NSW Jewish War Memorial Community Centre

A striking building next to the musuem.

NSW Jewish War Memorial

Same building as yesterday, just a long shot. Easy to miss as it is on a side street.

Sydney Jewish Museum 1

Well worth a visit.

Green Park Hotel

Looks like a fine hotel and the Victor Chang Institute in the background.

The Fire Brigade - Firey's

Also a great group of unsung heroes, this is a station on Victoria St.

Postman - The Postie

Pushing a modern cart the Australia Post, in my opinion, is a reliable and essential service ... and still owned by the Government.

Footpath Stencils Sydney

Along the Bike Path there are some warning stencils, looks like Hannibal is in town.

Griffith Teas

Down near Central on Elizabeth Street is this old triangular building. Surprised it is not an apartment.

Cycle lane

Getting a bit of negative publicity at the moment are cycle lanes. Here are a few dedicated users in College Street next to Hyde Park.

Zig Zag No 1 Viaduct

View from a picnic ground of the No 1 Viaduct of the Great Zig Zag Railway.

Jurassic Park

In the Blue Mountains is the township of Mt Wilson.

Zig Zag Railway No.1 Viaduct

One of the sandstone viaducts (No. 1) of the Zig Zag Railway

Semaphore Signals Zig Zag

Outside Top Points Signal Box. These are one of the few sets of semaphore signals still in operation in NSW. When the arm is horizontal it means Stop.

Inside the Signal Box

In order to change tracks points must be thrown by these levers in the correct sequence or the train might derail.

Staff for Staff Box

These staffs must be carried by a train driver in his cab to make sure there are no other trains in the section. Which one goes with yesterday's Staff Box?

Staff Box at Top Points

Inside the Signal Box. The key to stopping two trains colliding into the back of each other is a system. This box is known as a Staff Box. To travel ahead you must have the Staff (usually resting in the cradle in front of the Staff Box).

Signal Box at Top Points on Zig Zag Railway

Below Clarence is Top Points Signal Box, Signal Boxes like this used to control the points and signals for NSW Railways for every section. Now a computer controlled screen at a few locations do the work of a hundred.

Thomas the Tank Engine

So this is where Thomas lives when he is not on TV, in the shed at Bottom Points on The Zig Zag Railway.
It is a BB18 1/4 class loco built in Marybourough, Queensland between 1955 and 1958. It is a narrow gauge locomotive, as are all the Zig Zag trains, this means they run on rails 3 foot 6 inches apart. Usually in NSW all trains run on standard gauge 4 foot 8 1/2 inches.

Zig Zag Railway Accident

Zig Zag Rail Volunteer giving talk at Top Points Station about a train accident that happened back in the early 1900's.

Sorry about the lack of posts, laid low by Bangkok belly, too weak to click a mouse.

The Great Zig Zag Railway

One of the engineering wonders of Australia, this was designed to get the trains over the Blue Mountains that lie west of Sydney. Opened in 1869 and closed in 1910 when the rail traffic became too heavy and tunnels were built. It now is a narrow-gauge heritage railway which runs between 3 stations.

Clareville

Spotted Gums on Pittwater