Catalina Park Katoomba

[Kingsley]

Hi all,
I'm chasing any old pictures of Catalina Park (Katoomba) if anyone has them for donation/sale for a book I am writing on the subject. Any and all photo's submitted will be credited to the photographer/owner of such pics. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Darren.

[Pedro]

Good luck finding amateur pics Darren. I attended quite a few meetings there. Fatty Geoghan rolled his Cortina right in front of us one time and I saw Bob Jane explore the safety fence in his Mustang.

[wrongwaynorris]

Good on you M8 . Had hundreds of photos but our shed flooded a years ago and I lost the lot , as well as all Oran Park , Amaroo Park and Warwick Farm too . I wish you all the best in what will be a MUST read . Put me down for a copy when it is completed please .

[The Yeti]

I got these off Turns (Ozrodders)

http://www.ozrodders.com/forum/viewt...hilit=Catalina





Interestingly the place where the track is located is locally referred to The Gully so where did the Catalina reference come from?? Next to the track is a lake. In the 1940s this lake was set up to be an amusement park type area. The park was an instant success and in 1948, the shell of a Consolidated Catalina PBY-5 flying boat was added to the attractions, which included speedboat rides, tearooms, miniature train, Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, swimming pool and a Giggle House showing Charlie Chaplin films. Although many people believed the plane had flown there, it had in fact been dismantled and brought to Katoomba by truck, where it was re-assembled and anchored to a concrete block in the middle of the lake.



In 1954 the plane was pulled out of the lake and sat on the banks where it deteriorated until it was sold for scrap in 1958 to Sheffield Welding & Engineering, Auburn NSW. In 1957 work commenced to build the race track that was completed in 1961.
From what I can tell a fair bit of racing took place there and some famous names have raced on it. I have mentioned the track before on the forum, and many forum members remember the track in use. I was born in 1973 and never saw a race there.

[The Yeti]

[quote="turns"]This is as close to the track I could get the 'Turns Family Truckster' :evil:


This is the left hander before the main straight - note the armco (or not :shock: )



Down the main straight - I sight that had been seen through a sweaty crash helmet numerous times I presume



Some faded signage still exists

[The Yeti]

The remains of the foundations of the timing tower



Armco is still there that led onto the track in front of the timing tower on the main straight



The start & finish signs still exist :shock:



I am amazed at the enjoyment I got from my visit. It provided me insight and makes me better understand what others get from events like ‘The Riverside Reunion’ or ‘Castlereagh Reunion’ – people that actually raced at these venues in times past. Certainly there would have been some hairy racing moments :mrgreen:

[Moby Vic]

I was there in October--my pictures look about like The Yeti's.

[GTP-814]

can someone tell me how to load images like the ones here as I have a range

[ea_boss_05]

I'm pretty sure this is Catalina early 1970's Rally Cross.

[aussie muscle]

holy cow!!!

[HULK EF]

Originally Posted by Moby Vic

I was there in October--my pictures look about like The Yeti's.

I was there 2 hours ago.!!!

Did a slow walking lap around the track.. Would of been an awesome track to race on! Tight corners.. gully's.. downhill home straight. .. the bush scenery...

Found a coupleof old tyres half in undergrowth on the inside of the track just near the old railings... one rim/tyre was still holding pressureised air!!! very rusty rim.. looked pretty old!

[Neale]

I have a few pics form the last race meeting there in the late 90's. They were taken with a film SLR so I have to scan them for you.

Heres a little incar vid I stumbled across on you tube of a lap around the track at speed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXSn_1oHM_Y

& one of bob janes big one there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDfha8dHE0M

You can also ask here for permission to use the pics. There are some fantastic ones, some of the best that I have seen. Maybe write a post on there asking if anyone else has more aswell

http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...=catalina+park.

http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...=catalina+park

http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...na-Park-Part-2

http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...=catalina+park

Autopics also have a tone of pics. You can probably ask if you can use some of their pics

http://www.autopics.com.au/search.mibiznez

The pic of the Catalina on the lake is in the Katoomba Museums Collection http://bmlocalstudies.blogspot.com.a...-katoomba.html

another place to look for pics is
http://www.bobjaneracingheritage.com/

[XDV800]

Unfortunately there was a sight just last year kicking around that had stacks of historic and recent still shots of all the lost trans tasman racing circuits, including Catalina
Park, but it seems to be gone now.

tasman-series.com

Anybody know why this site isn't hosted anymore?

