"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

The Glenlee Train Accident

There was a crack like a 'gun blast' that was heard from Menangle. It was regarded a miracle that everyone of the 73 passengers escaped. The date was March 27, 1961- a date that would be etched on the memories of all those involved.

The accident at Glenlee occurred when the engine of the second division of the Melbourne express, due in Sydney at 10.55am hit the engine of a goods train hauling coal trucks from a siding. The engine and four leading cars of the express left the rails after travelling some distance. The fact that there was a bank above the line to Sydney which is not level with the line from Sydney, prevented the carriages from falling right over and not a window in the carriages was broken.

The other astounding fact, according to the Campbelltown-Ingleburn News, was that the main section of the express engine remained on the line after hitting the huge Garrett engine so hard that it ripped the side out of the front tank and threw it yards into the mud near the signal box. It was so badly smashed that it had to be dismantled and removed in pieces.

Four ambulances from the Macarthur area were on the scene within ten minutes. Within one hour over 30 civilian and army ambulances were present. Ambulance men treated a dozen or so passengers for bumps and abrasions. A relief train from Campbelltown conveyed the passengers to Sydney.

News reports also described how within an hour of the accident the narrow road leading from Menangle Road to Glenlee siding was jammed with cars. Sightseers swarmed around the damaged trains and police had to keep them away from the railway gangs.

Local photographer Norm Campbell was on the scene immediately to take photographs. Below is one of those images.

Do you recall the accident at Glenlee? Were you one of the sightseers? Please let us know.

Train accident at Glenlee showing Sydney-bound passengers from the second division of the Melbourne Express joining a replacement train to continue their journey to Sydney after collision with a coal train on 27 March 1961

Written by Andrew Allen

Source: Campbelltown-Ingleburn News March 28 and April 4 1961

Kenny Hill

Kenny Hill was the name given to the rise out of Campbelltown near today's Narellan Road heading towards Narellan and Camden. It was named after Dr William Kenny, an early doctor in Campbelltown.

The hill is best known to locals as the steep gradient that 'Pansy', the steam train that once ran on the Campbelltown-Camden line, had to confront regularly. It was once written that "Any day of the week one may see the "tram" panting and puffing, emitting clouds of angry smoke up the preposterously steep grade of Kenny Hill. Sometimes it fails to make the grade. On those occasions it retreats in rage and humiliation to take another run at the hated lines."

The gradient was the steepest used by adhesion locomotives in Australia. Due to the steepness of the gradient of 1 in 19 between Campbelltown and Kenny Hill, there were often multiple attempts made at ascending the grade. It resulted in passengers disembarking from the train and walking alongside it, leaving their bags on board. Often the train would reverse back down the hill, stoke the engine up, and have another try! When trains could not successfully ascend the hill, the train would be divided and the second half of the train (usually where the passengers were carried) would be left standing on the line until the first half of the train had been stowed at Campbellltown. These delays were a source of annoyance and inconvenience for passengers. The ascent was made harder when it rained as the train found it harder to get traction.

Kenny Hill was the second station on the line after leaving Campbelltown. It was a station with a simple platform with no shelter. Trains only stopped there if the driver was notified that passengers needed to stop. The station was located just to the west of the water canal near Narellan Road. Those with a sharp eye can make out the remains of the old line at Kenny Hill cut into the embankment adjacent to Narellan Road.

The Campbelltown-Camden train service ceased running on New Year's Day 1963.

This is an interesting image taken on 15 September, 1963. It shows Narellan Road at Kenny Hill with the train line very close to the road. This shot was taken just nine months after the last train ran on the line. (Hugh Bairnsfather Collection).

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

NEWMAN, Cindy
"The Camden Tram"
In Grist Mills
Vol.9, No.4, November 1996

Camden Tram Will Pass Soon
In The Sunday Herald, 14.10.1951, p12