mph for 30 Class locomotives.

Loads - The following tonnages applied for trains operating on the branch:

20 & 30 Class Locomotives -

* - Typically assisted trains that have been banked from Narellan to 36m 20c, handbrakes have been applied at same time as bank engine released, and handbrakes released at 35m 20c.

41 Class Locomotives - usually mostly used on Narellan coal services, but could be used on other services as described. Their maximum load was 196 tons in either direction to or from Narellan. If assisted with a 20 class banker from Narellan, they were able to haul 280 tons.

Running Times - the following running times are allowed for trains and light engines operating on the Camden branch:

Notes -

(c) - Bank engines returning from 36m 20c to Narellan will be allowed 9 minutes.

(d) - When Up goods trains convey in excess of 90 tons from Narellan to Campbelltown, a running time of 24 minutess will be allowed, including application and release of vehicle hand-brakes at 36m 20c and 35m 20c respectively.

* - When electric headlight is inoperative.

A number of traffic Paths have been provided for you to 'explore' the route - these comprise Passenger, Goods and Coal train workings in both directions along the branch. These Paths are simple 'drive-along' without shunting along the way. It is anticipated that various Activity Writers will make a few detailed Activities involving shunting and simulating the patterns of train movement over the line that occurred in real life, and will provide detailed Paths specific to their Activities.

There are also two Paths provided to run trains on the Up line and Down line on the Main South mainlines. These are mainly for AI 'passing' trains in Activities starting or ending at Campbelltown, but you can run them as a quick little 'driver' run if you wish - it just gives another different perspective on the surrounding scenery when driving through the station.

Accompanying this document is a pack of custom MSTS Consists that provides authentic train formations that were seen along the line in its later life. All train formations included in this pack have been assembled from observation of many historical photographs.

To use these Consists you will need to have downloaded and installed the following rolling stock (Most stock is available on the CTN website, or other sites, such, as steam4me and AMW forums.):

• Brian Bere-Streeter's (BBS) 20 class locomotive pack - version 2 - AU_nswgrZ20
• BBS 30 class locomotive pack - version 1 - AU_nswgrC30
• BBS FO end-platform carriages pack - version 2 - AU_nswgrFO
• BBS 4-wheel vans pack - version 2 - AU_nsw4wVans
• BBS S-truck pack - version 2 - AU_nswgr_S-Trucks
• BBS K-truck pack - version 2 - AU_nswK-Truck
• BBS LCH-CCH hopper wagons pack - version 1 or 2 - AU_nsw_LCH-CCH
• BBS Bogie Vans pack - version 2 - AU_nswBogieVans
• BBS Bogie Milk Tanks - version 2 - AU_nswPassVans
• Gavin McLaughlin's Bogie Coal Wagons pack - version 1 - AU_nswgrBCH

If you have access to the original 41 class diesel locomotives (which were withdrawn some years ago), there are two extra Consists using these locomotives as detailed above - AU_nsw41

A few general notes regarding Consists:

You will see that a number of Consists have locomotives suffixed with a lower case 'r' after the loco number - these Consists are the ones with reversed locomotives, and are generally the ones you would use to drive back from Camden or Narellan (these also include a reversed CCA carriage where appropriate). All other Consists with the locomotive facing forward are the ones you would drive from Campbelltown.

If you want to have a go at simulating a few of the special trains, a 79 class is available from the CTN website, and a 12 class is available from steam4me.

Passenger trains would be headed by 38's, 36's and some 32's, as well as the early diesels, like 40's, 42's, 43's and 44's. Consider the prestige expresses that ran along here, as well as the mail trains.

Goods trains would be headed by 57's, 58's and 'standard goods' like the 55's and 53's, again some with diesels. Try a 60 hauling a Gleelee 'coalie'.

Activity Writers could setup some interesting scenarios - imagine this for example !!!

You are sitting in the Campbelltown dock platform with a tank and a CCA ready to depart for Camden, as you run down the yard towards the steep climb to Kenny Hill, a 38 on express passenger rushes by on the main line, just as a 57 hauled heavy goods stamps along the Main South.