[Neale]

I did notice that it was gone, not sure why

[rjr]

Found some photos > looks like they belong to the Blue Mountains Library so if you want to use them you might have to buy them.

There could even be more.

http://www.photosau.com.au/BlueMount...chTerm=002280A

http://www.photosau.com.au/BlueMount...chTerm=002280A

http://www.photosau.com.au/BlueMount...chTerm=004099B

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_mo...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_mo...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_mo...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_mo...n/photostream/

[Moby Vic]

Originally Posted by GTP-814

can someone tell me how to load images like the ones here as I have a range

You have to have them on an image hosting site already, and then you post links here via the "Insert Image" button.

[Bearman]

Great thread!!! Looks like it was an awesome place in its day.

[wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by Bearman

Great thread!!! Looks like it was an awesome place in its day.

It was a fantastic place , have many fond memories of days spent there .

[XRFutura]

I still think they should try and re-open it as a advance driving centre and then hold a Catalina Revival race meeting.

I know its just a dream, but it would be awesome to have a local racetrack in the mountains.

[rjr]

Originally Posted by XRFutura

I still think they should try and re-open it as a advance driving centre and then hold a Catalina Revival race meeting.

I know its just a dream, but it would be awesome to have a local racetrack in the mountains.

It's some sort of Aboriginal heritage area now so no chance of that happening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_Park

http://goo.gl/maps/rfOVq

[Fast Eddie]

It is an Aboriginal heritage area now but what a lost opportunity it is that the place can't/won't be restored and used as a memorial to it's rich history of Australian motor racing, as a general Tourist attraction and an asset to us ratepayers of the Blue Mountains.

Worst of all is the loss of the Catalina flying boat but that's a story all on it's own.

[Neale]

Originally Posted by XRFutura

I still think they should try and re-open it as a advance driving centre and then hold a Catalina Revival race meeting.

I know its just a dream, but it would be awesome to have a local racetrack in the mountains.

They did try all of that back in the late 90's, with a supersprint & car show to try & get some of the council's attention so that the track could stay open.

Sadly the council up there has no interest in the track or motorsport. That & the amount of money required to maintain the area probably led to it being handed over to the Gully Traditional Owners in record time.

When you look at the track you would never be able to race cars there these days without complete reconstruction of the track, plus all of the greenies that live there wouldnt like them chopping down trees to do it, or race cars there burning fossil fuels & making noise.

It is ashame that the track wasnt preserved any better so that its nicer for people to walk around & possibly a museum feauring the complete history of the area including the original owners of the area & the race track. It looks like they would rather let it become overgrown & inaccesible.

[DR650]

There was a small get together there in about '03 or '04 with a few old cars that ran there and heaps of old photos people had displayed.I saw it advertised in the local rag and went up for a look with a way out hope they'd do something about saving the place.
For a council that whines about being broke they could make a few bucks out of the place,alot of the people with fond memories of it's heyday are cashed up retirees now who'd shell out to drive there pride and joy around the track.
You can only dream !

[DR650]

It got the better of me,I went up there for a look around and the biggest job was dodging all of the dog turds on the track.
It's wasted away a fair bit from last time I was there but it's still able to be saved and would make a great place for a Goodwood style event being the only old track near Sydney thats still around.It'd take a lot of work but would be a top event.

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by rjr

It's some sort of Aboriginal heritage area now so no chance of that happening..........

As well as that, the Blue Mountains area has a huge population of greeny tree huggers so that doubles the "no chance of it happening", (or anything else that could be seen as progressive).

[MDS69]

Originally Posted by DANW

It got the better of me,I went up there for a look around and the biggest job was dodging all of the dog turds on the track.
It's wasted away a fair bit from last time I was there but it's still able to be saved and would make a great place for a Goodwood style event being the only old track near Sydney thats still around.It'd take a lot of work but would be a top event.

How easily accessable is the track. I thought you had to seek permission from the traditional owners.

[DR650]

You just park at the pool carpark and walk over into it,there's walking tracks through the infield now.Just mind the dog turds.I pedalled around it this morning and they've taken alot of the fencing down along the straight and there's dirt and leaves everywhere but it's still fairly intact.
You're dead right Pedro,It was painful to build our pool and shed we'd never do it again with BMCC.

[nb_351]

I remember going up there in the early 2000s with my dad for that Memorial Day it was awesome the track was so close to where we sat we were on the hairpin corner

[82XD393.3v]

as a kid i loved that track 30 odd years ago

[TheInterceptor]

Mmm this thread reminded me, id like to go check it out!

Sure is a shame its wasting away...