KATIES LANE
Introduction
I have a vivid memory from 1970. I was on my way home from Canterbury Boys High school in Sydney and paused at Canterbury Railway Station. I watched a grimy and knocked around 48 class rumble through on the goods line with a couple of wagons. As a teenager in the early 1970s, I would catch the bus into the city over the old Pyrmont bridge. I would see the sprawling goods yards of Darling Harbour and occasionally a burst of smoke from the ancient 19 class 0-6-0 steam locomotive shunters.
During the 1980s, I caught the commuter train from the Blue Mountains into the city. Twice a day, I would gaze out the window at the Crago Flour mill and wheat silos in Newtown. When we were first married in 1979, we lived in Leichhardt. All these experiences and images from the past created my connection to the inner west of Sydney and the ragtag Metropolitan Goods line.
About the layout
The journey from these snapshots from my past into a model railway was sparked by a few things. The first was the purchase of the book 'Sydney's Forgotten Sidings' by John Oakes. This book gave me a lot more information as wellwould make contemporary safety officials very anxious!
