Everleigh Locomotive Works in Redfern

Elna and I spent some time exploring the old Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops at South Eveleigh, one of Sydney’s great surviving industrial spaces. Once part of the enormous Eveleigh Railway Workshops, where locomotives were built, maintained and repaired from the late 19th century, the precinct still retains its wonderful old brick buildings, huge machinery, railway infrastructure and raw industrial character. 

It was an amazing place to spend a few hours creatively. We started at The Grounds Coffee Factory. Elna then settled down to paint while I wandered off with my camera, photographing the old buildings, machinery, textures and details. I loved the combination of industrial history and modern life—the sense that so much of the original character has been preserved rather than polished away. It’s exactly the sort of place I love photographing: atmospheric, full of history and with interesting compositions everywhere you look.

Elna's beautiful art

Steam train in Rondebosch park

I went to the dentist but had some time to kill so went to photograph this old steam train in a park close to where I grew up.  It's looking rather run down but lovely nevertheless. 

Playing with model electric trains as a child

I addition to stamp collecting,  my greatest passion as a kid was to play with my electric model trains. I spent countless hours in the outside room at our house in Bertram Crescent, making them run. My model trains were one of the things that deepened my connection with dad. He was as passionate about trains as I was.

I've just spent a wonderful hour trawling the Internet for photos for some of the exact trains I owned. Pure and utter, glorious nostalgia.

I brought my train collection with me to Sydney but a couple of years ago, I gave them to Andreas's son, Sebastian. They really are meant to be played with rather than collecting dust. He was so ecstatic.