Brolgan Road Blog - Rick Fletcher
Oberon Branch
Collections - Ron Preston Page 1
These photographs are provided as a background to the restoration of the branch line and for the information of historians and enthusiasts.
Where possible, sources have been acknowledged. The Copyright of these photographs remains with the source / photographer and these photographs may not be reproduced without their permission.
If you have any photographs or additional information you would like to make available for public viewing could you please contact Rick at:   Likewise if you have any additional information about errors, sources or captions, please let me know.
From the Ron Preston Collection - Page 1
The following rare photos were kindly supplied to OTHR by Stephen Preston and were taken by his father, the late Ron Preston. Ron was well known in railway circles and is the author of many authoritative books and articles on the railways of NSW. He had a particular soft spot for the Oberon Tarana line and this is reflected in the numerous photos some of which are revealed here.
OTHR is very grateful to Steve for allowing us to share these images with you. Hopefully Steve will provide us with some detailed captions for these photographs to replace my feeble descriptions.
The copyright for these photos is retained by Stephen Preston. These photos may NOT be reproduced without express written permission from the copyright holder.
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This group of photographs was taken when Ron visited Oberon in 1955.


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The loco featured in this series is "1942" and she is seen here heading up the hill between Carlwood and Hazelgrove with an S truck as a match between the loco and the HS composite carriage. Presumably some of the party spent time on foot exploring the line. I believe these photos were taken just south of Carlwood and show the check rail required on the sharper curves to make sure the train retained its footing if there was a de-rail.
     
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Judging by the shadows, it is early morning at Oberon Station and the HS has been left at the platform ready for an 11.25 departure. The pine trees are very immature and later photos how giant they became. There was a platform seat, so that is one item we need to find. 1942 has been left stabled in the very primitive loco just NW of the station. Shorts and short sleeves indicate that it is summer. The little tipping skip that was used to dump the loco ash is visible in photo 5
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This photo was taken at Carlwood with the UP mixed heading north towards Tarana having just crossed the Carlwood Road. The HS composite carriage is still wearing tuscan and russet paint. The mixed has crossed the steel bridge over the Fish River with the township of Oberon some 1000ft higher and behind the loco. The leading S and K trucks possibly hold pit props for Broken Hill. The consist for this UP goods is taken from Ron's notes: 1942 S, K, S, S, S, GSV, GSV, GSV, GSV, GSV, HS Up Goods.
The train is now quite close to Tarana.