The Savannahlander

It’s getting close to deadline time, so here are a few newsy items not worth their own post.

We’ll Look After You

We have given our first aid supplies a bit of a going over recently. Also, noting how far we can be from help in our travels, we came to realise that we need to be a bit more self sufficient when in comes to dealing with injuries or medical emergencies.

The Savannahlander has recently been equiped with a defribulator, which might just make the difference if we have to deal with a cardiac arrest while waiting for help from the flying doctor. But now that we have it, we hope we never have to use it.

Engineering Modification

A minor modification has been made to the gear boxes that has all but eliminated starting wheelslip on the units, and have achieved a much smoother acceleration.  Early indications are also suggesting that fuel economy has improved as well.  We should have done this years ago!

Communication Upgrade

The radios on board the railmotors have been upgraded to be able to communicate with the DMTF radio system that exists in the remote areas beyond Dimbulah. This has become increasingly important with the on-board satellite phones aging and bringing into question their reliability. The upgrades provides an additional level of communications which is critically important for the overall safety of the operation.

Tags: Savannahlander, Snippets

Einasleigh - old pumps and an older car

Someone must have nicked his wheels while he wasn't looking

At Einasleigh, between where we stopped the train on a recent trip, (close to the pub) and the station where train control had to be called from, a skeletal structure looking suspiciously like an old servo was observed. And so it turned out to be. It would appear that the car in the driveway has been waiting for service for a considerable time. I would like to learn more about this old servo, so if anyone knows anything about it, please leave the info in the comments.

Ah.. The things you find in the bush!

Tags: Einasleigh

We are getting thick into our charter season, which means I get to escape from the office (with camera) and get out and meet some great people on these trips. As mentioned in the previous post we had a group from Fun over Fifty on a trip from Mt Surprise to Almaden, and after a weekend break, we had group of US student teachers who were doing a 13 week post graduate Queensland Tour. Seeing as I promised both groups that I would post photos of them on the blog, this post fulfills that committment.

Setting up a morning tea for the Fun Over Fifty Group at Bullock Creek

The Group tucking in to 'Smoko'

The US students did a longer trip from Almaden to Forsayth, experiencing the comparative remotes of our corner of the outback.  Here they are at the same location, bullock creek:

The US Students pose for a group photo at Bullock Creek

By the time we got to the Newcastle Range, they were getting cheeky as can be seen by some of the photo gags they were doing by late in the afternoon:

At the capsized 'Jumping Jack' ballast wagon on the Newcastle Range

This lot were greatly interested in our cute furry animals. At the Savannahlander, all you need to do is ask, and we provide:

The group nearly capsize the railmotor, try to get a view of....

The Unadorned Rock Wallaby, coming up for a feed

The driver has coaxed this rock wallaby from his hide out with some tempting horse pellets. More timid members of his family are peeking over the edge of the embankment. After the train leaves, they will come out and enjoy the  feed we leave them.

Tags: Charters, Groups, photos

Back in this post, we described the role of safety auditors in our operations, and posted a few pictures that were taken by one of them. We’ll she’s back… and this time we were able to put her to good use. After the official part of the audit, we had a couple of charter trips to do, both of which started and ended at different locations. So with this handy additional resource hanging around, we were able to use her to relocate our crew vehicle from one town to the next. As a bonus, it gave her the opportunity to get ahead of the train and snap off a few pictures.  Some of them turned out okay, so over the next few posts, we will feature some of the better ones.

The first set is from a charter between Mt Surprise and Almaden, that was run for Outback Aussie Tours for the fun over 50 group. These charters are run as single car units, which are not as photographically appealing as the normal two car sets, but when taken by someone that knows their way around a camera, some great shots result anyway.

Charter unit moves to the platform at Mt Surprise

A bit later, the same unit departs Mt Surprise - Almaden headboard displayed

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Just keeping ahead of its own dust cloud, the unit approaches Bullock Creek for morning tea

At Gelaro

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Posing on the Bridge on the Sandy Tate River

On the Sandy Tate River Bridge

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For those on the charters, you can request hi resolution copies of the photos – just leave a request in the comments

Tags: Audit, photos, Savannahlander

Tamarind Gardens Tourist Park

From time to time, we’ll do a feature post on all the accommodation that you can chose from when deciding what Savannahlander package to take up. We will kick off the series with the Tamarind Gardens  Tourist Park in Almaden,  which has recently had a range of improvements made to it. In fact we are so impressed, we are using it as standard accommodation on two of our standard packages – The First Class train buff, and the Economy train buff Packages. Oh, and if anyone can come up with a better name for these packages, please let us know in the comments.

Almaden is the terminus station for the first day of travel.  Many of the passengers continue by a small bus to Chillagoe for their overnight accommodation, 34 km away.  The main attraction of Chillagoe is the historic smelter site, and the Chillagoe Caves. The caves form part of a tour on some of the highter level packages. However, for those just doing the trip for the rail experience, staying at Almaden has the benefit of the savings in the cost of the bus transfer, and a slightly later start to the day on Thursday, so therefore more sleep!

Tamarind Gardens is actually the old Alamden State school, which the state government closed down a few years back, just a couple of months short of its 100th Birthday.  This is from the days when Almaden was a bigger place than it is now.

Basic Facilities

There is a camping and caravan area in the park, and a new camp kitchen and dining area.  There is also the budget rooms which are in one of the old school buildings. There are four of these rooms configured as two twin rooms and two double rooms. Toilets and showers are shared facility type, as for the caravan park. People booking onto the economy train buffs package stay in these rooms, although they may choose to upgrade to the newer rooms described further below.

There is also a common dining room upstairs in the main school building, and a new swimming pool.

Safari Tents

There are four safari tents on site. These are full height structures mounted on elevated floors, and each can sleep four people. There is a double bed and a fold out sofa bed in each. These are used on request, or offered as an ‘overflow’ option if the normal package accommodation is booked out. Groups find these handy for accommodation on their tours.

A long shot of the tents, with the new pool in the foreground

The Pool in the above photo was installed in the recent upgrade of the park.

A closer picture of the safari tents

The interior of the Safari Tents

The Cottage

This has been recently upgraded and modernised. It features one double room, and one twin room, with a shared self contained kitchen and dining area. There is also a shower and toilet in the cottage. The Cottage is where we place the first class train buffs passengers.

Common Kitchen and dining area, looking through to the double room in the cottage

Twin room, in the Cottage

The Guest House

The guest house is off the main site of Tamarind Gardens, but is closer to the Pub and Station. It is also very well appointed.  It features a large common loung, with TV, kitchen and dining area, with two double rooms and two twin rooms. Attached to the cottage is its own toilet and shower block.

Lounge area, with dining area in foreground

One of the double rooms in the Guest House

The bathroom area of the guest house

Tags: Tamarind Gardens