As mentioned in the previous post, we only had track as far as Almaden this week, and Mike and Matt crewed the first train for the truncated journey. The trip was shortened to a two day journey, with an overnight stop at Almaden for the train, and Chillagoe for the crew. The first part of the trip was purely a staff run, where our ‘occasional’ drivers came along to re-familiarise themselves with operations and procedures. At Mareeba, we got rid of the surplus staff, and picked up our first passengers for the year, a local couple taking advantage of the short trip for a quick overnighter to Almaden. There was also a group of senior citizens out for a day excursion and luncheon at Almaden. For this, they took advantage of our DDA Facilities in car 2053. Matt was interviewed by a local reporter, as this was being done as a low cost community service for the old people. We’ve not seen the article yet, but it must have been published, because we received a query from an Atherton based aged care centre for a similar trip for their residents, on the morning of publication.
Continue reading “2010 First Trip – We’re Back Early!”
Tags: Almaden, chillagoe, Lappa, Savannahlander
The New Kid on the Block!
With the growing popularity of both the Savannahlander and Chillagoe, it was getting very difficult to get accommodation in the town during our Wednesday overnight visit there. This problem has been compounded by various factors, including:
- Closure of the Caves Lodge Motel
- Mining activity in the district, and the need to accommodate the workers
- Increased Rail and Road maintenance workers requiring accommodation
- Tour groups travelling regularly and holding most of the rooms in the town for long periods in advance.
Fortunately this year sees the refurbished Chillagoe Post Office Guest House come on line and pretty well save the day for us.
Continue reading “Accommodation Feature – Chillagoe Guest House”
Tags: Accommodation, chillagoe, Post Office, Savannahlander
Continuing on with our “… of the month” theme, and noting that we have already used station of the month, this time we present Savannahlander Town of the Month, as nominated by some of our readers. So with thanks to Trevor and Jocelyn Lewis for their nomination, we present:
Almaden!
Pronounced Alma-den. Known as Cow Town. Here is what Trevor had to say:
We loved Almaden, a wild west town of ‘cow pats and termite mounds’. I have attached a small selection of my Almaden photos, including one of the wonderfully crafted stone stormwater drains under sections of the railway line, which a local showed us.
Continue reading “Readers Choice: Town of the Month”
As mentioned in the previous post, we only had track as far as Almaden this week, and Mike and Matt crewed the first train for the truncated journey. The trip was shortened to a two day journey, with an overnight stop at Almaden for the train, and Chillagoe for the crew. The first part of the trip was purely a staff run, where our ‘occasional’ drivers came along to re-familiarise themselves with operations and procedures. At Mareeba, we got rid of the surplus staff, and picked up our first passengers for the year, a local couple taking advantage of the short trip for a quick overnighter to Almaden. There was also a group of senior citizens out for a day excursion and luncheon at Almaden. For this, they took advantage of our DDA Facilities in car 2053. Matt was interviewed by a local reporter, as this was being done as a low cost community service for the old people. We’ve not seen the article yet, but it must have been published, because we received a query from an Atherton based aged care centre for a similar trip for their residents, on the morning of publication.
