|PIC1|The Railways was a protected industry. Unless a young fireman took absence without leave and signed-up into the military under a false name (which sometimes happened) these young men were retained.
"The main line between Sydney and Melbourne was the major military troop train line. The locomotive crews therefore had their work cut out transshipping vast numbers of troops," M V Tronson explained.
Those huge 38 class steam locomotives on these wartime troop trains left Sydney with a full tender of water which required refilling depending on the need, at Moss Vale, Goulburn, sometimes Harden or Cootamundra, then Junee and Albury.
It was to this last station that the Victorian S Class express steam locomotives hauled their own troop trains on the broader gauge track. The soldiers would then have to change trains (as did everyone at that time) at Albury.
Water was used up in huge quantities on the NSW side of the border due to the hilly terrain; the Victorian side was flatter, and water usage was not quite so heavy.
"Although the locomotive crews may not have been in the military, they gave their all to support the war effort; to the extent that only those crews recognised," M V Tronson recalled.
"The timetables demanded quick pick-up power from standing starts and maintenance of speeds so great that some of the older drivers recalled they travelled faster then, than any diesel-hauled train two decades later. The fireman watched the water gauge like hawks as the boiler transposed the water into steam."
"On this ANZAC Day part of my thinking will be remembering the effort those locomotive crews gave to secure the safe and speedy arrival of the troop trains under their care," M V Tronson noted. "This in my view has Christian commitment with its connotations of giving oneself wholly in good conscience."