General Chat

Gwyn, here in WA we also have our own private railway, the Hotham Valley Railway.

Here is a link to it;

http://www.hothamvalleyrailway.com.au/

I have never been on it, but would love to give it a go. The problem is that I live over 100 kms from Dwellingup.

I did do some work at Boddington (a small town in the Hotham Valley) a few years ago and had to go through Dwelling up to get there. Even by road the scenery is magnificent and follows the railway track in some parts

ooooh, Gwyn


I'd forgotten that Christchurch to Greymouth train ............ that's a pretty spectacular trip!


We took a day trip over to Greymouth............. so rode the train both ways.

My Dad was a steam train fanatic and as a child our family picnics often used to be within spotting distance of a viaduct, level crossing or bridge which just happened to give a wonderful view of the mainline railway trains.
He would have loved this corner of Kent where we have a railway ( Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway) with trains one third size which travel daily across Romney Marsh to the bleakness of Dungeness. I travelled on it this summer as volunteer helper with a class of primary school children. Their excitement was a joy to see and recaptured the feeling I had as a youngster when we used to make the journey to Wales from our home in Hampshire.
I used to love the long journey and was fascinated by the telegraph wires which seemed to rise and fall between the poles alongside the track as we built up steam and chugged on our way. Dad would give us a little red notebook at the start of the journey and my sister and I would collect train numbers for him throughout the day.At the end of our trip we would walk along the platform to the engine and thank the driver for a safe journey.
Sometimes from home we took the train for a daytrip to Hayling Island. This was on the Hayling Billy as the steam train there was called. This was a quicker journey than by road, which apart from changing buses also necessitated getting off the bus as we reached the road bridge to the island. We had to walk over the bridge and climb back on the bus when it had travelled across to the island as the combined weight of bus plus passengers would have been too much for the old bridge.
When in New Zealand we took the train across South Island from Greymouth to Christchurch. Enroute the journey takes one over high ground and another engine is brought in to help with the climb. Some of the carriages have an outer railed area so that photographers can stand outside throughout the trip and capture the wonderful and varied views over plains, mountains and river courses as we made our way across.

Yes.... I like trains.


Gwyn

Allan


I heard about that fire!




We had the most horrible red wine from WA back in 1975

We drove the Nullarbor, then still unpaved, in a 1966 VW Beetle to visit with friends in Perth.

He was a wildlife biologist, and one evening brought out this cardboard 4 litre container of a red wine for us to try at dinner


It was disgusting!


Turned out he had been on a 6 week field trip to the Kimberleys, and this container had been there and back ...................... in 30+ temperatures :-D :-D :-D






off out for afternoon coffee

John


enjoy your trip!!


I love the camaraderie that develops on the long distance trains ............... the dining car staff make sure that people share tables whenever possible. So you always have different table companions at lunch and dinner, and everyone has a story to tell.



The first time we took the trains to Halifax in 2004, I took 5 books and lots of knitting with me.

I read about 1/3rd of one book, but did much knitting, as we sat in the dome car or the lounge and chatted to people



I don't think I made it clear that our trips across Canada need 3 trains .................


1. Vancouver to Toronto, 3 days 4 nights
2. Toronto to Montreal, 5 hours
3. Montreal to Halifax, 22 hours (overnight)


The part of the trip I like least is the stretch from Montreal to Halifax ...... they use what are called Renaissance carriages.


These were bought from the UK some years ago. Built for use on either the LOndon-Edinburhg overnight run, or through the Chunnel overnight run.

They're useless!!

It was supposed to be a good deal .................... but I think the UK government got the best part of it. Just as they did when they sold the nuclear submarines to us :-D


The cars and compartments might be comfortable for the short overnight runs they were built for ......... but not for longer than an hour or so sitting up.


I am about 5'7", and I cannot sit on the seat in the compartment and stretch my legs out

The corridors are so narrow that anyone wearing a heavy winter jacket completely fills the width. Two people literally cannot pass each other


They do run one train a week with the stainless steel equipment ........... and I try to book on that one when I can. I'm unlucky going to Halifax before Christmas, Renaissance only. BUT got the stainless when leaving Halifax.

Sylvia, the Margaret River Area has very Elastic Boundaries as saying something, particularly wine, is produced there means you can add about $10.00 to the normal prive.

having said that, Margaret River is a great little town which is now recovering from a catastrophic Bush Fire a couple of years ago which at one stage threatened to destroy the town

Allan


The same thing applies here ................ the Via passenger train runs on the freight track.

We used to have 2 cross-country passenger trains. One run by CP (Canadian Pacific) and one by CNR (Canadian National Railways). They competed to build the cross country tracks in the late 1800s.

The government got fed up of providing subsidies to the passenger trains so they set up VIA as a crown corporation in 1978.

Thye decided that Via would use the northern route ..... which means the trains mainly run on tracks operated by CN Rail.

Via took over the carriages etc of the CN ..... which means they got the dome cars which formed a huge part of the attraction. Via has its own crew and engineers.


and, yes, freight has priority!


