Croydon, Queensland, Australia
The motel room was pretty ordinary but it was cheap. The bed was uncomfortable, the ceiling fan was either off or on turbo and the box aircon unit sounded like a Cessna above our heads. Somehow we slept ok.
When we'd started planning we were both going to catch the Gulflander to Croydon then catch the bus back to Normanton. Then Al saw that we could share the train ride - one of us takes the train to the Blackbull siding where the train stops for morning tea while the other drives there, swaps over, then both drive back to Normanton, or in our case, Karumba. So that's what we booked.
We rocked up to the station with the rest of the train tragics. It is allocated seating and although there are three carriages, we were all seated in the rail motor car.
Each passenger is given a tin Gulflander cup to use for morning tea plus some info on the train. You have an allocated seat. I was weirdly in an aisle seat of two with no-one beside me. There was a bit of an explanation of the morning and we were told that when we got to Croydon there would be a celebration for the 130th anniversary of the line.
No wonder the train is so shiny!
The rail motor, built in 1950, has a Gardner diesel with a crash gearbox. It's weird sitting in a train with a driver changing gears as we very slowly leave the station. The driver gives a running commentary that is actually quite interesting but I'll have to admit that the scenery is pretty monotonous, and as the tracks pretty much follow the highway, apart from some slight deviations, we saw scenery we'd already driven through.
I’d worked out what time Al could stay in Normanton until so he wasn’t sitting in the heat at the siding for too long. Of course I saw Al pass the train way too soon. He was a good half an hour early. He had a plan though. He found a couple of places to stop on the side of the highway then walked up to the track to film us going past. Crazy trainspotter guy!
We arrived at the siding on time and had a morning tea of coffee, tea and muffins. The siding was at one point the end of the line. The original water tank used to replenish the boiler of the old steam engines is still in remarkably good condition.
A very senior Qld Rail exec boarded the train at the siding and it was his bum that was supposed to be in the window seat beside me/Al but he very kindly gave Al the window. He and another colleague had flown to Cairns then across to Karumba where a Cairns QR person had driven a ute over. They caught the train/drove and the QR staffer flew back to Cairns. They were using the birthday celebration as a recce of the train lines back to Cairns.
I drove on to Croydon and went up to Lake Belmore where I watched a guy catch a big (to me) barra. Barra season was over but not sure about in the lake where they are all introduced and don't ever breed.
The station was set up with decorations, and a table of party food to celebrate the 130th birthday of the line (that had actually happened in July). The shiny train pulled in, some speeches were made, food was consumed, as was a free beer each, we waved goodbye to the train and then got back on the road to Normanton, again, and it was even hotter. 41!
2025-05-23