#steamtown

This train… Carries saints and sinners This train… Carries losers and winners This train… Carries whores and gamblers This train… Carries lost souls

I said this train… Carries broken hearted This train… Thieves and sweet souls departed This train… Carries fools and kings Lord, this train… All aboard

I said now this train… Dreams will not be thwarted This train… Faith will be rewarded This train… Hear the steel wheels singing This train… Bells of freedom ringing

Out of the thousands of photos I've taken over the years, this, perhaps, is my favorite. Steamtown's Union Pacific 4012, better known as "Big Boy", in the snow this past Thursday. Getting to see it like this and capture the moment was a dream come true.

Union Pacific "Big Boy" 4041 at Scranton (Steamtown), PA June 27, 2026

Green clothes? Check. Green lights? Check. Wait a minute! Is this a Type o' Negative show or a St. Patrick's Day celebration? My poor Irish mutha...!

Type o' Negative play Johnnyland with Pantera in Corpus Christi, TX (1995) (Type o' Negative AND Pantera playing a show together on St. Patrick's Day? That's a perfect storm of shenanigans and hijinx!)

Today my family and I drove down to visit the small town of Peterborough. This town was once a bustling railway town, it was where all the railways from Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria met. Of course the town still takes pride in this, they have old locomotives and carriages on the side of the road with memorials describing their routes.

Y class locomotive

But the main attraction of this town is the "Steamtown heritage train museum" which houses and preserves locomotives and carriages which used to run throughout the 18th and 19th century. As well as a few diesels. The museum's most interesting feature is their turntable. It's one of the last, if not the last turntable left in Australia, despite it not being able to run anymore.

The turntable was surrounded buy a very big shed which kept two steam engines (one Y class and one T class), three deisel engines, and a lot of really cool different types of carriages that were used for different purposes.

But what I was really excited for today was the sound and light show that they did at night. I had seen the ad for this show since I was really young in my towns local cinema so I genuinely couldn't wait to finally see it!!

To watch the show we were all brought out to the turntable and sat in the carriage that was on it, and a huge screen came out Infront of the sheds. The light show told the whole history of Australia's rail system. It was incredibly fascinating. It ran for around an hour and I loved every minute of it. I didn't realise how rich the steam engine history was in Australia until today and I'm so so happy we came here.

During the credits, the engines all lit up to the tune of an old song. I had seen a clip of the engines lighting up in the old ad and ever since I was a Thomas loving kid, it's always reminded me of Tidmouth sheds, and it always will.

If anyone that's sees this lives within South Australia I highly recommend visiting this museum! It's completely worth every second <3