Clare & Rob's Tasmania Trip: 2006
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Day 9: Wilderness Railway
Today was a day for railway buffs. We lashed out to ride the historic West Coast Wilderness Railway from Strahan to Queenstown. The original track was built in 1896 and was used by the Mt Lyell Mining Company to transport copper from Queenstown to the port in Strahan. To get over the top of the steep hills which are up to 1 in 20 grade, it required a unique rack-and-pinion (ABT) system as it travelled the 35 km through some of Tasmania's wilderness.
The trip took a bit longer today than in the old days as we went in a bit more luxury with padded seats, a commentary, and stopped for morning tea to sample some local honey, and stopped for lunch for an hour. The train passed through some excellent scenery, and we learnt a lot about the very tough early pioneer life in this part of the world. We certainly had it easier today.
After travelling inland to Queenstown on the train, we were given half an hour to explore some of Queenstown before heading back to Strahan on a coach.