Trainspotting: Illawarra in The Early 1980s: Part 2. July 2001.

The Early 1980s.

Part 2.

By Peter Andrews, © July 4, 2001.

As seen in the following shots, the Illawarra before electrification was a bit of a dumping ground for the State Rail Authority. As rolling stock became redundant in other regions of the state, much of it seemed to end up at Port Kembla for use in and around the Illawarra during its pre-electrification period.

Port Kembla Locomotive Depot during the early 1980s.

A 48 Class and 5 car CUB set at the end of a local run, approaching Port Kembla Station on a weekday afternoon in the early 1980s.

The 48 Class on the right is attached to another passenger set, waiting to depart after the re-departure of the the arriving train. Back then, these trains were commonly known as the workers trains, carrying steelworkers to and from work at the Port Kembla Steelworks -- running for three shifts a day, for every day of the year.

At its peak in the early 1980s, the steelworks employed around 22,000 people.

But radical changes brought on by global economic conditions vastly reduced this figure. Obviously this impacted on the significance of the local commuter rail infrastructure. But with allot of people out of work in the Illawarra, many started to commute to Sydney for work. This ultimately evolved to became another factor which had increased the political pressure to electrify the Illawarra Line.

With a push by the State Government of the time to get electric trains to Wollongong before Christmas of 1985, much of the rolling stock that ended up in the Illawarra from other regions started to disappear forever.

The South Coast Daylight Express being pulled by 42103 at Bombo in 1985.

With the Illawarra being one of the last of the outer metropolitan lines to become electric, it was also the last areas to experience what remained of early forms of rail travel.

Also at Bombo in 1985, a double 620 Class on its way down the coast.

The Lachlan Valley Railway Society's 'T'' Class, 3026 at Bombo, on one of its four excursions to Kiama in 1985.

During 1984 and 1985, local passengers in the Illawarra could only guess as what sort of train would pick them up. As seen in this shot, 48 class engines hauled anything from timber CUB set's to air conditioned double deck suburban (non-electric) trailer cars. Rail Motors and 620 Class sets were also widely used during this period.

The early single deck suburban electric train often referred as the Red Rattler by Sydney commuters. The front car in this shot is actually blue with a white band. This colour scheme appeared on the Sydney suburban network somewhere around the late 1970s or early 1980s, but was one to have a short life.

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