Christmas Picnic Special

 

T359 hauls the VRI Christmas Special to Creswick past Ballarat C Box.

For Christmas, the VRI Hall at Ballarat operated a special to Creswick with festive celebrations held at Calembeen Park on Sunday 18th December 1983. 

X32 arrives at Ballarat with empty W cars that will be used to form the Christmas Special at 4:32pm on Saturday 17th December 1983.

For the train, a rake of W cars consisting of CW-AW-AW-BW-BW-BW was worked to Ballarat empty on Saturday by X32. For the occasion T359 was washed by the staff at Ballarat East Locomotive Depot.

A clean T359 sits at the head of the VRI Christmas Special at Ballarat station.

While passengers boarded the special, S305-T386 passed on a block grain of VHGY's for loading at Berriwollock.

At 8.45am T359 departs for Creswick with the VRI Christmas Picnic Special.

The special returned late afternoon with passengers disembarking at platform 2. The W cars were shunted to the carriage shed and returned empty to Melbourne attached to the 6:45am Up Ballarat pass on Monday morning. 

T359 rumbles past Macarthur Street gates with VRI Christmas Picnic Special.

T359 arrives back at Ballarat with the VRI Christmas Picnic Special from Creswick.