Just a few years ago, RVR Member, Byron Littlewood,
flew out to Australia to visit his family,
which also served as an opportunity to explore
some of the unique railways in this vast continent.
For our purposes, the aim was to travel
from Sydney to Adelaide and Perth
on the Indian - Pacific,
and then using The Ghan to traverse the continent
from Adelaide to Alice Springs and Darwin,
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Prior to each main journey, time was spent
visiting the Thirlmere Rail Heritage Centre,
and exploring the
Zig Zig Railway, Picton - Mittagong Loop Line Railway
and several others,
For all these journeys, photographic records were compiled,
which RVR are now privileged to reproduce below:
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Quick Links:
Indian - Pacific
The Ghan
Zig Zag Railway
Thirlmere Heritage Rail Centre
** Double-headed Beyer-Garratt photos **
Picton - Mittagong Loop - Line Railway
Sydney Central Station Exhibition
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To view information about
Fares, Timetables, Special Promotions, etc
for travel on the
Indian-Pacific, The Ghan, & The Overland
click here
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Sydney - Adelaide - Perth |
Journey Overview
Route: xxxxx Sydney - Adelaide - Perth
Duration:xx x 3 nights in either direction
Distance:xx x 4352 kilometres ( 2720 miles )
Frequency:xx Twice weekly in both directions
Climate Statistics:
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Mean Monthly Temperatures |
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Max ºC |
Min ºC |
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Min (mm) |
| Sydney |
28.3 |
7.8 |
130.6 |
69.4 |
| Adelaide |
29.3 |
7.4 |
80.6 |
12.6 |
| Cook |
33.0 |
4.3 |
18.1 |
12.0 |
| Kalgoorlie |
33.6 |
5.0 |
31.2 |
14.0 |
| Perth |
31.3 |
7.8 |
153.1 |
6.4 |
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The Indian Pacific links two oceans
on one of the world's longest and greatest train journeys.
Most of the cruising is across the vast continent of Australia,
where the unique landscapes unfold
from the spectacular Blue Mountains
to the treeless plains of the Nullarbor Desert,
along which the train traverses
the world's longest straight stretch of railway track (478 kilometres).
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Sydney to Adelaide |
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The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.
but unfortunately the Indian-Pacific
departs from Sydney Station in the opposite direction
and so does not traverse the bridge.
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Sydney Station
Note the Double-Deckers
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Clock at Sydney Station
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Two diesel locomotives used on the Indian - Pacific
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Ready for departure at Sydney |
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Examples of double-decker rolling stock |
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Indian - Pacific leaving Sydney Station en-route to Adelaide |
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| Adelaide to Perth |
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Byron with his daughter, Emma, at Adelaide
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The Indian-Pacific travelling the
longest stretch of STRAIGHT RAILWAY
in the world
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Two views of the arid Nullarbor Plain, once part
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of the sea bed, millions of years ago, according to geologists |
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Kangaroo Class Lounge & Bar |
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The Kangaroo Gold Dining Car |
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Kalgoorlie at night
Right: Station poster
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At Kalgoorlie, the trains are re-stocked, engines re-fueled,
coaches are cleaned,
whilst passengers are treated
to a tour of the world's largest gold mine,
which is opencast.
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Cook has a population of four,
which is not uncommon for these interior towns,
and which is one of the
most isolated of Australian towns.
Cook is over 600 miles from Adelaide,
700 miles from Perth,
and there isn't anything in between these two points !!
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At Cook, Byron is pictured at the halfway point of the journey. |
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At Cook, locomotives are refuelled,
and the train re-stocked
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Byron pictured at Perth
with one of the old mainline steam trains
running from Perth to Adelaide.
