What is a steam train doing on a Savannahlander blog? And the country side doesn’t look very Savannahry either! With this post comes a slight departure from the normal Savannahlander type posts, just so you know that not everything we do happens in the far north of the State. Through our Tourism and Heritage Railway Peak Body (ATRQ), we attended an emergency training exercise put on by the Southern Downs Steam Railway, in Warwick, down in the states chilly south. When I say we, perhaps I should explain that it was me that went down alone, as the the other chaps had a trains to run. But it is important as an operator that we have a presence at events like this so that we can learn from them, or see where we might improve our own Emergency Response Plan. Without testing or validating your plan, it is really only words on paper, and this is no good if you have to manage a real incident some time in the future. I’m also using this post as a bit of a report on the event, as well as making it a central repository for some of the photos that were taken. I won’t do too much typing… most of the info is in the captions on the photos.
Continue reading “How far do we go for Training?”
Tags: Emergency Training, SDSR, Steam Train
Its busy on the Savannahlander route at this time of year, with well patronised trains mixing with a few charter services, the old Etheridge Branch can be a lively place. A charter unit is normally stored at Mt Surprise this time of year, as most of the charter trip centre around that town. However, last week, the boys on the train needed to borrow the charter unit to help the scheduled train home, due to one of rail cars suffering mechanical issues with its final drive. So all three cars returned to Cairns on the Saturday run from Mt Surprise, but there was still a charter to run from Forsayth on the following Tuesday. Normally, the crew would drive out to Mt Surprise by road, and take the charter unit over to Forsayth on the day before the trip. But with the unit back in Cairns, we had to change our plans pretty quickly. Due to the time and distance equations, a trip cannot be done out to Forsayth in a single hit, so this meant on Sunday, the charter unit had to be sent back to Mt Surprise, so that it could pick up it’s scheduled run on to Forsayth on Monday.
Continue reading “Viewed in a Different Light”
Tags: charter, Savannahlander
In these times of economic rationalisation, it’s nice to see for a change, a piece of railway infrastructure, long abandoned, being restored and placed back into use. This rare event happened earlier in the year, when the old turning angle at Einasleigh was re-instated and opened to traffic. We’re not sure when this piece of track was last used, but during the weekend, it it finally got some use when a single car charter service from Mt Surprise Terminated at Einasleigh, and had to be turned for the return trip. In the past, a single car trip from Mt Surprise to Einasleigh would have required a further three hour run (each way) to Forsayth to turn.
Continue reading “A View from a Different Angle”
Tags: charter, Einasleigh, Turning Angle, wye
A confirmed sighting in Kuala Lumpur
Those of you who have been lucky enough to travel from Cairns to Forsayth on the Savannahlander may have had the pleasure of having morning tea at the Bullock Creek Cafe. For those of you who haven’t been on the Savannahlander, Bullock Creek is located on the Etheridge Branch about halfway between Almaden and Mount Surprise. The Bullock Creek Cafe offers train passenegrs morning tea on Thursday and Saturday mornings during the Savannahlander season. Recently the cafe has had a lot of cups going missing and some of the thieves have been cheeky enough to send trophy shots of their misappropriated drinking vessels in exotic locations. There is a gallery of these photos on the Savannahlander web site and a photo album of these mischievous mug marauders on board the train. If you have a photo of a missing cup you can send it to us by email:
cuptheft@savannahlander.com.au
or snail mail us a hard copy:
Cup Constabulary
PO Box 718
Edge Hill QLD 4870
Australia
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
Last week, there was a professional photographer hanging around Forsayth, Einasleigh and Mt Surprise with an enormously expensive camera snapping off a few shots. Peter Bellingham, perhaps better known for his aerial work, is also pretty handy at snapping trains.
Continue reading “Professionals do it Better”
Tags: Einasleigh, Forsayth, Mt Surprise, Professional photos
What is a steam train doing on a Savannahlander blog? And the country side doesn’t look very Savannahry either! With this post comes a slight departure from the normal Savannahlander type posts, just so you know that not everything we do happens in the far north of the State. Through our Tourism and Heritage Railway Peak Body (ATRQ), we attended an emergency training exercise put on by the Southern Downs Steam Railway, in Warwick, down in the states chilly south. When I say we, perhaps I should explain that it was me that went down alone, as the the other chaps had a trains to run. But it is important as an operator that we have a presence at events like this so that we can learn from them, or see where we might improve our own Emergency Response Plan. Without testing or validating your plan, it is really only words on paper, and this is no good if you have to manage a real incident some time in the future. I’m also using this post as a bit of a report on the event, as well as making it a central repository for some of the photos that were taken. I won’t do too much typing… most of the info is in the captions on the photos.
