ALL ABOARD
The West Coast Wilderness railway is an engineering marvel.
It was built to carry heavy equipment out to the mines in Queenstown & bring copper back to Strahn, covering 35 kilometers & crossing no fewer than 40 bridges
Now the railway is restored, the formidable terrain that originally presented such difficulties ensure an exhilarating journey through dense rainforest, past cavernous gorges, rushing rivers
& toy-town stations
Fettlers cottages
Inside the beautiful restored carriage
Thick rainforest everywhere
One of the 40 bridges crossed today
Some of the intervening hills are very steep, but with ingenious toothed third rail that engages with a cog system under the locomotive, known as the 'Abt' after the Swiss inventor
Here comes the steam engine
The clackety-clack, billowing clouds & shrieking whistle from the steam engine make for an unforgettable day trip
From Strahn we were pulled along by a diesel engine, but at the lunch break the train coming in from Queenstown had the steam engine & they were shunted around so we continued onto Queenstown with the steam train
There's something about a steam train, that everybody loves!!!
Female "Casey Jones" !!!
Lunch, ham & salad roll, cheese & bickies, chocolate & bottle water
After 67 years of operation the railway was dismantled in 1963, nature rapidly reclaiming the line as its own
King river
Old mine site
Queen river polluted from mines in Queenstown years ago & is still trying to recover
Coming in Queenstown, very dreary mining town
Clock inside Queenstown station
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