By Gabriella Vukman
The staff and volunteers at Puffing Billy know 12-year-old Heath by name and now the rest of the nation does too.
Ferntree Gully resident and Puffing Billy enthusiast Heath is no stranger to the volunteers and staff at the Hills’ steam railways. From shovelling coal to always being up for a good chat, the Hard Quiz Kids champion has a passion for steam.
Appearing on the ABC’s ‘Hard Quiz Kids’ tv show on Saturday July 27, 12-year-old Heath took home the title of ‘Hard Quiz Kids Champion’ and the brass mug to go with it.
Choosing Puffing Billy as his quiz topic, Heath proudly represented the Hills and Dandenong Ranges community on television.
Heath said it felt really good to be a hard quiz champion and he was really proud of himself.
“I’ve been watching ‘Hard Quiz’ for years and when I was younger, I never dreamed that I’d become an actual hard quiz champion but now I actually have the big brass mug,” he said.
“I’m also very proud and happy that I got to represent the Hills and Puffing Billy communities and show everyone that Puffing Billy is really, really, really good, as I said on the show.”
Convinced he inherited his love for trains through genetics, Heath’s passion for the legendary local steam engine was ignited from his first ride on the train as a toddler.
According to Heath’s mum Jessica, a lifelong love of ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ has also played a role in fueling his Puffing Billy passion.
Heath said he thinks he inherited the love for Puffing Billy through genes because ’my dad and my grandpa are both into trains and I’ve always been into trains’.
“With Puffing Billy, being the closest steam railway to my area, just seeing its salvation and how it was preserved was very interesting and I, as a kid, have always loved sticking my legs out and I still do today,” he said.
“I have always loved Thomas the tank engine too so that helped.”
Upon being asked what he most loves about Puffing Billy, Heath insisted that being able to stick his legs out of the train was the highlight.
“Sticking your legs out is fun but I also just love the locomotives as well and the scenery and where it is is also fantastic,“ he said.
Whilst Heath’s prior Puffing Billy knowledge set him in good stead, preparing for his debut on the ‘Hard Quiz kids’ also involved significant amounts of study.
Heath said he did lots of study, he borrowed heaps of library books and actually went up to Puffing Billy and had a chat with the people up there as well.
“A funny thing also happened when we went to the library at Knox and borrowed heaps of old Puffing Billy books. When we came up and scanned them, the machine said that they were ‘invalid’,“ he said.
“So we went up to the desk and they said the books were still on the old system because they hadn’t been borrowed in at least fifteen years.”
Commencing his ‘Hard Quiz Kids’ journey in February with a submission, Heath underwent a long auditioning process before appearing on the episode.
“In February we submitted an online form application to be on ‘Hard Quiz’ and then from there, they went through the applications and chose about 200 kids who they thought were really good. There were like 1500 kids in total so lots and lots of kids auditioned. Then they took some to do a live audition,” Heath said.
“In March we did a live audition where they did a mini round of Hard Quiz and learnt more about our subjects and they got to know us more as well,“ he said.
“From there they picked some kids who they thought would be great for the show and they got put in this thing called a contestant pool where they say ‘these kids are all good for hard quiz, we just have to match them up for the episodes’.“
After being selected for the contestant pool, Heath informed that the contestants’ topics were then matched up in order to form episodes.
Heath said in the studio, they started filming at 3 o’clock but we got there at 1:15.”
“We had our own fancy dressy rooms, which I was very pleased with and then basically we had to do makeup which I absolutely hate. I’m not a makeup person,” he said.
“We then went down into the studio and they explained how to move around the set, and then they started shooting the smiling at the camera shots which was a bit awkward because you had to stand there for about a minute going ‘cheese.’ It was a bit awkward.”
According to Heath, it took approximately two and a half hours to film the episode and the best footage was compiled to generate the 30-minute episode.
“The staff were really, really good. They listened to us, they explained it really well and they checked if we had any questions,“ he said.
“The two girls were a bit quiet but I chatted with the other boy that was in my show and we got along really well.”
Often frequenting Puffing Billy, Heath enjoys chatting with the staff and immersing himself in the realm of trains. He was even allowed to shovel some coal.
Heath said his mum’s friend’s husband is a volunteer driver at Puffing Billy and so he has been out in lots of the locomotives and has done some shoveling.
“Since I go there quite a bit, they all remember me. I always go up and have a chat and say hi,“ he said.
Coal-shoveling aside, Heath said, “It’s sort of that social aspect. I like coming and talking to them.”
Whilst the age limit for joining the 600 Puffing Billy volunteers is 16, Heath firmly established that he will be a volunteer ’the second I turn 16.’
Despite the Hard Quiz Kids TV-show host Tom Gleeson’s intimidating appearance and stern demeanor on camera, Heath confirmed that the host has a softer side.
Heath said Tom Gleeson isn’t as mean as he seems. He’s actually quite a nice guy.
“He came to us before the show -and he was not in his big suit yet, he came up in casual clothes and said to everyone ‘see I’m just like your old dad as well.’ He then said ‘But once I’m in the suit, I’m meant to be intimidating so act intimidated’.”
“He’s a really nice bloke. He’s actually really tall as well. He could probably have played basketball.“
Despite only being allowed to be on the ‘Hard Quiz Kids’ show once, Heath is hatching plans to appear when he is older in the adult version of the show.
Brimming with pride at being able to represent his community to a nationwide audience, Heath encouraged people to visit Puffing Billy and said, “Puffing Billy is great. All the volunteers and everyone are nice and it’s a really good experience.”
“I’m just so proud that I got to represent the Puffing Billy and Hills community,”he said.
