September 1, 2025 • 8 mins
Tom O'Brien looks ahead to the Kingston Flyer season which includes marking a special milestone in the not too distant future.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is the master on Hakanui. The song is called
Barbara O'Riley Now. Austin Smith and Nickel Gray hit me
up in the pub after tennis last week asking me
what the heck Barbara Riley was about in regards to
his song So here you go, Cracker and Osty. Barbara
Riley is not an actual person, but a portmanteau that's
pronounced correctly. Of the two main inspirations for the Who's
(00:29):
guitarist Pete Townsend mehair barber, who is an Indian spiritual master,
and Terry Riley, a minimalist composer whose influence was heard
in the song's iconic synth risk riff. The title reflects
Townsend's attempt to create a barber in the style of
Terry Riley, and also alludes to the song's theme of
desolation of teenagers and events like Woodstock and teenage waste Slam,
(00:51):
which is the key line in that song. It has
sung throughout the song was a working title derived from
Towsym's observations of a trash and waste left behind by
fans to woods Dot concert, and despite the lyrical content,
the title Barbara Riley was chosen to honor his two
muses rather than reflect the desolation he witnessed. So Cracker
and Osty. I hope that clarifies that for you. Tom O'Brien,
(01:12):
our next guest. He'll be listening with interest of that song, Tommy,
Good afternoon, Brabara. Right, it's a hell of a tune,
but awfully confusing if you don't know what it's about.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, truth be told, mate, I'm pretty confused by that intro.
It's pretty pretty fully loaded. But you know, what do
you expect from the Who? And Pete Townsad? Fantastic artist,
fantastic musician. God the songwriting and the Who's pretty pretty amazing.
Really yeah, great band, But yeah, I don't know. I
could say the three you as being a bit of
an influenced by a bit of you know, Indian philosophy
(01:43):
and stay type styles. Andy.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, you're based up in Garston. You're helping up the
Kings and fly this afternoon, the season not far away.
Sounds like you're stripping down a motor or some bearings
or something. What's to go?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Oh, well, there's a bit going on, you know. Pre
season always sort of ramps things up of it around
at Candy and a second day of spring. So at
the moment, my mate Dave and I are just getting
ready to head up the track. We mark out old
rotten sleepers and then we take out the screws or
the dog spikes, and then we've got a whole lot
(02:17):
of new sleepers that are going to be coming in
and we'll be replacing those sleepers. So there's that going on.
Dave has also been working on a couple of the carriages,
so he's a joiner and among other talents, and he's
been doing quite a lot of woodworking on the carriages.
(02:37):
And then we've got Neville who'll be coming up and
doing quite a bit of work on the engine. He'll
be concentrating on stripping off all the all of the
fittings off the boiler, yeah, and just getting the fixing
on the boiler and basically just fixing any dips and
viobs that we need prefeas and.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Really how long does the sleeper last on the Kingston
rail line?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh well, some of the sleepers will be taking out
are probably close to eighty odd years old, so you
know they originally would have been made of Jarrah hardwood
Australian Jarra hardwood a lot of the sleepers we use
nowadays in macrocarpa.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
As far as stripping down the Kingstom flaw. How many
manails does it take to prepare it for the upcoming season?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh, it's a hard one, mate, because it's not truly
actually start taking all the things off that you really
sort of understand what needs to happen. You know, there's
a lot of you know, because it's so old school
in every sense of the word. You know, getting some
of the getting some of the bits and bobs that
you needed can be quite difficult. It's very specialized, you know,
(03:42):
engineering side of things. But there's a lot of sort
of repacking, got what we call repacking of glands and yeah,
just a lot of cleaning and a lot of stealing
things up and you know, replacing nuts and bolts and stuff.
So I don't know, it's not thousands of ours, but
one hundred of hours pre season, I would say, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
There's not like a flat pack. When you left of
a couple of the screws at the end, you can
go through and recorrect it. Doing a big motor light
down on a locomotive train for goodness sakes, and another
kettle official together yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We don't have a big enough allen key for you know,
nuts and bolts on the old on the old engine. Mate.
But actually, actually another interesting is that the Flyer has
got an anniversary coming up. Yes, so seven, we've got
two engines seven, nine to five and eight. What if
(04:36):
a day that one hundred, one hundred years old. Really
we're going to make a bit of a celebration of
that around labor weekends. So yeah, so yeah, an oldie,
but a goodie in every sense of the word. Right.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I think everybody from my vintage anyway in northern South
and remembers going on the Kingsom Flyer in the early
eighties and the great crunchy train robbery of course for
it back in the day.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
That's iconic, I believe that. I think you're right. I
think that was filmed in nineteen seventy nine, and I
remember that ad watching that ad as a kid as well.
