A Transcontinental Send-Off to the Decade

[klm597]

Yes - Gold Service, single cabin. I think that is the only option for solo travellers, is it not? (ie. I don't think they do Platinum Service single cabins.)

I believe you can also book the Gold Service two-person bunk cabins with bathroom as a solo traveller but this is a lot more expensive than the single cabins and definitely not worth it in my opinion.

 

[JohnM]

I have no problem with shared facilities. I went to boarding school, residential college at uni and stayed in hostels when travelling for many years.

 

[klm597]

Right on 6:30am that morning we arrived at the 'town' of Rawlinna for a quick off-train coffee/tea and snack. Some of us wanted to look at the locamotive as we hadn't actually seen it up until this point. We were advised we couldn't walk to the front of the train unless staff were present as the adjacent rail line was still active but were told that we could take plenty of pictures at the next stop of Cook later that afternoon when staff would be present at the front.







Not a lot happening in Rawlinna. A late brunch was served once we were on the way again and we switched over to SA time shortly after. I don't think I've ever gone across a land border with a 2.5 hour time difference before! Most of this day was spent napping and reading as we bumped along the straightest stretch of rail track on Earth (not that it felt like it).

 

[OZDUCK]

It's very rough - worse than your typical suburban train ride in the capital cities, so A LOT worse than flying. I managed to sleep through two of the three nights without waking up in the middle of the night but many didn't. The alcohol helps . Others on the train who had done the Ghan said that line was a lot smoother. I'll talk about the ride quality based on each location below.

Thanks for that. Back in 1983/84 it was pretty smooth. I wonder if it the carriages or rails that need work?

 

[klm597]

Thanks for that. Back in 1983/84 it was pretty smooth. I wonder if it the carriages or rails that need work?

I'm no rail expert but the carriages all seemed well maintained and very clean despite their potential age. The staff did tell us that over time the lines would get worse due to the wear and tear from freight trains. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the lines hadn't had major work done since privitisation in 1997.

 

[klm597]

Mid that afternoon we stopped in the middle of the Nullabor at the old railway town of Cook for an hour. This town was built to service the railway when it was constructed in 1917 but was largely abandoned in 1997 when the railways were privatised, although many of the train servicing facilities are still in operation.

This was the first opportunity to get up close to the locomotive at the front of the train and everyone had ample time for a must needed walk around the town. I particularly loved the old 'Australian Railways' logo still visible on the station sign and we were thankful it wasn't too hot, only around 30 degrees.

 

[klm597]

Dinner that night was uneventful, and I managed to sleep through the night despite the relatively rough ride. I woke about an hour north of Adelaide passing some very dry countryside and we pulled into Adelaide Parklands Terminal/Station at around 7am.

This was my first visit to Adelaide and rather than the city walking tour off-train exclusion that most were doing, my father and I chose the Adelaide Oval off-train excursion. This was definitely the pick of the options as afterwards we heard the walking tour was more of a standing and talking tour.

We were bus-ed to the Adelaide Oval where two volunteers talked us through the history of the oval and gave a fascinating commentary as we walked around the site. I’m more of a casual cricket fan so a lot of the history went well over my head but it was fascinating to hear such interesting accounts by the two very knowledgeable volunteers.

I was most interested in how well some of the old pavilion structures were retained during renovations as the seating expanded over the years - definitely a much nicer ground then the Gabba!





The tour had two main highlights for me. The first was walking through the player’s change rooms and up onto the ground itself whilst the sound of a roaring crowd was being played through the speakers. This really did feel like a huge crowd was waiting for us as we followed the players footsteps up onto the ground and was an absolute hoot. The second highlight was being able to go up into the old heritage listed scoreboard and see how the ageing equipment was still being used they were the 1920’s.











Afterwards we had a quick breakfast in one of the oval function rooms before making our way back to the train for a departure around 10am. During this time the locomotive was joined by a second and moved to the opposite end of the train. This saves the need to turn around the train as the way into and out of Adelaide is the same. We were originally right at the front of the train but were now at the very back.

 

[klm597]

After departing Adelaide we made our way North and then East passing some even-drier land before arriving into Broken Hill in the late afternoon.







There were three off-train excursions on offer but I only recall two of them; a drag show and a visit to the local art gallery. Most (me included) went with the drag show which was only a short walk away from the station at the absolutely fabulous Palace Hotel. Now I’m well versed with drag shows and unfortunately this one did feel a little tired, but the two girls were very funny so it wasn’t all bad. There was also a fair bit of audience participation involved and surprise, surprise, I was one of two guys chosen to join them onstage. A few jokes and a bit of dancing on-stage later, and the show was over.







The Palace Hotel was used as a filming location for much of the Aussie classic Priscilla, Queen of the Desert so it was a real treat to see it up close and personal. We were also provided with a free alcoholic drink or two which went down well although a few more would have greatly appreciated had I known I would be dacing on-stage.

Afterwards I was continually pulled over by various couples 'of mature age' and congratulated for my involvement in the show, as if I had survived some great hardship. I thought it best not to tell them that it definitely wasn’t my first rodeo with a few queens .

 

[muppet]

Mid that afternoon we stopped in the middle of the Nullabor at the old railway town of Cook for an hour. This town was built to service the railway when it was constructed in 1917 but was largely abandoned in 1997 when the railways were privatised, although many of the train servicing facilities are still in operation.

