West Wilderness Coast Railway

 20th Feb 2023

Todays main activity is a passage we have booked on the West Wilderness Coast Railway which will take us on a trip along the old rail track that was used to transport copper ore from Queenstown to Macquarie Harbour, and became a key transport route for Mt Lyell Mines up until their closure. There are still a few of the engines still running and D2 a diesel engine called Mount Lyell will tow our 3 reconditioned carriages today.

Arriving at the Regatta Point Station in Strahan was a bit overwhelming, as there were cars everywhere, but in particular there was more mustangs than any other brand (we counted 15 in the main car park). We quickly realised the there was a Van Diemen's Land Mustang Tour under way, and they had chosen the same day as us to do this trip. They had made special arrangements to ensure they didn't starve or dehydrate along the way, whilst the rest of us waited for station stops for food and refreshments.

Sadly, this morning the weather was not kind to us and there was a steady drizzle throughout the trip. We should not be surprised as it rains around 300 days per year here.

The route we will follow this morning will take us to Dubbil Barril and return. From this point the incline increases significantly and the built a special rack and pinion track up the centre of the rails that could be used by a special engine they imported, and used. It was quite 4experimental at the time, but turned out to be a great success.

                                                                    Getting ready to go

The carriages were beautifully restored and the "conductor/storyteller" in our carriage was brilliant. Like all of these trips, at least half of the enjoyment is hearing about the history and anecdotal stories about life in the era when the railways were constructed and the hardship experienced in building this amazing engineering achievement, in diabolical conditions.

Our fist stop was the station at Lower Landing. Whilst this is not a manned station, the very limited staff on the train, race off the train with plastic boxes full of all sorts of treats, fire up the coffee machines in the station, and before we know it, there is a full functioning kiosk in the station serving coffee and hot and cold snacks.

This story board at Lower Landing set the scene for how tough it was to build this project

After about a 20 minute stop, we are back on board and travelling to the next station, Dubbil Barril, which is where our trip turns around and returns to Regatta Point Station. The constant rain stays with us, but the dense rainforest scenery, the amazing trestle and iron bridges and the commentary from our host keep interest levels up the whole way.

At Dubbil Barril it is necessary to move they engine back around to the front of the train for the trip home using a shunting line there. There is also a turntable which is no longer used.

                    The engine disconnected and being diverted to the front of the train for the journey home

     This turntable is not used, but you can see the rack running up the centre of the rail heading further up                     the track to Queenstown

The rack and pinion rail system continues on from Dubbil Barril, but requires a different engine.

It was the ABT engine that made this all possible and it was highly experimental at the time.

There were extensive story boards throughout the Dubbil Barril station which painted a colourful picture of both the amazing achievement of building this railways, the characters involved, and the lives of the people who pioneered this area.

Some of the passengers undertook a short rainforest walk available at the station, but we opted to stay out of the rain and read the history depicted on the story boards.

Our return trip included another stop at Lower Landing, where we experienced a honey tasting. We learned that even today, this railway still has a commercial purpose, as it transports the beehives for the leatherwood honey producers up into the rainforest in this area where leatherwood is prevalent. It is native to the West Coast of Tasmania. Most of the passengers bought some honey, so it was a pretty good marketing move.

The section of rail line that we travelled on basically followed the path of the King River, travelling over some deep gorges and providing some glimpses of the river below occasionally through the rainforest.

Around 4.5 hours later we were back at Regatta Point Station. Mustangs were leaving the carpark in droves, and we were looking for somewhere to have lunch. The Regatta Tavern across the road seemed an obvious choice, but they showed little interest in feeding hungry rail passengers. So, it was back into town and after walking backwards and forwards (with a few other fellow rail travellers), we found a place called The Kitchen would feed us.

There has been a break in the rain, so we decide to do a short bushwalk after lunch to the Hogarth Falls, which is very close to town.

The walk takes around 40 minutes return through the now very familiar rainforest with signposts along the way highlighting the wide variety of native tree species along the trail. It is an easy walk and it is not long before we are at the falls.

Back at the carpark I noticed a clever arrangement of a Harley Davidson towing a trailer. What was more intriguing was that the bike was registered in WA and the trailer in VIC.

Concern has now been raised about where we may get dinner, as there is a surprising lack of options. We try to book at Hamers Bistro and a smugly told they are booked out. It slowly becomes clear that Strahan Village , who owns most of the food outlets and a good deal of the accommodation in Strahan is owned by NRMA, and they are booked out.

Back in town we visit the old huon pine sawmill, which is an operating mill, but is more of a tourist attraction than a sawmill.

It has a few OH & S issues, but Tassie is a long way away and Strahan even further. Large slabs of huon pine are on sale for extortionate sums if you have a desire to build a table top or bar from one. Every little bit is for sale including shavings and offcuts.

Finally bak at our unit we opt for a takeaway pizza for dinner, with a cold beer at the pub along the way. The township strip is chaotic with people looking for a feed, many having to resort to the bar snack menu at the pub, where seating is very limited.