As part of our accreditation as a rail operator, the Society is required by law to ensure all of its personnel remain qualified to use the sections of the railway over which they work.

This is known as re-certification and is a combined re-fresher, re-examination of the quirks and peculiarities of each particular location.

Railway quirks and peculiarities can be dangerous at times, and you need to be aware of how to get round them.

Imagine driving in a city where the manhole covers are regularly stolen from out of the roadways. It helps to know where the BIG holes are when you are trying to get home during a stormy night.

Alan Ward is concentrating here. On the Sunday of the June long weekend too. (click on these pictures to see a larger image).

What troubles could you get into at Tarago, apart from too much hospitality at "The Loaded Dog"?

Quite a bit, actually, and the chief culprit is on the wall partially hidden behind Alan.

Simon Cowling is asking the questions and making sure Alan, and myself, are fully aware of precisely what and what not to do.

Hanging on the far wall are the red and green flags used to signal trains through if something different is going on.

Under them are the point clips and locks used to secure points if a passenger train is being moved into the crossing loop.

This is a rare happening, so the points themselves do not have their own locking mechanism set up to handle this situation.

This again is one of the things you have to know about Tarago. One of those points is most of a kilometre away at the Bungendore Road level crossing - so don't forget your point clip!

Oh, that thing on the wall?

It's that black blob of cast iron with a grey triangle bolted on top of it, just behind Alan's upper arm.

The triangle thing has a black and orange front plate with the dot in the black part being an indicator light.

If your train is leaving Tarago for Bungendore, and the next train to reach Tarago is going to come from Bungendore, you have to set the signal down at the level crossing mentioned above to clear.

This will allow that train to enter Tarago station.

It also sets up the level crossing lights and bells ready to work for a train coming from Bungendore.

But hang on, we are going to be the next train over that crossing and we are going the other way!

OK, you take the electric train staff for the Tarago-Bungendore section which you got from the electric staff machine in the station building and the last thing you do before leaving the signal box is put it in the cast iron thing on the wall and close up the hinged lower jaw until the indicator lights in the grey part turn from red to green.

This shows that the bells and lights are now working. Retrieve the staff, get out, lock up and give the staff to the driver.

Yes Simon, I did pull over the guard's lever. The lights and bells cancel automatically after we cross and they remain set up to accept that other train from Bungendore.

And the play? Know why millionaires had their private carriage at the end of the train?

For this - sherry for the ladies, port and cigars for the gentlemen, as you watch where you have been go away from you.

It is the most civilised place in the world to travel.

First class plane travel? Airports and cloud? Enthralling!!

We haven't quite got to the lounge chairs and bar service, but look at those kids (click on the picture).

Bored? "Are we there yet?" No way. The hypnosis of the rails and sleepers coming from under you and going away has got them.

I first found this same spot in 1988. We had just restored loco 1210 and it was on a trip from Sydney to Gosford and back.

It had to be a railway's train crew in those days; we were the servicing crew who get the dusty, dirty, oily jobs.

Having completed our job at Gosford, we stretched out on the end platform of these same carriages. We were probably a bit too scruffy to mix with the passengers.

There were things we cannot do now.

Passengers were not allowed to travel on end platforms and according to the railways, we were passengers.

But everyone in Sydney did in those days and had done so for 80 to 100 years on these types of cars.

The crowds in the open doorways of electric commuter trains had to be seen to be believed.

There were no gates on the platforms closing off the areas where people could fall off.

Today, our accreditation requires these gates to be fitted and shut before a train moves, just as in the electric commuter trains of today.

ANYWAY. We were relaxed, comfortable with one of those beautiful sunny Sydney late October days watching the glorious scenery of Brisbane Water as the rail line trails its finger around the coves and inlets.

The condensed steam clung over the twisting rails, mirroring every twitch.

It was civilised then and, with our gates and fences and trained staff, it is civilised now.

- report and pictures from Max Fish

See: Other editions of The Kingston Mail

See: Other editions of The Kingston Mail