Our first cross country trip was back in 1972 ..... and we went on the southern, or CP operated, passenger train.


The Rocky Mountaineer, mentioned in an earlier post, is a privately run, for-profit, organization, which uses the CP tracks ................ their trains have to be operated by CP engineers, and so they stop at weird times and places to change crew.


We enjoyed the Indian Pacific, and also The Ghan .......... but did find The Ghan compartments a little cramped!

Allan and Sylvia This is all too much for me. :-D :-D Wonderful pictures you are both creating though. Really enjoyed your posts :-D :-D :-D

Am catching the train to Cardiff tomorrow (15 miles south). Every 30 minutes - trains, not me. And there has been a weather warning issued for tomorrow - it could be dry all day. Shock, horror!!! :-0 :-0

As a 6 year old, I travelled down from Scotland on one of the last journeys of the Flying Scotsman. We had our 2 cats (on harnesses) in the carriage with us, and occasionally, my sister and I got out of the carriage with the cats to let them relieve themselves :-D

The Watercress Line is just down the road from me.

Sylvia here in Oz the Ghan (From Adlaide to Darwin via Alice Springs) is a relatively new service, but the Indian-Pacific from Perth to Sydney has been operating since 1970.

The Ghan has a dedicated track but the Indian Pacific has to share a freight track. As the freight trains have priority on the track there are frequent stops to allow them through.

The costs of the Services are much more than the cost of a flight, but given that in the Gold Class all meals are provided and you have your own private cabin wit en-suite as well as the use of a lounge carriage it is a nice way to travel and see the country

We bought a great red and an even better white there quite a few years ago from their Margaret River winery!


They used to send them to Canada, but I haven't seen them in the liquor stores for a lot of years.

Allan is quite correct ......................


............... when you live in a big country, there are options, there HAS to be options.



and for us .................. it is slightly cheaper to take the train trip, akin to a cruise but on land, across Canada than it is to take the Business Class plane trip, which is what I now have to do.

No more cramped up in Economy, back just won't take it ... especially on a flight that takes 7 - 8 hours.



I used another option when I went to New Zealand and Australia by myself in 2000 ................ I rode the long distance buses whenever I could, along with taking the occasional train.

I arrived in Auckland, NZ, took the bus to New Plymouth, then returned to Auckland.

Arrived in Melbourne, was met by relations who took me to Castlemaine. Plane to Brisbane some days later.

Took the long distance bus from Gympie in Queensland to Brisbane and then to Mudgie in northern NSW, then from Mudgie to Sydney and then to Melbourne. I took the local train from Melbourne to Bendigo.



It was all great fun

Yes I do Sylvia, if John doesn't mind me name dropping, it's one of the biggest in the area. There are frequent shows put on there in the open air with some quality artists.

Sandalford's also have a winery in the Swan Valley in Perth which does the same thing. A couple of years ago my OH and daughter went there to see Tom Jones...a fantastic show

oooooooh


Allan


Now you have made ME jealous!!

Margaret River wines



only wish I could still drink wines, etc :-(

I like them, they don't like me ..... and let me know it :-(



Do you know Sandalford winery?

John, ther's nothing to be jealous about. When you live in a country that's larger than Europe and extends from the tropics in the north to cool areas in the south all types, and quality of produce is avaiable.

Mind you, most of the best produce is exported.

Just to make you a little more jealous, I live about a 90 minute car trip from the fabilous Margaret River Wine Area. A Gourmet's delight :-P

I use to love the smell of steam trains .went From our home town to st helens junction to visit my grandma & grandad in St helens, at the back of there house ,above the garden wall the trains went past .oh happy days .the waiting rooms were cold places .& the toilets were always closed.a lot of my relies worked on the railways .great grandad worked as a shunter .died in a freak ac on the tracks only a young man ,Barbra :-)

Susan of the numbers - what a coincidence. Glad I was good company and you had a great time. :-D :-D

Oddly enough, Sylvia's post has just reminded me I have a postcard sitting on the table, an old one bought in an auction lot. It is of
" Canadian national Railways " Northern Type" locomotive( 4-8-4)...and there are three small children by it to show the scale...Massive! Possibly about 1930s.

I have been on the OE...and wonderful it was too. The couple in our carriage were lovely company until the husband decided to tell us the ins and outs of his job, of which he was very proud. He worked in the London Sewers and believe me he left no T.... Unturned.....Just as we'll I didn't much fancy my lunch.......still, apart from that it we had a great time :-D

Sylvia No one wants to read your long list of what you have done. :-( :-(

No, actually we do. Just so jealous that you have done more than me - but to have done so much more is just plain greedy.

All I can offer in return is that my wife's taid (grandfather) went to Canada in 1897 aged 19 and spent a year as a navvy building your luxurious tracks through the Rockies. Without him, you'd been imprisoned on Vancouver Island.

Kay, £800 for two does not sound too bad, does it. I spent £300 on a meal for me and 'er indoors about 10 years ago!!! One thing we would both have loved to splash the cash on was a short trip on Concorde. :-D :-D