TT-ONR-NRN
Veteran Member
Day 16: Double XPT sightings at Hornsby, Wendy’s Secret Garden and Ferry to Cockatoo Island
On this nice day, I woke up quite late having been out with friends the night before, and the one before that, but when the sun is so hot and skies so clear, and when there’s a breathtaking city with countless things to see on my doorstep, using this as an excuse to stay in the apartment and slob about just isn’t on really, and so I decided to travel to Milsons Point to take some pictures from Wendy’s Secret Garden.
I did fancy an Intercity V Set haul, so I took one of these from Central to Hornsby (it called en-route at Strathfield and Epping) which gave me a roughly forty-five minute ride, where in came XPT 2013 “Starlight Express” bound for Brisbane via Casino. The first permitted station for alighting is Broadmeadow, near Newcastle and the junction for the Hunter Valley lines. I actually want to go to the Hunter Valley very soon as it’s a wonderful place to spot wild kangaroos, so on learning the XPT lets you alight there (I thought it was boarding only) I resolved to book onto one of those rather than using an Opal card on the far slower Intercity services (and far far less comfortable if you get a H Set)
This was swifty followed by an incoming XPT from Casino bound for Central only, and this time I was a good boy and refrained from sneaking on at a set-down location. I did ask, because what’s the harm in that, but my request was politely turned down as the train manager told me the on-board staff are forced to ensure they have a booked record of everyone on board. Not a problem at all; I expected as such.
Instead, I waited for the stopping service to Central via Lindfield which would take me to Milsons Point. This is a different route to the mainline which I arrived at Hornsby on a via Strathfield express, so it would add greater variety and due to the circular nature of the line avoid the busy city centre - it would go onto serve it AFTER Milsons Point rather than before like via Strathfield services would. And to my delight, this Sydney Trains service was not operated by a Sydney Trains A Set Waratah or T Set Tangara like is usually booked but a pair of NSW Trainlink InterCity Oscars! This meant the luxury of high backed seats with leather headrests and footrests for my longish journey, so I was rather happy when boarding H3 and partner.
I’ve since learned that the H “OSCAR” Sets actually are booked on limited Sydney Trains services (weekdays only) on this T1/T9 route to position them to work the evening peak NSW IC services to Wyong via Chatswood, so I shall certainly attempt to catch these in future as while far less appropriate to long-distance services to their ancient V Set partners, the OSCAR being an Intercity train is much more comfortable than one of Sydney Trains’ stock (Sydney Trains run the commuter trains and NSW Trainlink the Regional and Intercity services). Here is my Oscar leaving Milsons Point, one of my favourite stations due to its clear proximity to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Wendy’s Secret Garden is a very short walk from Milsons Point and its a really lovely hidden gem, or not-so hidden (it’s often referred to as Sydney’s worst kept secret) being an absolutely beautiful garden spanning two or three levels sheltered by trees. It used to be messy disused railway land, but “Wendy” began turning it into a stunning public garden as a personal project when she tragically lost both her husband and daughter not too far apart from each other. It’s an amazing garden, one which I was so busy videoing that I sadly didn’t take many still photos of, partly because of the lovely plants and flowers - but you find these in most gardens. What sets W.S.G. apart is if you look through the gaps in the tall shady trees, you get a stunning view of Sydney, harbour bridge and all. There’s also a lovely park next to the garden, which offers a similarly good view if you prefer somewhere less shaded. It’s a perfect picnic spot tbh. Photo is blurry because it’s a still from a video sorry. Other pic is from the adjacent park.
Back to Milsons Point and over the bridge on a fairly unremarkable* Waratah A Set one stop to Wynyard, cross-platform change onto a Krusty K Set (K67 and partner) to Circular Quay and down to the ferry quays, here it is with a classmate:
*Waratahs (8 carriage A&B sets) do probably about 75% of Sydney Trains' services out of Central Sydney:
A Sets make up roughly 2/3 of T1 and T9 services with double Tangaras (4 carriage T Sets) providing the rest.
A & B Sets make up again about 2/3 of T2, T3 and T8 services - more likely to get B Sets than A Sets on T2 I find, and it's probably about 50/50 on T3/T8 although I always seem to get B Sets again - with double Millenniums (4 carriage M Sets, there are 35) doing the rest, plus there's forty dated four-car K Sets which assist in weekday peaks only, in pairs. Ironically there are five more K Sets than M Sets, but you're far more likely to see an M Set as they do not use the K Sets much at all, probably about four or five pairs a day max, and in peaks only.
