158F: Normanhurst Last Month (01/12/2023)

Trains passing through Normanhurst Station in Northern Sydney on Friday 1st December 2023, including The Picnic Train's 5917 & 42107 en route to Hawkesbury River and a "Mariyung" D set on a test run, as well as the regular passenger trains and one freight service.
I also go into the history of renamings that took place in the first three/ five years of Normanhurst's existence and its relationship to Hornsby, the next station to the north, as well as the civil engineer and activist from whom Normanhurst takes its current name.

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All photos in this film not owned by me are Public Domain.

This shoot began as something that was to be included in "Greater Sydney Extravanganza" (coming soon) and a place to capture 5917 & 42107 making their way to Hawkesbury River in preparation for some shuttles between there and Gosford, before being separated into its own thing. It's a slower film than Wingello For Hogmanay sure, but nonetheless a nice one. The FR-livery 82s on 9537 are also fast-disappearing, as well PN-operated Manildra trains this year so it's good to capture them whilst they're still around.

At the time of editing I was still a little dubious on the exact dates of the name changes. Normanhurst's 1895 opening and Hornsby's 1894 renaming to "Hornsby Junction" were clear enough, but as for the renaming of Normanhurst to its present name and Hornsby Junction losing the "Junction" part, this either occurred in 1898 or 1900 (or one in each year); sources differed on this.
The parts about Norman Selfe, including his preference of "St. Normans" over the chosen name, are true enough. I found it interesting that several things mostly credited to J.J.C. Bradfield were agitated for, at least in part, by Selfe, though admittedly Bradfield actually saw them get built and Selfe was defeated by matters involving political will, money and the lack of both.

The "Last Month" title is triple-barrelled.
1. A reference to ‪@TomSkaAndFriends‬ 's "Last Month" series of monthly recap videos, which wrapped this month no less.
2. If you're watching this in January 2024, this genuinely took place last month.
3. December's the last month of the year.
It's the sort of pun you come up with at 11pm when you've been working for 15hrs without stopping to eat. Not that I've done that, you understand... *ahem*.

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Duck

LEGAL STUFF
All filmed content in this video was captured from safe and publicly accessible vantage points.
The images appearing at 05:40, 05:56 & 06:11 are Public Domain images, the first two being sourced from the State Library of NSW and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons.
All history sources used in this film are credited in-video.
All other content in this film, including its soundtrack, is my own work.
This film is marked as "Not Made For Kids" as whilst it can be enjoyed by kids, they are not the primary intended audience.

158F: Normanhurst Last Month
C. Duck Wilson - TheBritFromOz
MMXXIV
All Rights Reserved

#normanhurst #sydney #sydneytrains #nswtrainlink #pacificnational #nifty #nswtrainlink #picnic #steamtrain #dieselengine #xpt #passengertrain #freighttrain #oscar #intercity #northshore #hornsby #history

CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introductory Proceedings
00:30 - Trains Part 1
04:24 - History Class
07:06 - Trains Part 2 inc. 5917
09:36 - Credits