And of course we all you know, up until relatively recently,
we also used to have the grapes hold up on
the train. A few of the local farmers would jump
on the horses and ride along the side of the
track and would slow the train down and then they
(05:22):
actual barriages, and you know, they'd have their their faces
covered up with masks, and they'd have their cowboy hats
and guns and all that sort of stuff with the
bolts out and they'd come through and rob everyone on
the train. And then they would come through with a
big sort of chips full of counchry dars and hand
them out and it was great fun.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I was just about to say they needed to cand
out crunchy bars. That is brilliant. I didn't realize the
locals were in on this. That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, yeah, no, it was really really good. I think, yeah,
you wouldn't. You wouldn't be allowed to do it nowadays.
It's sort of the health and safty rules would pretty
much stop you from doing any of that sort of
stuff now. But but it was. It was really really
fun to be a part of. And highly skilled horsemen
as well, so you know that the driver and the
fireman had to sort of slow the train right down
(06:11):
low enough so that they could actually come from the
horse actually onto the carriage, which is pretty impressive to watch.
So absolutely, yeah, but yeah, you know, we're looking forward
to a really good season. We've got really good forward
bookings with you wholesalers and bound operators and you know
bus to the companies, so so so the so the
(06:33):
Pubbers is looking to sort of extend its ability to
accommodate a lot of those people on buses, say in
clement weather, you know, we can put them out into
the into the carriage where the train where the where
the Pubbers and they can have their lunch and so
on and so forth. So so, yeah, here's a good season.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
When does it start? The season?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
October the fifth? We're not far away a month, We're
just a month some months out. Yeah, so that's kind
of like what, oh, we better start building up edith
seen before the season kicks off. Great pundt ah, look
out Andy.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Hey, that's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Tom Hey.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Will leave it there, Mate, always fascinating to talk and
especially regarding the Kingsom flyer. Be leiave it there, and
I'll always appreciate your time on the muster, Mate.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Oh I appreciate as well, Mate. Catch it later, laugh.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Out loud with ag proud because life on the land
can be a laughing matter. Brought to us by sheer
Well Data working to help the livestock farmer at the
age of sixty five, my grandma started walking ten kilometers
a day. She's ninety two. Now we've got no idea
where she is. That's us for the afternoon. Dun and dusted.
(07:52):
Stay dry up there, I meany, Mila. This has been
the muster on Hakanoy Mini. Cheers to Peter's Genetics, Morgan
Mitchell and Studio Tomorrow Talking stakes, end us up, hold
the shield, Nick sell Thy Boys see tomorrow
This is the master on Hakanui. The song is called
Barbara O'Riley Now. Austin Smith and Nickel Gray hit me
up in the pub after tennis last week asking me
what the heck Barbara Riley was about in regards to
his song So here you go, Cracker and Osty. Barbara
Riley is not an actual person, but a portmanteau that's
pronounced correctly. Of the two main inspirations for the Who's
(00:29):
guitarist Pete Townsend mehair barber, who is an Indian spiritual master,
and Terry Riley, a minimalist composer whose influence was heard
in the song's iconic synth risk riff. The title reflects
Townsend's attempt to create a barber in the style of
Terry Riley, and also alludes to the song's theme of
desolation of teenagers and events like Woodstock and teenage waste Slam,
(00:51):
which is the key line in that song. It has
sung throughout the song was a working title derived from
Towsym's observations of a trash and waste left behind by
fans to woods Dot concert, and despite the lyrical content,
the title Barbara Riley was chosen to honor his two
muses rather than reflect the desolation he witnessed. So Cracker
and Osty. I hope that clarifies that for you. Tom O'Brien,
(01:12):
our next guest. He'll be listening with interest of that song, Tommy,
Good afternoon, Brabara. Right, it's a hell of a tune,
but awfully confusing if you don't know what it's about.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, truth be told, mate, I'm pretty confused by that intro.
It's pretty pretty fully loaded. But you know, what do
you expect from the Who? And Pete Townsad? Fantastic artist,
fantastic musician. God the songwriting and the Who's pretty pretty amazing.
Really yeah, great band, But yeah, I don't know. I
could say the three you as being a bit of
an influenced by a bit of you know, Indian philosophy
(01:43):
and stay type styles. Andy.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, you're based up in Garston. You're helping up the
Kings and fly this afternoon, the season not far away.
Sounds like you're stripping down a motor or some bearings
or something. What's to go?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Oh, well, there's a bit going on, you know. Pre
season always sort of ramps things up of it around
at Candy and a second day of spring. So at
the moment, my mate Dave and I are just getting
ready to head up the track. We mark out old
rotten sleepers and then we take out the screws or
the dog spikes, and then we've got a whole lot
(02:17):
of new sleepers that are going to be coming in
and we'll be replacing those sleepers. So there's that going on.
Dave has also been working on a couple of the carriages,
so he's a joiner and among other talents, and he's
been doing quite a lot of woodworking on the carriages.
