North Queensland Rail Safari
Tour report, 24 July - 17 August 1998
Week 2 - Saturday, 1 August 1998
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We started the day with a quick tour of the Chillagoe railway station, which appeared to be just the way it was left when the last train ran several years ago. While we were there, a digital photograph was found which seemed to indicate some recent suspicious activity at the Station!?#??
After the railway station, our group had a private tour of the Royal Arch Cave with its magnificent limestone caverns, some of which were totally dark, and some naturally lit through holes in the ceiling.
Following the cave tour, we took the coach to Kuranda railway station to join the Kuranda Scenic Railway down the side of the Macalister Range into Cairns. On the way, we first stopped at Almaden to see what state the railway station was in, and to have morning tea. QR had obviously been there recently and the station was in excellent condition. Even the office air-conditioner was running, despite the station being unattended.
We were soon on the road again, but this time we had seen the last of the gravel; next stop Kuranda. We arrived at Kuranda with about half an hour to spare, before our train was due to leave.
Most of the group were quite surprised to see just how popular this train was. There were 13 carriages, mostly ex-first class wooden sitting cars and sleeping cars.
All had been modified inside, to provide a standardised seating arrangment of 6 by 8 passengers, and one by 7, giving a total train capacity of about 715 passengers. Our motive power was a single diesel locomotive.
The descent was quite spectacular in several places, although those not next to a window had little opportunity to take photos, as you had to be quick to get the right photo, unlike the train, which made very leisurely progress down the sometimes steep and always winding track.
We reached civilisation again after several days in the "wilderness", and there to greet us was Dave, our trustly coach captain. (He always seems to beat us to our destination!) Accommodation for the next three days will seem like comparative luxury. |
Dateline: Sunday 2 August 1998
Today was a "free day" in Cairns, and the first day that we are joined by our cousins, the TEFS group from England. The weather forecast is for rough seas and strong winds.
Graeme Stanley is in the dining room early with an assortment of sea sickness tablets. Your intrepid reporter decided to "chicken out" of the barrier reef day tour - no guts ahy!! The morning was instead taken up with laundry duties and getting these pages up-to-date. Unfortunely, the motel, as good as it was, was still using a rotary dial PABX, which prevented an Internet upload. A trip to the Cairns International airport and the Qantas Club lounge was also a waste of time, as the lounge also had a rotary dial PABX. In the end, a shop called Internet 2000, an Internet access shop in downtown Cairns, came to the rescue.
Monday 3 August 1998
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This morning started with a 20 minute walk across town, to Cairns railway station, or alternatively, a $5 taxi fare. We joined the 8:30 train to Kuranda. Although our carriage was almost full (there are 44 of us now), some of the other carriages were lightly loaded, so there was more oppotunity to obtain a window seat if one was prepared to walk through the train.
A somewhat overcast morning, but most photographers would have got some good shots of the scenery. After arriving at Kuranda, we only had a few minutes to transfer to the Skytrain terminal for an even more scenic and shorter trip back to the Caravonica Lakes Terminal. Here, Dave Cooke, our coach captain, after having yesterday off, was again ready with the coach to take us to Port Douglas.
After a very quick lunch break, we were off on the Bally Hooley railway from the Marina Station to St. Crispins Station and return, a round trip of about 3/4 hour. We then travelled by coach to the Mossman (Sugar) Mill, the home of the Bally Hooley train. At the mill, we were told that "Bally Hooley" is Irish for "place of fun". There on display were two steam engines on display, both built by the Bundaburg Sugar Mill for use on their cane trains. These were the original motive power for the Bally Hooley train.
Unfortunately, public liability insurance and government regulations have prevented their use on the train in recent years. The locos are still fired every month or so to keep them in good order.
Our last port of call was the Daintree River Train, where the sight of crocodiles was promised, however, one croc was all that could be found in the prevailing conditions.
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Dateline: Tuesday 4 August 1998
We had a reasonably early start at 7:30 to board the coach for a day of almost all live steam. However, the first quick stop was to photograph CSR Loco No. 4 at SugarWorld, Edmonton. This loco is a static display which appeared to be undergoing some form of restoration. At least the loco had a roof which should prevent further serious decay.
We then had the rest of the morning photographing "Nelson", a Fowler tank engine converted to an oil-burning tender engine. The loco was owned and operated by the Mulgrave Mill, and was hauling a rake of eight empty cane wagons. Supervisor of Transport at the Mill, Owen Lewis, and the driver (Tom) and fireman (Ken) gave us many great photographic opportunities at several locations around Gordonvale.
Reluctantly we had to say goodbye to Nelson, but just as we were about to leave, a "real" cane train, diesel-hauled with a rake of twenty or more empty cane wagons came past. We were asked if we would like to have the train stopped and set back and that is what happened. Basically, they couldn't do more for us.
After a very quick lunch at Atherton, we joined RailCo for a chartered steam train trip on the former QR line from Atherton to Herberton. The train was hauled by C17 4-8-0 number 812 built by Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth & Co of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England in 1927. The consist included one enclosed passenger car (ex QR camp wagon), three open passenger wagons (converted goods wagons) and an enclosed buffet car (also ex-QR camp wagon).