This was the first opportunity to get up close to the locomotive at the front of the train and everyone had ample time for a must needed walk around the town. I particularly loved the old 'Australian Railways' logo still visible on the station sign and we were thankful it wasn't too hot, only around 30 degrees.

klm597 do you have any idea the purpose of these stops in the middle of nowhere? do they need to refuel or something?

 

[klm597]

do you have any idea the purpose of these stops in the middle of nowhere? do they need to refuel or something?

I don't believe the stop in Rawlinna was necessary other than to stretch our legs, but in Cook the train's water supply was refilled, the locomotive was refueled and we also took on a few packages of something.

 

[JohnM]

klm597 do you have any idea the purpose of these stops in the middle of nowhere? do they need to refuel or something?

Don't forget that the Indian Pacific, Ghan etc. are tourist trains, not traditional passenger trains. The only reason they exist is because it's all about the iconic journey, history and heritage.

 

[klm597]

We had half an hour walking around Broken Hill before making our way back onto the train just before sunset. During dinner shortly after departing Broken Hill we jumped forward to NSW time which brought midnight (and thus New Years') a little closer thankfully.

After dinner most in our section of the train remained in the lounge car for drinks and NYE celebrations. Our section was lucky as we ended up with the on-board singer/entertainer from 11pm to midnight which resulted in a very crowded car. Thankfully the alcohol kept flowing and after various song request, sing-alongs, and the usual NYE countdown most (me included) made it to 12:30am before retiring.



We were warned that the line outside Broken Hill was one of the worst in terms of ride quality and it definitely felt like that turned out to be the case. The rocking of the carriage certainly made the singing and drinking a little more interesting and my father and I joked that the scene in lounge car felt like the start of the movie The Poseidon Adventure due to the bumpy track, the NYE celebrations and the bushfires that we were speeding towards.

Despite the poor ride quality I managed to sleep through the night (I thank the alcohol) before waking just after sunrise to a very different scene.

 

[klm597]

We all woke to the smell of bushfire smoke which had found its way into the carriages, but it was much worse in the exposed walkway between the carriages. It was devastating to see the countryside in such a sorry state but many of us were still thankful we could still make it into Sydney on the train (rather than being bus-ed in).

Below is the diversion route we took around the Blue Mountains due to the track closure and bushfires (map is the Open Street Map Transport Map). I had examined a few maps in Adelaide and assumed we would be taking this route rather than the longer alternative via Dubbo and Newcastle. In fact I was impressed there were even viable alternative routes in the first place! I woke up as we were passing through the town of Stockinbingal and we joined the Sydney - Melbourne rail line at Cootamundra.



Breakfast was served as we were passing through the town of Yass. The off-train excursion in the Blue Mountains obviously wasn't possible and due to the increased distance we ended up arriving into Sydney about 2.5 hours later than originally scheduled. I have caught many an XPT train between Yass/Gunning/Goulburn and Sydney in years past so I was very familiar with this route. We skirted between the two fire fronts in Nowra and the Blue Mountains, passing some back-burnt landscapes along the rail line.



We crawled our way through the fringe suburbs of Sydney (via Liverpool and Regents Park before joining the main line at Lidcombe) delaying a fair few suburban Sydney Trains services along the way. The train was split at Redfern and we pulled into Platforms 1 and 3 at Central at 1:45pm, bringing to an end our transcontinental rail adventure!



We didn't check any luggage for the journey (we used carry-on sized baggage which worked out perfectly) so it was a very quick transfer to a suburban train service after thanking all the staff.

After spending the night in Sydney with family it was time to return home. The VA lounge was very busy with a large number of small kids due to school holidays but still plenty of seats available. On-time flight home and my bag was third out on the baggage carousel again.





And that's it from me again for a while! Thank you all for following along again and for all the kind words.

Next up, Penang and Bangkok in May!

 

[drron]

Thanks for this report.We have been thinking about one of the Aussie train journeys so this report is very helpful.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for the TR - it bought back some nice memories of our trip of 35 years ago.

 

[VPS]

Thanks for writing this up. I love train travel and did the Ghan from Adelaide to Alice Springs but it wasn't long enough.

 

[henleybeach]

Great report !
it’s good to see what it’s like from a passenger experience and not the drivers! We certainly didn’t get that food up the front ..... just a toasted sandwich and instant coffee!
@JohnM ring up and book your cabin for the middle of the carriage away from the bogies. It will be smoother and quieter.

 

[JohnM]

@JohnM ring up and book your cabin for the middle of the carriage away from the bogies. It will be smoother and quieter.

Interesting - thanks @henleybeach. I looked around on their website to see if the cabin could be selected but no. There was not even a train/carriage/cabin map that I could see, which did surprise me.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Thanks for the trip report.
5 years ago I travelled from Eyre peninsula SA to Perth WA and of course you take a look at the Kalgoorlie Super pit, photo the light



yes there are tractors and trucks in the bottom of that photo.

in 2018 our AFF gathering was in Adelaide and the weekend included a tour of the Adelaide oval, really good tour and your trip report is also good as well.

 

[Cessna 180]

Thanks KLM, I enjoyed reading this.