Millenniums don't tend to work often on weekends and there's much fewer Tangaras on T1/T9, so the routes are especially Waratah dominated on weekends. T5 Leppington - Richmond and T7 Olympic Park are two separate shuttles outside of the city centre which tend to use single M Sets on weekdays and A Sets on weekdays. T4 is the only line not to have Waratahs as they draw too much power, so T4 Bondi Jct - Waterfall/Cronulla via Hurstville services are guaranteed to be operated by Tangaras. There is no difference from a passenger perspective between a 2011-2014 introduced A Set and a 2018-2021 introduced B Set other than the 78x A Sets have yellow fronts and LED interior displays and the 41x B Sets have orange fronts and more modern LCD displays, plus the black window band is arranged slightly differently. I prefer A Sets as I think they look nicer (yellow > orange) and the B Set LCDs annoy me as there's so much more you could do with them, yet they display the same information as A Sets but in a silly harder-to-read way.
Here I chose one of Sydney’s many ferry routes for a nice boat ride to make the most of the nice weather. Cockatoo Island was enticing so I tapped my Opal (valid on ferries) and boarded a ferry for the four stop ride to Cockatoo Island. I sat outside and took in the two most famous touristy sights of the city, because why not. I see them every day and it’s still a joy each time.
Cockatoo Island itself is pretty but there’s not a lot going on. You could walk around the entire perimeter in about twenty minutes, and that’s what I did, and then I climbed the steps up to the much higher part of the island which involved a very confusing maze-like walk on some extremely unnervingly rickety bridges about fifty metres above the ground. I saw no actual cockatoos but some terrifyingly deafening squarking seagulls (never heard anything like it), and a disused quarry with old bits of rail all over it.
Back on the boat and sat inside this time (very lovely modern interior) and some kayakers sensibly decided to row right in front of the boat, causing lots of horn-soundingness. Sun began to set so that the east remained a clear blue but the west soon turned purple. This photo of me where I’m relaxing with my arms alongside the boat unfortunately makes my arms look puny and shows that I’ve not been to the gym in a few months now, so I’m mainly scratched out
Straight onto a tram (Routes 2+3 use double five car Alstom sets) a few stops to QVB for dinner, and then the usual train home to Newtown, either an A or B Set Waratah or a Millennium, can’t remember which to be quite honest. Was a nice day all in all and a good way to make the most of a day that’d been shortened by my lie in.
Fin. Thanks for reading and I hope you return soon for the next report. Today I woke up late again, and had a scheduled Zoom meeting with staff from my home uni to attend by 7:30pm, so I decided to fill the in-between part of the day by getting a tram to Coogee Beach, where I spent a divine hour-and-half just reading my book in a private part hidden among the rocks by the cliff. It was very nice
Now I need to look at sorting dinner. 
On this nice day, I woke up quite late having been out with friends the night before, and the one before that, but when the sun is so hot and skies so clear, and when there’s a breathtaking city with countless things to see on my doorstep, using this as an excuse to stay in the apartment and slob about just isn’t on really, and so I decided to travel to Milsons Point to take some pictures from Wendy’s Secret Garden.
I did fancy an Intercity V Set haul, so I took one of these from Central to Hornsby (it called en-route at Strathfield and Epping) which gave me a roughly forty-five minute ride, where in came XPT 2013 “Starlight Express” bound for Brisbane via Casino. The first permitted station for alighting is Broadmeadow, near Newcastle and the junction for the Hunter Valley lines. I actually want to go to the Hunter Valley very soon as it’s a wonderful place to spot wild kangaroos, so on learning the XPT lets you alight there (I thought it was boarding only) I resolved to book onto one of those rather than using an Opal card on the far slower Intercity services (and far far less comfortable if you get a H Set)
This was swifty followed by an incoming XPT from Casino bound for Central only, and this time I was a good boy and refrained from sneaking on at a set-down location. I did ask, because what’s the harm in that, but my request was politely turned down as the train manager told me the on-board staff are forced to ensure they have a booked record of everyone on board. Not a problem at all; I expected as such.
Instead, I waited for the stopping service to Central via Lindfield which would take me to Milsons Point. This is a different route to the mainline which I arrived at Hornsby on a via Strathfield express, so it would add greater variety and due to the circular nature of the line avoid the busy city centre - it would go onto serve it AFTER Milsons Point rather than before like via Strathfield services would. And to my delight, this Sydney Trains service was not operated by a Sydney Trains A Set Waratah or T Set Tangara like is usually booked but a pair of NSW Trainlink InterCity Oscars! This meant the luxury of high backed seats with leather headrests and footrests for my longish journey, so I was rather happy when boarding H3 and partner.
