NA locomotive crosses bridge No.1, just beyond the main road crossing at Upper Ferntree Gully, bound for Belgrave, January 1955.

This page includes the first photographs I ever took, just prior to my tenth birthday. Those dated 1954 and 1955 were taken with a Box Brownie D model, using 620 size film.

Those taken in 1958 were taken with an Ansco folding bellows camera dating from 1912, using 120 size film (probably Ilford FP3 which I preferred).

It was a great leap forward from the Box Brownie, having shutter speeds of 1 second to 1/300 second, and an f4.5 Anastigmat lens. Focusing and exposure was entirely manual of course, and had to be estimated.

It was a good camera to learn techniques with, but for one problem. It had an intermittent light leak which affected the foreground of many pictures towards the corners.

The two colour pictures on this page were taken with that camera, on Agfacolor negative film. They suffered with the light leak problem, but thanks to the wonders of Adobe PhotoShop I have been able to disguise the problem.

That venture into colour was a one-off experiment. Colour negative film was not outrageously expensive at the time, but the prints cost more than fourteen times the price of black and white prints.



 

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An NA class loco (probably 3A I think) being prepared for the Young Sun special trains on 27 December 1954, at the Upper Ferntree Gully coal stage.

Close up of the loco above. (This is a cruel enlargement of a portion of a Box Brownie negative.)

The train blasts its way up the relentless 1 in 30 grade out of Upper Ferntree Gully station bound for Belgrave. In a few minutes the passengers will be hearing the exhaust of the hard-pressed loco echoing across the valley. An unforgettable experience for those of us lucky enough to have heard it. 27 December 1954.

A further series of trains ran on weekends during January 1955. This fire patrol trolley is following one of them across Bridge No.1 just beyond the main road crossing at Upper Ferntree Gully. The train it was following is shown in the left sidebar, crossing the same bridge.

Up Upwey way! A train entering Upwey station, January 1955.

A Belgrave bound train between Tecoma and Belgrave, January 1955.

In January 1958 a Belgrave to Upper Ferntree Gully train crosses Bridge No.1 near the main road crossing at Upper Ferntree Gully. Within about four weeks narrow gauge operations on this section will come to an end.

Meanwhile the line beyond Belgrave slumbered. Selby station in 1958.

Lakeside station January 1958. The intending passenger waving the red flag to stop the next train does not know that he will be waiting over 17 years for its arrival, but it won't need a red flag to stop it. Lakeside would become the terminus of the line from 1975 to 1998.

Wright station, April 1958

Gembrook station in 1958. (This was taken on Agfacolor negative film, but it looks better in black and white!)

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All photographs Copyright Frank Stamford who may be contacted by email at: frank.stamford@bigpond.com

Last updated: 29 July 2009