Twelve Apostles – Maybe
A major tourist drawcard along the Great Ocean Road in South West Victoria – but how many Apostles are there?
Previous slide
Next slide
Rotate to landscape to view slideshow
Queenstown to Strahan - On a rack
The Mt Lyell Mining Company had a problem – lots of copper, but with the mine in a remote area of Tasmania, difficulty in getting the ore to market.
The nearest port at Macquarie Harbour was almost inaccessible from the mine site due to the wild terrain – wild rivers, dense rainforest and steep inclines. Dr Carl Roman Abt to the rescue.
Dr Abt invented a system that enabled the locomotive to lock into a rack of teeth on the railway that would help pull the train carrying the valuable copper ore up hills and control its descent down hills. And so the train started operations in 1892.
With increasing maintenance costs and the improvement in road transport, the railway ceased transporting ore in 1963 and was almost forgotten. Until someone had the idea to re-establish the trip as a tourist attraction. That took a lot of work. Rail had to be relaid, bridges repaired, rolling stock acquired. But it got done and the wilderness tourist railway commenced operations in December 2002.
When we took the journey on the West Coast Wilderness Railway you could do the length of the line in one go (we did the Strahan to Queenstown trip). We started out with a deisel locomotive but swapped over to the specialist ABT steam loco before we got to the ABT track system which is installed on the steepest part of the track. I understand that the trip options have now changed so make sure you check and book prior to your trip.
And it’s a great ride. Through the thick rain forest, over trestle bridges, crossing the King River – a trip of about 35km.
The journey has a few breaks to change locomotives and to allow you to have a good look at the scenery and the track.
Watch out for the station called Dubbil Barril near the King River, just because it’s a cute way to spell the name.
Subscribe
Login
0 Comments
Oldest
More from Australia
The Stick Shed
The Stick Shed in Murtoa is a second World War grain storage area so unique that it has pride of place on the Australian Heritage Register. Who would have thought there would be a forest of mountain ash trees in the Wimmera.
Unwind on Montague Island
Montague Island is a small island located off the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Home to the historic Montague Island lighthouse, it’s a great place to visit if you want to unwind for a couple of days.
Other destinations you may like:
Molyvos, Lesbos, Greece
Molyvos, a popular tourist town on the Greek island of Lesbos, retains its links to the traditional past.
Vikos Gorge, Greece
At trip to the Vikos Gorge in North Western Greece is a journey back to nature and the tradiotional way of doing things.
Taj Mahal, Agra
Words cannot adequately paint a picture of the experience of seeing this complex. It’s exhilarating.