| On Tuesday 18 May 2004 a trial run of eight Ozback Explorer cars was undertaken from Lithgow to Orange and return. Motive power was provided by ex SRA locomotive 4703 operated by Lachlan Valley Railway Society.
After much activity on the State Mine branchline over the previous weekend the cars were shunted at the mine site then transferred to Eskbank Goods Shed on Sunday evening by ex BHP locomotive D23. The train was powered up on the evening of Monday 17 May to allow the families of those who had worked on the restoration and refurbishment of the cars to inspect the results of their labours.
The train left Lithgow at about 9:55am on Tuesday morning. On board were Ozback directors George & Nick Milaris, State Mine directors Michael Wilson, Ray & Jennifer Christison & Steve Overmyer, ARHS directors Spencer Ross & Ross Verdich, State Mine Operations Manager Ian Thornton, State Mine Maintenance Manager Jason McIntyre and a crew of Ozback Explorer staff.
The outward trip went uneventfully (to the great relief of George Milaris) with stops at Wallerawang (to check bearings), Bathurst (to drop off Lithgow Fire Protection’s Ian Wilkinson) and Orange East Fork (to allow the locomotive to run around the train). On the return the train stopped at Blayney where an expedition was sent out to gather meat pies. The train returned to Lithgow yard at about 5:00pm.
This is a great milestone for Ozback Explorer and for the State Mine. More details on the Ozback Explorer can be obtained from their website www.ozbackexplorer.com
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