S546 "Edgerton" leaving Collie 1970

[Steve Appleton]

Posted on behalf of Dennis Mitchell:

After a steamless first day in Collie on the main lines, the next day started off with this: S546 "Edgerton" on No.103 Collie- Narrogin goods. This would have been 5-12-1970 if memory serves correctly.
Greg Nowland and myself were devastated to find X +RA diesels on the main line trains and heaps of stored steam. It turned out they were doing trials and crew training and this was the last day they were there. Sure enough, in the morning they were gone and the steam was back in force. During the day we saw Fs 4-8-0[shunt] W 4-8-2, S 4-8-2 + V 2-8-2 working, although the diesels and the storage roads told of steam's limited time.