The scenery on the line was varied and in many places quite spectacular. The writer was suitably impressed by the outfitting of the buffet car. We had so many photo opportunities on the "up" that the train ran quite late into Herberton. Our hosts were nonetheless very obliging and did everything possible to make our journey one we will not forget. Altogether, a very memorable day for all our participants, not least those with a passion for steam.
Accommodation will be just outside Atherton overnight, where all bar this reporter and Dave, our Coach Captain, would stay at Wrights Motor Inn, an internet unfriendly motel, which could probably clain to be the longest motel in Australia. The other two of us were put up at the Hinterland Motel in town, which, as luck would have it, was Internet compatible, and these page(s) were updated.
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Wednesday 5 August 1998
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Dave and myself awoke early so we could join the rest of the group for breakfast. After breakfast, the coach took us to Ravenshoe (pronounced Ravens-hoe, not Raven-shoe!) to ride the RailCo train at the other end of the former QR line we had such a good time on. Today's journey, to Tumoulin, is shorter than yesterday's trip, but it has a couple of long trestle bridges with easy access to photographic positions, unlike yesterday where the terrain was quite difficult.
Tumoulin station's claim to fame is that it is the highest railway station in Queensland, however, it can't claim much else unless you include its resident horse, which insisted on being in every photograph of the station building. Our train was hauled by "Capella" a D-17 Tank Engine No. 268, built by QR Railway Works, Ipswich, in 1925. However, it had obviously had several modifications, not least of which was that its saddle tanks had gone, and it instead hauled a low-sided wagon with a large water tank bolted thereon, and it was burning wood. And yes, those are yellow-walled types on the loco!
After our return trip, we boarded the coach again bound for Mungalli Falls, for lunch. On the way, we stopped to look at Milla Milla Falls. Lunch was very well organised and there was plenty for everyone. Our next stop with the coach was a village called South Johnston, whose claim to fame, from our point of view, was that the trains from the mill ran for a short distance, down the main street. We were given a half hour allowance to record whatever might happen, as no special arrangements has been made.
The first quarter hour was quiet, but then we got just about everything we could ask for. First, two coupled locos returned empty to the mill, via a branch over a bridge behind the main street, then a rake of empty wagons was shunted out of the mill up the main street and back into the mill. Finally, a loaded train arrived at the mill via the main street, and we still have about five minutes to spare. We then travelled to Mourilyan by coach to visit the Sugar Museum there.
The museum includes two ex-cane train steam engines, an 1882 Fowler 0-4-2T jackshaft loco, and a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0. We arrived back at Cairns, at 5:44pm, only a couple of minutes behind the northbound Sunlander.
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Thursday 6 August 1998
Another fairly early start saw the group boarding the Sunlander for the trip from Cairns to Ingham. We said goodbye to Dave Cooke, our excellent Coach Captain from Downunder Tours, for the last time. It was a bit like leaving family behind, we had gotten on so well together.
As we made our way south, we soon found that we had rejoined some of the crew from our first train trip, on the Spirit of the Outback. The journey south was very picturesque, and made one realise just how enourmous the cane fields are. At Ingham, we had another coach waiting for us.
Our first stop was Victoria Mill where we were to have an hour long trip on a cane railway, behind the mill's steam engine "Hombush", a Hudswell Clarke engine built in 1914 in Leeds, England. Unfortunately, when the engive was lit up earlier in the day, it was found to have a leaking boiler tube, so our train was instead hauled by one of the mill's 38 diesel locomotives. The trip to the Lucinda Bulk Sugar terminal was fantastic, crossing several working cane trains on the way.
The passenger wagons we were sitting in had not been to Lucinda for at least 20 years. A few photostops and a quick tour of the Terminal, and we were back on the coach bound for Townsville, where we were to stay overnight. Many participants took the advice of our coach driver, to visit Tim's Surf and Turf for dinner. A restaurant with a unique ordering system, idillic open air surroundings and huge meals.
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Dateline: Friday 7 August 1998
Today will be a long train journey south to Rockhampton aboard the Spirit of the Tropics. We caught the train at Townsville railway station, a magnificent building erected under the name of the Great Northern Railway as is still revealed by the letters GNR on the face of the building. Our train left close to time, but within half an hour, we were quarter of an hour late. This timekeeping was to continue throughout the journey, and we eventually arrived at Rockhampton about an hour down on the table.
Unfortunately, timekeeping was only one of a series of disappointments on this journey. The first being that there was no proper dining car. Instead we had a snack bar with eight tables in one carriage, and in the adjacent carriage was a "disco" like carriage with snack bar selling similar food items. By lunch time, it was clear that insufficient hot meal packs had been loaded at Townsville. Throughout the afternoon, members of our group were told that we could not order a meal for dinner. In the end, we all did without, as the sleeping car passengers were given first priority. The annoying part was that we were not being told what was going on; we had to force the issue by involving the "Senior Passenger Attendant".
We were also under the impression that there was some sort of fault with the PA system, as we were not getting any announcements before stops, telling passengers whether they could leave the train, etc. I gathered later that this was actually because the announcements were not being made. Altogether, about four announcements would have been made between Townsville and Rockhampton.
On top of all of this, our air-conditioning failed before we left Townsville, and although it was soon reset, it never seemed to be able to cope during the journey. Your reporter was not the only passenger happy to leave the train at Rockhampton. We will spend the next three nights at "Rocky".
See also: Week 1 Week 3
