Sunday Feb 21, 2010 – West Coast Wilderness Train Trip

We took a historical train trip today from Strahan to Queenstown. Although it was not what it was made out to be, it was steeped in history of the area. There are two ways to make this trip either start from Queenstown to Strahan and meet to change trains in the middle or the other way around. You are bussed back or you can take the bus to were you want to start and take the train back.

The train stopped running in 1963 after opening in 1897. The train was the life line for Queenstown as there were no roads into it. It was built to bring out gold and copper from the mines. By 1963 roads had been built and it was easier to truck ore to Burnie in the north and ship from there. This is a railway no one said could be built. It took 3 ½ years to build it.

One of the major difficulties was steep grade from Dubbil Barril to Rinadeena Saddle and back down to Halls Creek. A post card sent to someone from Germany showed a new invention, the cog railway. It had never been used in Australia before but they went ahead and put it in and it worked. When the new diesel engine became available they thought it would be the end of the old steam engine. Not so. It seems that the steam engines can pull more up these steep grades than the diesel.

The first part of the trip from Strahan to Dubbil Barril is done with the diesel engine. You change trains there to the steam engine for the rest of the trip to Queenstown. The trip follows the King River then overland to further follow the Queen River. Both rivers are dead rivers do to the amount of mine waste that was dumped into the Queen River from the copper mine in Queenstown. The other problem is the acidic nature of the soil and rock in the Queenstown area. Although it is better today that 20 years ago, it will take many many years to get them back alive.

We had a lovely box lunch at Dubbil Barril while the train engines were turned around. This is still done by hand on a train turntable. In 1999 restoration began on the old railway. By the end of 2002 the line was open from Strahan to Queenstown. Three of the five original steam engines were restored as well and are now in service. You mostly see bush and cuts made into raises to keep the track as flat as possible.

The copper mine in Queenstown is still operating. Most of the residence work for the mine. The new owners are very ecologically minded and are try to clean up what was left by the previous owners. The Queenstown area is now coming back as well. All the trees were cut down over the years by the settlers to build homes, feed fires and power the train. Twenty years ago there was no vegetation on the hills, not even a blade of grass. This will also take many years to reclaim but inroads are being made.

It was hard to sleep last night because of the warmth and humidity. Thank goodness for the breeze.