The pictures, taken by Mulbring photographer Paul O’Brien celebrate the great work Richmond Vale Rail Museum does and were inspired by Hunter Valley Steamfest happening in Maitland this weekend.

The photographs features ‘Marjorie’ the little 0-4-0 class steam engine that lives at Richmond Vale Rail Museum. Marjorie was built by Clyde Engineering at Granville, NSW in 1938. She is very similar to the preserved Avonside locomotive 'Kathleen'. Marjorie the locomotive worked at the John Lysaghts' works in Newcastle.

At some stage it was fitted with roller bearings on the side rods/ cranks, which gives a distinctive look and presumably reduces maintenance! Marjorie was retired from use at Lysaghts in 1972 and was initially plinthed in a park at Edgeworth. Fortunately she was rescued from her plinth by Richmond Vale Railway and transferred to their Richmond Main Colliery site near Kurri Kurri. Restoration followed and Marjorie's first day in service on the RVR occurred on 23 January 1986. Marjorie has since been a regular performer at the RVR, generally appearing in an attractive green livery.

The history of the Richmond Vale Railway goes back to 1857 when the first section was opened from Hexham, on the banks of the Hunter River, to Minmi near the Sugarloaf Range, a distance of five and a half miles. In 1904 John Brown, who had taken over complete control of the J. & A. Brown Company, started a branch line from this first section through the Sugarloaf Range to Richmond Main Colliery and Pelaw Main Colliery near Kurri Kurri - a distance of twenty-two miles. A large locomotive shed was constructed at Pelaw Main with a major repair shop at Hexham. Richmond Main Colliery was John "Baron" Brown's pride and joy. This mine was once the largest vertical shaft mine in the Southern Hemisphere.