I’ve since learned that the H “OSCAR” Sets actually are booked on limited Sydney Trains services (weekdays only) on this T1/T9 route to position them to work the evening peak NSW IC services to Wyong via Chatswood, so I shall certainly attempt to catch these in future as while far less appropriate to long-distance services to their ancient V Set partners, the OSCAR being an Intercity train is much more comfortable than one of Sydney Trains’ stock (Sydney Trains run the commuter trains and NSW Trainlink the Regional and Intercity services). Here is my Oscar leaving Milsons Point, one of my favourite stations due to its clear proximity to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Wendy’s Secret Garden is a very short walk from Milsons Point and its a really lovely hidden gem, or not-so hidden (it’s often referred to as Sydney’s worst kept secret) being an absolutely beautiful garden spanning two or three levels sheltered by trees. It used to be messy disused railway land, but “Wendy” began turning it into a stunning public garden as a personal project when she tragically lost both her husband and daughter not too far apart from each other. It’s an amazing garden, one which I was so busy videoing that I sadly didn’t take many still photos of, partly because of the lovely plants and flowers - but you find these in most gardens. What sets W.S.G. apart is if you look through the gaps in the tall shady trees, you get a stunning view of Sydney, harbour bridge and all. There’s also a lovely park next to the garden, which offers a similarly good view if you prefer somewhere less shaded. It’s a perfect picnic spot tbh. Photo is blurry because it’s a still from a video sorry. Other pic is from the adjacent park.
Back to Milsons Point and over the bridge on a fairly unremarkable* Waratah A Set one stop to Wynyard, cross-platform change onto a Krusty K Set (K67 and partner) to Circular Quay and down to the ferry quays, here it is with a classmate:
*Waratahs (8 carriage A&B sets) do probably about 75% of Sydney Trains' services out of Central Sydney:
A Sets make up roughly 2/3 of T1 and T9 services with double Tangaras (4 carriage T Sets) providing the rest.
A & B Sets make up again about 2/3 of T2, T3 and T8 services - more likely to get B Sets than A Sets on T2 I find, and it's probably about 50/50 on T3/T8 although I always seem to get B Sets again - with double Millenniums (4 carriage M Sets, there are 35) doing the rest, plus there's forty dated four-car K Sets which assist in weekday peaks only, in pairs. Ironically there are five more K Sets than M Sets, but you're far more likely to see an M Set as they do not use the K Sets much at all, probably about four or five pairs a day max, and in peaks only.
Millenniums don't tend to work often on weekends and there's much fewer Tangaras on T1/T9, so the routes are especially Waratah dominated on weekends. T5 Leppington - Richmond and T7 Olympic Park are two separate shuttles outside of the city centre which tend to use single M Sets on weekdays and A Sets on weekdays. T4 is the only line not to have Waratahs as they draw too much power, so T4 Bondi Jct - Waterfall/Cronulla via Hurstville services are guaranteed to be operated by Tangaras. There is no difference from a passenger perspective between a 2011-2014 introduced A Set and a 2018-2021 introduced B Set other than the 78x A Sets have yellow fronts and LED interior displays and the 41x B Sets have orange fronts and more modern LCD displays, plus the black window band is arranged slightly differently. I prefer A Sets as I think they look nicer (yellow > orange) and the B Set LCDs annoy me as there's so much more you could do with them, yet they display the same information as A Sets but in a silly harder-to-read way.
Here I chose one of Sydney’s many ferry routes for a nice boat ride to make the most of the nice weather. Cockatoo Island was enticing so I tapped my Opal (valid on ferries) and boarded a ferry for the four stop ride to Cockatoo Island. I sat outside and took in the two most famous touristy sights of the city, because why not. I see them every day and it’s still a joy each time.
Cockatoo Island itself is pretty but there’s not a lot going on. You could walk around the entire perimeter in about twenty minutes, and that’s what I did, and then I climbed the steps up to the much higher part of the island which involved a very confusing maze-like walk on some extremely unnervingly rickety bridges about fifty metres above the ground. I saw no actual cockatoos but some terrifyingly deafening squarking seagulls (never heard anything like it), and a disused quarry with old bits of rail all over it.
Back on the boat and sat inside this time (very lovely modern interior) and some kayakers sensibly decided to row right in front of the boat, causing lots of horn-soundingness. Sun began to set so that the east remained a clear blue but the west soon turned purple. This photo of me where I’m relaxing with my arms alongside the boat unfortunately makes my arms look puny and shows that I’ve not been to the gym in a few months now, so I’m mainly scratched out
Straight onto a tram (Routes 2+3 use double five car Alstom sets) a few stops to QVB for dinner, and then the usual train home to Newtown, either an A or B Set Waratah or a Millennium, can’t remember which to be quite honest. Was a nice day all in all and a good way to make the most of a day that’d been shortened by my lie in.
Fin. Thanks for reading and I hope you return soon for the next report. Today I woke up late again, and had a scheduled Zoom meeting with staff from my home uni to attend by 7:30pm, so I decided to fill the in-between part of the day by getting a tram to Coogee Beach, where I spent a divine hour-and-half just reading my book in a private part hidden among the rocks by the cliff. It was very nice
Now I need to look at sorting dinner.
Last edited:
(Joking)