(02:37):
And then we've got Neville who'll be coming up and
doing quite a bit of work on the engine. He'll
be concentrating on stripping off all the all of the
fittings off the boiler, yeah, and just getting the fixing
on the boiler and basically just fixing any dips and
viobs that we need prefeas and.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Really how long does the sleeper last on the Kingston
rail line?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh well, some of the sleepers will be taking out
are probably close to eighty odd years old, so you
know they originally would have been made of Jarrah hardwood
Australian Jarra hardwood a lot of the sleepers we use
nowadays in macrocarpa.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
As far as stripping down the Kingstom flaw. How many
manails does it take to prepare it for the upcoming season?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh, it's a hard one, mate, because it's not truly
actually start taking all the things off that you really
sort of understand what needs to happen. You know, there's
a lot of you know, because it's so old school
in every sense of the word. You know, getting some
of the getting some of the bits and bobs that
you needed can be quite difficult. It's very specialized, you know,
(03:42):
engineering side of things. But there's a lot of sort
of repacking, got what we call repacking of glands and yeah,
just a lot of cleaning and a lot of stealing
things up and you know, replacing nuts and bolts and stuff.
So I don't know, it's not thousands of ours, but
one hundred of hours pre season, I would say, yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
There's not like a flat pack. When you left of
a couple of the screws at the end, you can
go through and recorrect it. Doing a big motor light
down on a locomotive train for goodness sakes, and another
kettle official together yeah, well.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
We don't have a big enough allen key for you know,
nuts and bolts on the old on the old engine. Mate.
But actually, actually another interesting is that the Flyer has
got an anniversary coming up. Yes, so seven, we've got
two engines seven, nine to five and eight. What if
(04:36):
a day that one hundred, one hundred years old. Really
we're going to make a bit of a celebration of
that around labor weekends. So yeah, so yeah, an oldie,
but a goodie in every sense of the word. Right.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I think everybody from my vintage anyway in northern South
and remembers going on the Kingsom Flyer in the early
eighties and the great crunchy train robbery of course for
it back in the day.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
That's iconic, I believe that. I think you're right. I
think that was filmed in nineteen seventy nine, and I
remember that ad watching that ad as a kid as well.
And of course we all you know, up until relatively recently,
we also used to have the grapes hold up on
the train. A few of the local farmers would jump
on the horses and ride along the side of the
track and would slow the train down and then they
(05:22):
actual barriages, and you know, they'd have their their faces
covered up with masks, and they'd have their cowboy hats
and guns and all that sort of stuff with the
bolts out and they'd come through and rob everyone on
the train. And then they would come through with a
big sort of chips full of counchry dars and hand
them out and it was great fun.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I was just about to say they needed to cand
out crunchy bars. That is brilliant. I didn't realize the
locals were in on this. That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, yeah, no, it was really really good. I think, yeah,
you wouldn't. You wouldn't be allowed to do it nowadays.
It's sort of the health and safty rules would pretty
much stop you from doing any of that sort of
stuff now. But but it was. It was really really
fun to be a part of. And highly skilled horsemen
as well, so you know that the driver and the
fireman had to sort of slow the train right down
(06:11):
low enough so that they could actually come from the
horse actually onto the carriage, which is pretty impressive to watch.
So absolutely, yeah, but yeah, you know, we're looking forward
to a really good season. We've got really good forward
bookings with you wholesalers and bound operators and you know
bus to the companies, so so so the so the
(06:33):
Pubbers is looking to sort of extend its ability to
accommodate a lot of those people on buses, say in
clement weather, you know, we can put them out into
the into the carriage where the train where the where
the Pubbers and they can have their lunch and so
on and so forth. So so, yeah, here's a good season.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
When does it start? The season?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
October the fifth? We're not far away a month, We're
just a month some months out. Yeah, so that's kind
of like what, oh, we better start building up edith
seen before the season kicks off. Great pundt ah, look
out Andy.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Hey, that's brilliant.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Tom Hey.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Will leave it there, Mate, always fascinating to talk and
especially regarding the Kingsom flyer. Be leiave it there, and
I'll always appreciate your time on the muster, Mate.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Oh I appreciate as well, Mate. Catch it later, laugh.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Out loud with ag proud because life on the land
can be a laughing matter. Brought to us by sheer
Well Data working to help the livestock farmer at the
age of sixty five, my grandma started walking ten kilometers
a day. She's ninety two. Now we've got no idea
where she is. That's us for the afternoon. Dun and dusted.
(07:52):
Stay dry up there, I meany, Mila. This has been
the muster on Hakanoy Mini. Cheers to Peter's Genetics, Morgan
Mitchell and Studio Tomorrow Talking stakes, end us up, hold
the shield, Nick sell Thy Boys see tomorrow
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