Drawing of a backhead A2 express locomotive

Ballarat Heritage Weekend has just been, the highlight for me was ( is always ) the steam trains.
The sun shone and my spirits were high, I thought I’d go out and see what observational drawings I could do. I haven’t done that in a long while. I took a ride on the train, which was a A2 express passenger locomotive, built in 1915 and the Newport Workshops. It was such an amazing experience. The train departed from Ballarat station and went to Lal Lal. When it stopped a young kid said “WE’VE RAN OUT OF PETROL!”, super cute.

I did a lot of terrible sketches, just what I needed to do! Took a lot of photos and spoke to volunteers from Steamrail Victoria. Such a gift, people sharing their knowledge.

I also did a tour of the old Ballarat Gaol, which was grim and very, very interesting. I looked at amazing vintage cars and then later on in the evening Kidlet and I went to the 100 years of music at the Ballarat Mechanics Institute. She danced and danced and asked me to join and I did not 😛

The heritage weekend is one of those things that you always want to see more than you actually can. I love learning history, even the dark stuff.
I had plans to do more finished drawings of the weekend, but I’ve just started working on some large pieces and that is where my drawing time is going too. So, enjoy this drawing of the beautiful train backhead. Get to the BHW one year! It’s well worth your time.