The Gulflander

We took a train ride on the Gulflander. This is a short stretch of line between Normanton and Croydon, it is 97 miles and 27 yards long. It was built with the sole purpose to transport gold from the goldfields at Croydon to the port in Normanton. All the markers are done in miles, there is the nineteen mile camp and several others along the track there had been three other townships which have now gone.

The train has been running continuously for almost a hundred and twenty five years, they will celebrate the 125th birthday next month.We have thought that it was privately owned but no, it is part of Queensland Rail. We had the driver who also did the commentary and a guard on board, they are also the maintenance crew and it is rare that drivers and guards do the routine maintenance but that is a requirement of the job that they need to be skilled in both areas.

The web site says that it runs once a week but due to demand, they also run shorter trips on other days.

It was a five hour trip to Croydon with a stop to deliver mail at a property station on the way out of town.

Unfortunately I missed the letter box which was a 44 gallon drum was remodeled to look like a train.

This was the inside of our carriage, we were in the last one of three, that day there were 77 on board and it can hold 100. The seats on the left were bigger and suitable for three and the right hand side for two. There was a toilet in each carriage as well as water and cups.

Morning tea was taken at Black Bull Siding, when we paid for the ticket we were given an enamel mug with a picture of the train, these were to be used for tea or coffee and every one also got a muffin.

It was a slow rolling ride top speed was about 35kpm and most times didnt do that. The options were ride one day, stay overnight and go back on the train the following day, catch the Cairns bus back to Normanton. There was even a shared arrangement which one couple took up and that was one ticket, one ride and the other drive to the morning tea spot and then they could swap over. We ride the train and caught the bus, the bus took an hour and a half.

Cost of the trip was $34.50 on the train and $33 each on the bus, half price for OF's (old farts as Warren likes to refer to ourselves). It was interesting to learn that the train line hasn't made a profit since 1907, but they keep it going as a tourist attraction.As far as we could work out, there are nine people employed in and around the station, driver and guard, station master, gardener and a ganger and four fettlers (The last keep the line in good repair.