Rockin' rollin' ridin'.....

for five hours- on a train ! Once a week, on a Wednesday, the old Gulflander winds it's way up from the coast at Normanton to the goldfields of Croydon, and once a week, on a Thursday, it winds it's way back down again.

It's just about 100 miles, but as the train has a maximum speed of twenty five miles an hour (and even at that I was dubious about getting off alive!)

The track is 120 years old, and the engine itself is 60 years old. She's a beauty however, lovingly restored both mechanically and decoratively, inside and out.


The engine, a six cylinder 102 horsepower Gardiner Deisel, is immaculate, polished daily! The interior, marroon leather, was  restored and recovered just a couple of years ago, so she looks really good.

Wish I could say the same about the track! severely bent in many places, sunken in others, or sometimes both at the same time. The heat, the sandy base,( no ballast here- laid straight on what was there before after a little levelling!) and the ravages of time and burrowing goannas are starting to show a bit.
At the time it was laid, 1891, it was revolutionary in that it was the first track laid on iron sleepers, wooden sleepers have to be replaced after three years because of the termites. Many of the original sleepers are still doing duty, but some, in salty areas, are being replaced by galvanised ones, in between the old.
They were made in Glasgow, good old British engineering, but better still- the rails were made in WORKINGTON!






As we rocked along many animals were scared off the track, at one point about 15 feral pigs shot across the line, and several large goannas similarly ran into the long grass before I could arm the camera.

Our driver,Tony kept up a running commentary and gave us many interesting facts about the history of the railway, it was originally intended that it go south 350k to Cloncurry to bring the copper up from there for loading in Normanton, but when gold was discovered in Croydon they changed their minds. Since then it has run continuously, kept really for when the road was impassible during and after the wet season. Now of course the road is bitumen, so it is almost entirely maintained for tourists. I say almost, as it is the very last mail train running in Queensland, delivering mail to two outlying stations once a week.

At Croydon they are rebuilding a steam train, originally working the line in 1902, and when that is workinh the line will attract even more tourists, I hope they upgrade the track to take it!In the meantime Anne did the washing, tidied the car, and eventually drove the hour and a half down to Normanton on her own- she tells me she enjoyed her day, but I can't believe she didn't even miss me!

I shall leave you with a couple more photos from the trip, it was certainly exciting - even just for the thrill of not knowing if we would get to our destination!