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‘theme’ weekend - in which
films on a subject precede an
Aexcursion to see or travel on
the real thing - have been a Fred Page
specialty. Usually, Fred’s Crest theatre
at his home in Bendigo is the film
venue.
Fred’s planning for a 15th
Anniversary weekend was more
ambitious: team up with fellow
members Peter and Judy Ricketts at
Moe in Gippsland, run the film
program in Peter’s home theatre the
Moe Majestic, make the subject narrow
gauge railways, and travel on the
picturesque Thomson to Walhalla
tourist railway.
The idea was a winner. Talk to a
theatre buff, and especially a
CATHS Visits Walhalla projectionist, and as often as not, their
other passion will be trains. Even a
9-10 April 2005 member less enamoured of trains could
not fail to be moved by river crossings,
dark forest enclosing the track and a
former gold-rush town at the end of the
line. The scenery could have come
straight out of a Technicolor western
such as Night Passage with James
Stewart.
Members made it a Full House at
the Majestic, where they saw a
selection of the world’s memorable
train journeys and inspected Peter’s
expansive film library and his
collection of projectors. After helping
to fill the best Chinese restaurant in
town, the group returned for more
films.
The Walhalla goldfield was a story
of false hopes. By the time the railway
reached it, the best of the gold was
gone. Volunteers run the train now, on a
small section of line.
At Walhalla, everyone’s destination
was the holiday cottage of Pamela and
Harvey Hutchison, who have made the
town their second home. Their
barbeque efforts soon satisfied 35
hungry visitors. One regret was the
shortness of the visit. The train was
waiting for the return journey, and it
wasn’t coming back that day.
Veteran film-maker Graeme Smythe
has captured the pleasures of the outing
with a 15-minute video. ★

CATHS members tuck in to lunch provided
by Pamela and Harvey Hutchison at their
Walhalla cottage.

38 2005 CINEMARECORD