Coal train running

The Hunter Valley is defined by a number of contradictory industries. Lush vineyards and olive groves coat the landscape in various shades of green, bringing a sigh of “It’s so pretty here!” from visitors. And then there is its counterpoint, the coal industry.


I am fascinated by the way that the influence of this ‘black gold’ is ever present in the Hunter Valley, absolutely defining the area. Black and brown coal is dug from open-cut mines, beds, or more evocatively from ‘veins’, in the earth. The heavy machinery associated with the coal industry is just my thing, I love oversized graders, caterpillars and other digging tools, they appeal to my inner tomboy.


For this reason I love industrial history, industrial architecture and industrial machinery – it is way, way more interesting than Federation sandstone buildings and Victorian villas. For this reason Cockatoo Island is one of my must-go-to destinations for visitors to Sydney.

I once spent a fabulous night camping there with my friend Wendy-from-Maui who was as enthralled as I am by the island’s enormous decaying cranes, which seem to loom menacingly over the campground.


Sunrise on Cockatoo Island is extraordinary. A pink, lilac, lemon-streaked morning sky rose behind the Sydney Harbour Bridge, providing a perfect backdrop for my Hawaiian friend to greet the dawn with her Tai Chi moves. OK enough enthusing about Cockatoo Island (but if you haven’t been – GO!) and back to the subject of this post.


One of the interesting things about staying overnight in a new place is becoming acquainted with its night sounds. When I began overnight visits at the Country Mouse house I used to lie awake listening to the unfamiliar night noises.

One of the most puzzling was one which came either very late (around midnight) or in the early, early morning (1.00-2.00am-ish), a noise which sounded like a deep and rhythmic ‘thum, thum, thum, thum’. I thought for a while it might be trucks on a nearby highway, but it went on for too long and was too regular. It turned out to be a coal train. I have come to love the sound of the coal train and even listen out for it. Thum, thum, thum, thum.


The coal train is a key part of what is known as the Hunter Valley Coal Chain whereby the export coal from the Hunter Valley gets from the mine sites to the port of Newcastle. The rail line follows the route of the Hunter River moving south-east from inland to the sea. It makes me want to break into song …‘Chain, chain, chain’.

Recently one of the Country Mouse’s mouseketeers had a significant birthday and we celebrated at a local hotel with a balcony view of the railway line. Late in the evening we were out on the balcony and I heard that familiar sound. My coal train was coming past. This was the first time I had actually seen it, rather than just heard it and I was transfixed. It sped past into the night, going south to the sea, wagons full of coal.

Coal freight wagons can be up to two kilometres in length - astounding! You can see a good picture of a coal freight train here:   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Valley_Coal_Chain

Despite being a musical Mouse, the Country Mouse resists my requests for him to sing to me, but the coal train briefly inspired him to break into the chorus of Doobie Brothers classic ‘Long Train Running’:

Down around the corner

A half a mile from here

You can see them long trains run

And watch them disappear

Well the pistons keep on churnin’

And wheels go ‘round and ‘round

And the steel rails are cold and hard

For the miles that they go down

Late at night I lie awake with my head on his chest, listening to his sleeping breath and to the coal trains; and I softly sing the song’s chorus:

Without love

Where would you be now?