SMR 20 from Neath Hotel

[Steve Appleton]

Posted for the photographer, Denis Mitchell:

Up until 1983, alcoholic railfans could for $A3.00 a night and a dollar extra for breakfast, stay at the turn of the century 3-story Neath Hotel, where on one side of the pub you could watch the S.M.R. tank 2-8-2s battle the empties up to Neath collery (as depicted here). When you got bored with this, you could go to the other side and watch the Pelton and earlier Caledonian & Bellbird Collieries empties get a run at Neath bank. These were usually double-headed!
You could catch a bus from Maitland to Neath (about 25 mins) for about $A1.25 and just spend a few days watching the S.M.R. go by. It was not unknown for the driver of the Neath Colliery trains to have an "Old" or two while the fireman cleaned the fire/smokebox, whilst waiting a path on the "mainline". Pre-1972, you could get the train to Neath station and walk the 500 metres.
It was an idillic pastime, and you never got thirsty! Unfortunately, about the same time as steam was ending the pub changed hands, the trendies found the place and, as it was only 5 minutes drive from Cessnock, the wineries. As the coup de grace, some fool decided to start hot-air ballooning out of Cessnock, the pub was spruced up and the prices went through the roof ($A250 to sleep in a bed I used to pay $A3.00 for). Breakfast is now a $35 touch and nowhere near as good as what we got for a dollar. PROGRESS? BAH ..HUMBUG!

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Almost like Matjiesfontein