"Train whistle blowing"

William G. Tallentire was born 1856 at Patricks Plains, an area in the Hunter district.

He married his first wife, Alice Thomas in 1879 and they had one child, then moved to Campbelltown and had 3 more children. William was employed as a train driver at Campbelltown and by 1894 his salary was 13 shillings a day.

Group of men in front of Camden train with "The Teapot" ( Engine No. 293). 

William Tallentire is on the far right in front of the engine. Photo - CAHS, Norm Campbell

Alice died in 1890 and William then married Hannah Clark in Campbelltown. They had three children together. The family remained in Campbelltown and lived in Patrick Street.  William was a church warden of St Peter’s. He was well known and well liked in the community.
William’s obituary mentions that in his early years he came to Camden to install machinery at Camden Park for Macarthur-Onslow. After becoming a train driver he drove the first train from Campbelltown to Camden and was a regular driver on this route.

William moved to Fairfield in about 1924. He died in 1939, and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery. 

Written by Claire Lynch

Sources

Trove

NSW BDM

Library Photo Database

Terrifying Train Trip

Camden Train besides Narellan Road at Kenny Hill travelling towards Campbelltown in 1962

It's amazing to think that a steam train called Pansy once puffed its way very close to Narellan Road. How useful would a train along Narellan Road be today! The last ride happened on 1 January 1963. The older generation of locals regularly share fond memories of riding on the Camden "Tram", as it was known. One former driver and fireman connected to the local railways wrote down his memories of  Pansy in a book titled 'Recollections of Pansy (The Camden Train)', published in 2013. Most of Malcolm Pearson's memories of Pansy are fond ones however one particular memory scared the pants off him!

Malcolm recalled the day that Pansy tore down the hill into Campbelltown with such force, he thought his days were over. He explains in his book "As soon as the train had made its way over the crest of Kenny Hill and onto the steep downhill grade, the brakes would be applied before the train was able to gain any significant momentum". He went on further to explain that "it was not difficult to hold the train to a slow speed so long as the brakes were applied soon after reaching the top of the hill, but if the train was allowed to gather too much pace, then it was almost impossible to reduce its speed and for the rest of the descent the train would be virtually out of control." Well, this did happen to him! Surprisingly it was a driver who was familiar with the line that was responsible for Malcolm's hair raising journey.

Malcolm was working that day on the train and explained that a large amount of coal was collected and added to the milk pots and carriage to make it a maximum load. He had intended to settle down in his seat and relax for the ride back to Campbelltown. That's not how it worked out however. The driver, who was in control of the brakes, did not follow the usual practice and apply the brakes soon after reaching the crest of the hill. The train had gathered a great deal of momentum before he first used the break and this had no affect on slowing the train down. Kenny Hill was an extremely steep gradient. So steep in fact, it was regarded as the steepest gradient used by adhesion locomotives in Australia. Not the hill you would want to be going way too fast down! In an effort to regain control of the train's speed, the driver had no option other than to thrust his brake valve handle into the emergency position.

Despite reaching the flatter part of the line at Maryfields Station (where Narellan Road today passes over the Hume Highway) the engine did not slow up. By the time it reached a place called Gus' Mudhole (about where the turn off to the UWS is and on the northern side of Narellan Road), Malcolm became extremely worried. As he described in the book, "it was one of the worst feelings I have ever endured." He was convinced, as the train came to close to Kidd's Hill (about where Blaxland Road intersects with Narellan Road), that the train would be unable to negotiate a right hand bend. By some miracle it did, although there was much jerking and squealing. Eventually, after crossing Bow Bowing Creek and the level crossing, the train incredibly came to a stop. Malcolm's knees were shaking and he could hardly stand. He and his colleagues confronted the driver but he couldn't explain what happened and could only offer an apology.

I was amused about him describing how when two girls got off the train, they turned to him and his colleague to wave and smile, completely oblivious to what had just happened!

This is just one of many interesting and funny stories associated with the 'Camden Tram', known affectionately as Pansy. This same train can be seen today at the Thirlmere Railway Museum.

An undated photograph of Maryfields Station which was the last station on the line before reaching Campbelltown

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

PEARSON, Malcolm 2013
Recollections of Pansy (The Camden Train)

A Hazardous Journey

The Campbelltown to Camden train, affectionately known as 'Pansy', is remembered fondly by those who remember her. The train or tram service as it was known, played an important role in transporting people from both towns to their required destination. Its stations between Campbelltown and Camden included: Maryfields, Kenny Hill, Curran's Hill, Graham's Hill, Narellan and Elderslie. How valuable would it be today and in the future if the line was still functioning. From most accounts the service ran efficiently with the only occasional hiccup of the steep slope up Kenny Hill. Look a little further into the earlier history of the line however and a more troubled picture is revealed.

Incredibly, only week after its opening in March 1882 the train experienced its first accident. At about 5pm a train laden with people who had attended a land sale at Camden was approaching the main line at Campbelltown. The train on descending an incline smashed into a number of ballast wagons. Many were injured, including a Mrs Evans of Glebe who suffered the worst injuries.

Only a couple of months later on a dark night, the train was badly damaged after it ploughed into a large pile of logs, deliberately stacked against the line. The culprits or 'cowardly wretches' as the local paper described them, have always remained a mystery. Whether it was an angry farmer or drunken louts is unclear. The driver and passengers thought an animal had been runover. After the logs had been cleared and the train moved on a second obstruction was encountered. Another larger log was left on the tracks. Several passengers then chose to walk into Campbelltown rather than risk their lives further.

Tramcar used on the Campbelltown-Camden line at Moore Park in the 1880s (photo courtesy of Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

Accidents continued on the line in the ensuing years. In 1889 a valuable horse was killed on the line near Narellan and forced the engine to be thrown off the rails. A cow was killed by a tram a few evenings before that. In 1903 a gang of men employed on the line were returning one night from Narellan to Campbelltown on a trolly when it collided with a cow on the rails. The men were all thrown violently on to the metal and suffered serious injuries. The fate of the cow couldn't be ascertained!

In 1905 a man's foot had to be amputated after a serious accident. Mr Alfred Clissold was riding on the rear platform on the last carriage. The guard failed to pull the points and the carriage crashed into the buffer stop causing Alfred to lose the fore part of one foot. He was awarded 1000 pounds damages.Two years later the tram collided with a horse. A boy was riding his horse after a cow that had walked onto the line. He didn't hear the approaching train, which struck the horse and threw him on the roadway. The boy escaped with severe bruising however the horse had to be destroyed and a dog following the boy was unfortunately run over by the tram and decapitated.

 

Camden tram stranded by flooded Nepean River at Elderslie in July 1899 (Photo courtesy of Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society)

Further carnage occurred in 1914 when an engine collided with a number of carriages near Campbelltown station, causing injuries to two people. In 1919 the train crashed through a flock of sheep on the line. In 1956 a fatality occurred where the Hume Highway crossed the line at Narellan. A 20 Class engine was struck by a brand new truck. Tragically, the owners had invited two of their friends to accompany them when they picked up their new truck from Sydney. All four occupants of the truck lost their lives. No further dramas appear to have struck after this.

The line closed down in December 1962, with a special journey held on January 1, 1963- the last journey 'Pansy' would make.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

McGill, Jeff 1993
Campbelltown Clippings

Pearson, Malcolm 2013
Recollections of Pansy (The Camden Train)

Various newspaper articles provided by Trove