Steam Train Sunday...

On the first Sunday of each month, the Railway Museum runs an excursion using the lovely old engines and rolling stock owned by the museum. Most Sundays during the year, DH plays golf, but on the first Sunday of August we both went on the excursion from Roma St to Pinkenba. Not a long trip...the round trip took just over an hour...and the journey passed through stations no longer operational as passenger trains no longer travel on that line.

When we arrived on Platform 10, this was the train waiting there...

Each carriage had an attendant  standing there at the door...

Not ours apparently! The tilt train heading off to Rockhampton was due to leave just before the steam train arrived back from its first trip of the day...

We waved goodbye to the passengers on the  the  tilt train!

 Here's another train arriving at Roma st Station...the city buildings loom in the background...

And here's 'our' train!

A massive water tender is a necessity I guess these days, as the big tanks of water at various larger stations/junctions are a thing of the past, so water has to be taken along.

 The lovely old carriages...

I love the timber work of these old carriages...and even the utilitarian luggage racks are beautiful!

Our journey to Pinkenba (which on the river and is situated downstream from the CBD) went via Bowen Hills and continued on to Eagle Junction where the line branched off on to the little used line to Pinkenba.
The next photo was taken as the train went through the Bowen Hills Railyards...the Ferny Grove train is on the elevated section of the line...

Suburbia...out near the suburb of Clayfield...

See! There is an Ascot in Brisbane as well as in the UK! The little Ascot Station...

And just like in the UK, we have a racecourse at Ascot...

The racecourse hosts popular Sunday markets...

The steam train attracted the attention of some of the market goers...

 Crossing Racecourse Rd...

Our journey takes us through the industrial areas, east of the CBD...

The line travels beside the large Army Supply Depot at Meeandah

 I believe this is just a small section of this depot...

There are still some port facilities at Pinkenba...

At Pinkenba, the line loops around on itself , so the train was then facing the right way for the return journey...

In some places on this little used line, the boom gates and related signals are not automatic...there was a man in a 'ute' (utility truck) who drove along the roads to the various level crossings to manually lower the boom gates...sometimes we had to wait for him to get to the level crossing...

 Being in the Pinkenba area meant we were close to Brisbane Airport...what a treat for a plane spotter fan like DH :-)

One of the old railway bridges on our journey...

 It was a lovely excursion and obviously very popular with young families as well as the older generation such as DH and myself! :-)

An ARHS excursion; Memories of train travels long ago...and what it's like today...

Last weekend DH and I enjoyed our Christmas gifts to each other...a trip on the 'Winelander' train which is one of the excursions run by the Australian Railway Historical Society, Queensland Division. Sadly this is the last Winelander to run due to problems with rolling stock and small tunnels. The trip goes from Brisbane, to Ipswich, then on to Toowoomba, then Warwick and finally arriving in Stanthorpe which is known for it's 50+ wineries in the region. The journey passes through lots of small communities; some with stations others just with a name board.
I wanted to do this trip for sentimental reasons. My mother and I made this same journey in the 1950s when we would at various times, go to visit my godparents on their farm outside Stanthorpe. I still have some memories of those trips such as the train stopping beside another train with sheep in the wagons (very exciting for a city kid!) and arriving at Stanthorpe station and being met by my godfather.

There may not be any livestock trains on this line any more but we did see some of the old wagons that used to carry animals, in a paddock. There were about 3 or 4 wagons with grass growing up through them. The photo was taken from the moving train and then cropped but it may be necessary to double click on the photo to enlarge it.

As we journeyed on Saturday I was saddened by the realisation that the era of the railway on this line is virtually over...passenger services no longer go out past Toowoomba...many stations have been pulled down. My godparents used to use the railways to send their fruit to the markets in both Brisbane and Sydney as did the other farmers but that stopped a long time ago. Buildings around the bigger stations that held freight etc sit empty, neglected and dejected looking.

But enough of the 'sad, reflective stuff', it was a wonderful trip in comfortable ex Sunlander carriages.

Saturday, 6.20 am and already we are at Roma St Station...

 A couple of views from Platform 10...

Our train has arrived from Mayne yard...

 Old Sunlander carriages...

The people in the white shirts in front of DH are some of the wonderful staff who looked after us over the 2 days; they were all volunteers!

As we head towards Ipswich, we pass stately old homes in Graceville...

 A view of the Brisbane River...

Then before long we are crossing another river, this time the Bremer River...

We've passed through Ipswich now and are heading towards Toowoomba...

I'm a big kid really...love it when the train goes around a curve and you can see the loco :-)

To get to Toowoomba, the railway line climbs up the range quite steeply from Murphy's Creek to Spring Bluff. If you have a bit of time, you may like to read the post I wrote about Spring Bluff here; it's one of the prettiest stations I've seen and it suffered greatly in the floods of 2011.

 When the train arrived in Toowoomba, because of the big 'step down' between the train and the platform, we had to use these steps...

Some of the old restored railway equipment at Toowoomba station...

Part of the front of the station...it is all beautifully restored even though its heyday is long gone.

On the train that Saturday morning, as well as looking out the window and taking in the views of the beautiful countryside, we were also able to go to the Lounge Car and try some wines...3 whites on Saturday. (the reds were on Sunday on the way home)

Next time I will write about the rest of our trip...