'Steam Railways of the South Maitland Coalfields' - Documentary Film made during 1981-83

'Steam Railways of the South Maitland Coalfields' - the little documentary that set off my professional career in film and television, way back in the early '80s. Pretty scary thought considering how far we've come today!

Shot in 'reversal' Kodachrome and Ektachrome using a state of the art Beaulieu 6008S Super 8 camera, (which suffered constant battery and back focus issues) edited with 'splicing tape' in a caravan, voiced and music mixed in real time on a Beaulieu EL Stereo projector then finally Telecined to 1" video at VideoLab in Sydney on their Rank Cintel MkIII, (same one used by the Leyland Brothers) this short film was originally offered for sale on VHS and Betamax and more recently, on DVD.

I 'roadshowed' this film around the Hunter Region with my projector and portable screen during the early 80s and picked up some very interesting film contracts including 14 day shoot to Frazer Island with a 4WD Tour operator until NBN Channel 3 in Newcastle hired me as a Commercial Director then sentenced me to 10 years penal servitude in Papua New Guinea from which I never recovered. HaHa!

Today, I'm guiding a series of small group, narrow gauge rail tours to Taiwan and Japan. Highlights of our Taiwan tour is a visit to the spectacular Alishan Forest Railway which climbs from sea level to 2.200m in just 75 kilometers and on special occasions, still operates a Shay geared locomotive!