TRANSPORTFEST 2021

Now before I start, and before the online loony element begin ranting, the date was May 15th and before the current Covid restrictions were thrust upon us. I know the date appears on each photo, but I find many people fail to check such things in the eagerness to have a good ol fashion whinge.

Some in particular......... you know who you are.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here is a look at a day out around Sydney with ol mate Jason.

Mascot station, in what could well be weekday peak hour nowadays. :-(

However, it was early on a Saturday morning, and I had just been dropped outside the station entrance. There is a lot of work going on here at the moment, with that ridiculously busy, and quite dangerous, pedestrian crossing being replaced by a underground walkway that should have been built at the start.

I got no still shots inside the station, but part 1 of the video above have coverage of the trains.

048 + 047 on a Randwick bound service at Central Station

Todays plan was to start at Central and follow the light rail through to Circular Quay, before trying to catch one of the endangered Freshwater class ferries to Manly.
From Central, I walked to Haymarket, before catching a tram to Town Hall.

010 + 009 on a Circular Quay bound service in Eddy Avenue.

2040 on 309 from Banksmeadow (instead of the former, and more convenient, Matraville) service in Eddy Avenue.

2797 on 393 to Little Bay service in Eddy Avenue.

010 + 009 on a Circular Quay bound service in Eddy Avenue.

Caught the tram from Haymarket to Town Hall, both in an effort to try to catch up with Jason (who I would find out was already in Circular Quay), and to check out the locfation where the light rail changes from the standard overhead wire setup, to some third rail operation for the balance of the journey to Circular Quay.

Town Hall Stop

033 + 034 on a Circular Quay bound service at Town Hall.

037 + 038 on a Juniors Kingsford bound service at Town Hall.

031 + 032 on a Randwick bound service at Town Hall.

026 + 025 cross 017+018  at Town Hall, with the Queen Victoria Building at left. Sydney icons Dymocks and Gowings can be seen at right/

017 + 018 on a Randwick bound service at Town Hall.

Above and below we see where the overhead ends.
This process will be seen in upcoming videos on the Semi-Retired Foamer Youtube Channel.

Circular Quay

Circular Quay was once such an incredibly busy transport hub, with a vast amount of bus routes terminating and commencing here. Back in the 80s it was a matter of knowing which bus to photograph/video first.

Today it can be a bit of a boring wait.

Buses aside, the trains, ferries, and now the trams, still make it a great location for the transport gunzel. 

1694 and 4889 on Young Street at Circular Quay.

056+057 and 028+027 at the Circular Quay tram terminus on Alfred Street.

049+050 approaching the Circular Quay tram terminus on Alfred Street.

2276 on Young Street at Circular Quay.
Route 333 to Bondi Beach.

2229 on Young Street at Circular Quay.

Video: How it used to be. Part of this one has appeared on the BBC.

By the time I reached Circular Quay, Jason had already racked off on a ferry elsewhere, and all hope of catching up with him for a Manly run rapidly diminished.
So I thought I would set about trying to get some shots of the soon to be retired QUEENSCLIFF and NARRABEEN. 

COLLAROY at the Circular Quay ferry wharves.
COLLAROY is one of the two Freshwater class now expected to survive the governments earlier plans to remove the whole class.

CHARLOTTE at the Circular Quay.

QUEENSCLIFF approaching the Circular Quay wharves.

A significant amount of QUEENSCLIFF shots were taken on the day. These will appear in a separate post.

Incredibly, Jason miraculously makes an appearance before I head back south to Railway Square and, following a quick bite to eat, we drag ourselves on too the wharves for a trip to Manly on COLLAROY.

The guys who keep our harbour clean.

ES7 in Circular Quay.
Further details on the fleet can be found HERE!

COLLAROY approaching the Circular Quay wharves.

QUEENSCLIFF departing Circular Quay wharves for Manly.

At long last, I catch up with the legendary Jason Anthony of the secret Jason Anthony Youtube channel.

