Vintage steam train runs over King's Birthday weekend

A vintage steam train ran a number of services between Hawkesbury River and Gosford over the King's Birthday long weekend.

Four return journeys operated from Gosford on each of Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with the train whistle being heard across the Peninsula on its way through.

Among the passengers on the restored train was Member for Gosford Ms Liesl Tesch.

"The picturesque journey past bushland and waterways made for a magically-memorable experience.

"It was an absolute delight to share this rare opportunity with locals and visitors from far and wide," she said.

The train was pulled by steam locomotive 3526, the last remaining C35 class locomotive in existence.

Originally built in March 1917 by NSW Government Railways, the locomotive spent much of its life on northern services, along with the rest of the 35-class.

Prior renumbering in 1924, the class was known as the NN class, giving rise to the nickname "Nanny".

Locomotive 3526 was withdrawn from service in 1967 and retained for preservation, before becoming the first exhibit to be painted by the NSW Rail Transport Museum.

From 2014 to 2018, it underwent extensive restoration, marking the most comprehensive overhaul of any steam locomotive in the Transport Heritage NSW fleet.

The locomotive is operated by Transport Heritage NSW Ltd, which receives ongoing funding from the NSW Government.

SOURCE

Media release, 10 Jun 2025

Joely Langmaid, Office of the Member for Gosford

Patonga left without mobile phone service for two weeks

Patonga has been without mobile phone services for the past two weeks.

The service was restored at 7pm on Friday, June 13.

Telstra regional general manager Mr Michael Marom said: "A hardware issue is affecting our 4G small cell at Patonga.

"New equipment is on the way and we hope to have everything back online soon.

"We know it's been a rough couple of weeks and we thank everyone for their patience."

Mr Marom said that landline, NBN and other broadband services were not affected.

"Residents can improve their mobile coverage by using their NBN or other broadband connection to access wifi calling.

"This works even during a mobile network outage and is a free setting on most popular mobile phones which allows your mobile to use a wifi network to make and receive mobile calls.

"We also encourage business owners to talk to their bank about connecting their EFTPOS terminals to their NBN or wifi connection to prevent delays in processing transactions."

Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman Ms Cynthia Gebert said a number of Patonga residents had contacted her office: "We've heard it is stopping people from working, and some residents are concerned that vulnerable people won't be able to call for help or support if they need it.

"Patonga residents have told us that this is the second outage they've experienced in a month, which just adds to the frustration people are feeling."

The Telstra website records outages reported on May 8 and on May 31.

Ms Gebert said: "People living in smaller, more isolated parts of Australia face different challenges to those of us based in cities.

"When your phone doesn't work, you could be hours away from whoever you need to call, stuck with no way to get everyday essentials and support.

"For those that also don't have access to reliable internet, there may be no workarounds at all to get back on track.

"You're entitled to understand what is happening when an outage stops your phone working, and it's important you contact your provider to let them know.

"You can do this through their website, email or social media.

"If you can't get answers that way, you can reach out to my office. We're here to help."

SOURCE:

Media statement, 13 Jun 2025

Ashley McDermid, Telstra

Media statement, 13 Jun 2025

Meghann Clark, Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman