I am just back from a trip along Waterfall Way from Bellingen to Uralla in NSW with some old friends.
Thanks to some rain the waterfalls were in good form but we caught up with some old technology too.
Just outside Dorrigo is a railway museum that nearly opened to the public in 1986, but did not, so we drove by to see a line of steam locos rusting in a field.
Luckily, the founder of the collection appeared. He assured us that the locos get painted with sump oil regularly (indeed, they were jet black rather than red) and that the 15 we could see were only a quarter of what they had over the hill. http://www.dsrm.org.au/
Apparently they have the largest collection in the world, and the main problem is that although their many members can always find the money for more old trains they baulk at cost of carparks and other facilities the council insists they need before they can open to the public. It must be a daunting task but we were assured it will happen.
At the other end of the trail, we arranged to visit the old Phoenix foundry in Uralla. The site includes a blacksmith's shop, a foundry with a patternmaking shop and machines run from overhead shafts, originally driven by a steam engine, and a car dealership, all in galvanised iron sheeting. When I last visited many years ago, the foundry was still in use, making brass memorial items, but that operation has moved to new premises, leaving a wonderful time capsule in threat of slow decay. To visit, you need to arrange a tour by contacting Arnold Goode (02) 6778 4356.
Uralla also has an interesting historical museum in an old mill, good pubs and cafes, an antiquarian bookshop,an antique shop, and a number of attractive old buildings.