For those haters in the Tweed area, please note that we were wearing masks. Yes, Covid measures in place for responsible ferry funzelling.

LOUISE SAUVAGE at the Circular Quay wharves.

Two naval vessels at Garden Island.
Despite the lovely looking sunny day, the temperatures were near on South Pole like.

HMAS Choules @ HMAS Waterhen
For anyone interested, this ship was launched in 2006 as the RFA LARGS BAY. In 2011, the Royal Australian Navy bidded on her and won.
She was subsequently renamed as part of the ownership change.
At time of compiling this, HMAS Choules is in Townsville (Queensland).

For lots more detail on the ship, see HERE!

COLLAROY after arrival at Manly.

Pretty self explanatory really..

3011 on route 162 to Seaforth at Manly wharf.

It is believed these North Shore services will be privatised later this year.

RIP CURL CURL and DEE WHY..

Some random unidentified boat at Manly.

Our return to Circular Quay was timed so as to ride the endangered QUEENSCLIFF. Again, this will be covered in a separate post due to the amount of content.

NARRABEEN is the other endangered Freshwater class ferry.
Seen passing us on her way to Manly.

OCEAN ADVENTURER headed towards Manly, taken from QUEENSCLIFF.

This time was pass COLLAROY as she heads back to Manly again.

018+017 at the Circular Quay tram terminus..

Video: How it used to be. Part 3 - 1986

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Thank you to:

Jason Anthony, Daniel Callender and Brock Peadon

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Websites Of Interest

Semi-Retired Foamer Video

Jason Anthony Video

Save The Manly Ferry Page

Save The Manly Ferry Group

Help Save The Freshwater Class

 

AMPOL AIRPORT BEFORE & AFTER CLOSURE

 

A long long time ago, in a land not very far away, I worked for AMPOL, the original AMPOL, in a few locations around the south-eastern suburbs.
Unlike recent times, when I went a little crazy photographing Caltex servos before they reverted to the AMPOL name, I never took much time to cover the disappearance of the former chain.

However, I did cover the changes to the AMPOL that was found near the entrance to Sydney's domestic airport terminal in Mascot.

The following may be of little or no interest, however, they are a bit of history and I really had nowhere else to put them.

You're welcome.

So many things have changed since these first few photos were taken.

The original AMPOL disappeared after merging with Caltex. While it has recently returned, it does so with a strange logo and red being the predominant colour, probably due to it being cheaper than returning it all to the original blue.

Across the road, on both sides of the servo, is the old Delta Rent-A-Car, which would become Delta-Europcar, before dropping the Delta name altogether.

Remember 65.9?

For a time, the servo was an agent for Red Spot Car Rentals, and the signage can be seen in a number of images.

I was about to suggest that they have also disappeared, but a search reveals they are still a thing. Probably says a lot for their marketing.

Lastly, in the background can be seen the large 'Airport Central' building, which is attached to Stamford (formerly Sheraton) Hotel. The building is still there, but it is no longer named Airport Central.

Far from the most pleasant place I have worked over the years, and for so many reasons, but it did start an interest in the original company that still lasts to this day.

Remember 67.9?

Photos above and below show the AMPOL following merger with Caltex. The underground tanks were apparently filled with cement, while this truck carted off the bowsers. 
I wasn't able to talk my way into a souvenier :-(

The Delta Rent-A-Car building in the background was more recently demolished and is now a brand new 'Holiday Inn Express'.

Save for a few small reminders, colours and a couple of surviving logos, the days of 'AMPOL Airport were over.

It was 'Airport Service Station' (mechanical and radiator repairs). 

Then later, the mechanical moved into the radiator shop, with the rest converted into a car wash and cafe, for the very short lived, one day in fact, Newborn Car Wash.

Today it is the 'Mascot Airport Carwash Cafe'.

There is little left in 2021 to reveal it's earlier AMPOL heritage.

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Sydney 2000 - At Night

Olympic Torch Comes To Mascot

Colourful Kings