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The GHAN |
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Adelaide - Alice Springs - Darwin
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Journey Overview
Route: xxxxx Adelaide - Alice Springs - Darwin
Duration:xx x 2 nights in either direction
Distance:xx x 2920 km ( 1825 miles )
Frequency:xx Twice weekly in both directions
Climate Statistics:
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Mean Monthly Temperatures |
Mean Monthly Rainfall |
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Max ºC |
Min ºC |
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Min (mm) |
| Sydney |
28.3 |
7.8 |
130.6 |
69.4 |
| Adelaide |
29.3 |
7.4 |
80.6 |
12.6 |
| AliceSprings |
36.4 |
4.0 |
41.3 |
8.1 |
| Darwin |
32.7 |
19.2 |
420.3 |
1.3 |
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The Ghan was originally built about 1930
to link Adelaide with Alice Springs.
The Alice Springs to Darwin extension
was completed during 2003,
with the first train departing Adelaide on 15 January 2004,
and arriving in Darwin on 17 January 2004
with 48 carriages !
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Adelaide to Alice Springs
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Postcard |
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At Adelaide Station
Outside the temperature was 45 C - hot!
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Kangaroo Class Lounge & Bar |
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Kangaroo Class Dining Car |
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Other view of the Kangaroo Class Lounge & Bar |
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On the approach to Alice Springs |
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Alice Springs Station |
Thirlmere Rail Heritage Centre
in the Blue Mountains |
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See left |
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BAYER - GARRATT xLOCOMOTIVES scanned from the book "Locomotive Guide - Thirlmere Museum" |
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6002 darkens the skies over Hawkmount near Awaba
as it struggles to lift a goods northwards in 1971
Photo: J. Dick
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6022 and 6029 storm through Fassifern
with a down goods on Good Friday 1971
Photo: J. Dick
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Zig Zag Railway |
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The Zig Zag Railway is a heritage railway at Lithgow
in New South Wales , Australia
on the site of the famous Great or Lithgow Zig Zag.
which operated between 1869 and 1910.
As built, the line formed part of the Main West line from Sydney
across the Blue Mountains, and served to lower the line
from its summit into the Lithgow valley
on the western flank of the mountains.
In 1975, it was decided to restore the Lithgow Zig Zag
as a heritage railway, albeit on a different gauge (3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) instead of the original 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)).
Rolling stock for the museum thus comes from states
other than New South Wales
– Queensland and South Australia in particular.
This was due to the difficult nature of obtaining standard gauge rollingstock from the NSW Government of the time.
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As of 2005, the railway is operated as
the Zig Zag Steam and Diesel Tourist Railway.
The line has gradually been extended:
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Bottom Points (depot) to Top Points.
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Top Points to the first Clarence railway station .
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Clarence to Newnes Junction (under construction in 2008).
In 1944, the tunnel was used to store chemical weapons.
The railway currently has 4 operational steam locomotives,
BB18 1/4 1072 "City of Lithgow", C17 934, DD17 1049,
and the most recently restored, AC16 218A.
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Fourteen days prior to the visit,
there was a serious bush fire
but the overhead cables were replaced
with a minimum of delay.
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A burnt-out station in the Blue Mountains
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The remains of the above burnt-out station in the Blue Mountains |
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Ziz Zag Station but no trains call |
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Whilst crossing the Blue Mountains,
the Indian-Pacific passes close to the Ziz Zag Railway
but at a lower level.
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Both are pictured above.
The haze is attributed to the forest fires.
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In this shot, the main line is on the lower left,
above the tunnel and the ZigZag
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Bottom Points Station
At the approach to the station is Bottom Points Signal Box.
This signal box was formerly beside the main line
not far from the main line Zig Zag Platform.
It was gradually leaning towards the main line
because of vibration from heavy coal trains.
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NSW State Rail sold the signal box
to Zig Zag Railway for a dollar in the early 1990s,
and it was moved to the present site.
Previously it had been moved from an earlier site
to its site beside the main line.
Bottom Points Station is at an altitude of 994m (3260'),
the difference between Bottom Points and Top Points being 31m (102'),
and the difference between Bottom Points and Clarence
being 121m. (398').
Down the hill is the Zig Zag Railway Depot,
where engines and carriages are maintained and overhauled.
Visitors are welcome to walk around the Depot
but are asked to remain on the designated paths,
and not climb on any of the equipment.
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