West Coast Wilderness Railway

One of the big ticket items that Linda had planned for this trip was a ride on the West Coast Wilderness Railways. Over a line that was originally designed to haul ore (mostly copper) from Queenstown to Strahan for shipping, we would traverse some wonderful scenery through rugged, temperate rain forest. Friends had advised us to pay extra to go in the premium carriage. This turned out to be excellent advice as the food and service in the premium carriage was exceptional.

This gives you some idea of our route.

We are ready to go.

We start the trip with a diesel engine.

This should give you a good idea of the grade that needs to be overcome once we get past Dubbil Barril.

We've put our Tasmanian produced beverages on our "skid-proof" drink trays.

Great views of MacQuarrie Harbor at start of trip

Looking back through temperate rain forest canopy

Last bridge before Lower Landing

Honey being tested/tasted at Lower Landing

Huon Pine

Celery Top Pine

neat railway bridge

Chuck is taking in the sights.

water tank for steam engines

Kings River. Unfortunately, it is polluted because Queen's River (a national disgrace) is a tributary.

We travel in style in Premium class.

disembarking at Lower Landing

One of best views I have ever had from a john.

sturdy timber bridge

Looking back

One could occasionally check out the canopy above.

We changed engines from diesel to steam at Dubbil Barril.

This is the rack and pinion system used to get the traction necessary to climb and descend the steep grades after Dubbil Barril.

We went for a little stroll across the bridge.

This afternoon snack should give you a pretty good idea what a good idea it was to have a premium ticket.

This is the Queens River. It has been very sadly polluted from the byproducts of the copper mining in Queenstown. It is generally estimated that it will take hundreds of years before it recovers. Only a few decades ago Queenstown looked like a moonscape because of the mining company's reckless disregard for the environment. It is better now, but some residents complain that the town has lost a lot of its character with the re-greening of the hills around Queenstown!

This is the end of the journey. It took about four hours to get here. We then took a one hour bus ride to get back to Strahan.