3526 at Meadowbank
Today and tomorrow, 3526 is doing laps between Hornsby and Rhodes
3526, a heritage steam locomotive operated by Transport Heritage was out on the T9 Northern Line today, doing laps between Hornsby and Rhodes. Over this weekend, on the 4th and 5th (Easter Sunday), it will be hauling four trips per day, return, assisted by diesel locomotive 4501.
I've spotted 3526 multiple times before, most recently in the Illawarra as per my write up last month:
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Chasing 3526 down the Illawarra (better weather that day!)
Unfortunately, this morning the weather was pretty poor with rain coming down just as the train passed Meadowbank for the first run of the day. Once I made it down to the bank of the Parramatta River, the rain had intensified to a bit of a downpour, which was concerning given that none of my gear was weather-sealed (Thankfully no damage was done).
Spotting
Meadowbank was already fairly busy at about 09:50am in the morning, with multiple trainspotters setting up camera gear, waiting for the steam train. By the time it departed from Hornsby, it was already running about two minutes behind schedule, and eventually passed Meadowbank about five minutes late as is often the case with these heritage events.
A couple minutes before 4501 and 3526 passed, the Armidale/Moree Xplorer service rolled through the station, also about two minutes late.
The train initially had 4501 leading in the down direction, which meant that 3526 would be leading across the bridge, making for a great shot later on.
Right after the train passed through Meadowbank, I had to run down to the park by the riverbank (about a ten minute walk), and get into position to capture the return trip going over the bridge.
Fortunately, the train dwelled at Rhodes for just under ten minutes meaning I made it to the spot I wanted with a while to spare, and setup in preparation. However, by this point the rain was really coming down, and I was already thoroughly soaked, making the mistake of not bringing a raincoat or umbrella.
I managed to grab the wide shot of 3526 passing over almost the entirety of the bridge as seen in the feature image, albeit with water partially obscuring my lens. Particularly keen-eyed viewers may be able to spot the haziness caused by drops of rainwater sticking to the lens' glass element.
Hopefully the weather holds off tomorrow for another day of spotting 3526!
