Train Day 4 - Condobolin to Sydney

The last day on the train was rather somber – at least for those of us who'd been on board since Perth. During the night, we'd climbed up into the Blue Mountains which are to the west of Sydney. The train was winding its way through cuttings and tunnels, but I didn't manage to get any decent pictures – the reflections in the window kept getting in the way. The train reverses at Adelaide, so although I was now facing in my preferred direction, I was also sitting on the sunny side of the train.

 

I was trying to get a shot where you can see the train snaking away, but this was the best I could do:

 

 

It had become a running joke with a group of my fellow passengers (sorry, guests) that I hadn't spotted any kangaroos from the train. Almost inevitably, it was when I was breakfasting and didn't have my camera with me that we passed a whole mob of them grazing in a field by the railway.

 

And then it came time to pack my bag again and get ready to disembark. Just before I go, here are a couple more photos of the train.

 

This is my room with the sink folded down:

 

 

At one end of the carriage was a little kitchen (which doubled as our carriage steward's bedroom):

 

 

Tea and coffee were available to help yourself to.

 

At the other end, were two showers:

 

 

On my first night, I took advantage of the long stop in Kalgoorlie (and, incidentally, the "r" in the middle is almost silent) to take a shower while the train was in the station. The other two nights presented more of a challenge. It has to be said that the tracks aren't the smoothest in the world. Most of the line is quite new and used welded rails on concrete sleepers but it still sometimes felt as if we'd hit a pothole! In a way, though, it all added to the experience – this was a train after all, and it felt like a train. The track through the Blue Mountains is older and still has wooden sleepers so the final night was really bouncy!

 

Until 40 years ago, taking the train from Perth to Sydney would have involved a narrow gauge train from Perth to Kalgoorlie, then changing to standard gauge for the run to Port Augusta. Then there was a short connecting train to Port Pirie where you would change again to a broad gauge train to Adelaide and on through Melbourne to Albury where you'd make your final change to a standard gauge train to Sydney. Creating a single, standard gauge line all the way across the country was not only a major feat of engineering, but also one of overcoming the individuality of the various states.

 

Talking to the GSR staff members whom I dined with on Friday night, it seems that the state of the track is the most common complaint they receive from passengers (sorry, "guests"). It's not their track, though – it's owned by a government agency (like National Rail in the UK or Prorail in NL) – GSR just pays for the use of it. GSR doesn't own the engines either, it seems – they simply own the names of their trains and the carriages themselves.

 

My little room had become home – and a very satisfactory home it was too. Here's my new netbook that I've been using to write these Blog entries:

 

 

We arrived late into Sydney, but who cares? This was never about getting from Perth to Sydney – if you just want to go from Perth to Sydney, you'd fly. Taking the Indian Pacific is about the journey and extending it by an hour suited me just fine.

 

The train is so long that it doesn't just arrive at a single platform – it arrives at two platforms, so here's a shot of the two halves of the train at Sydney Central Station:

 

 

And, lastly, here are those two engines that hauled this monster over the Blue Mountains from Adelaide to Sydney:

 

 

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat if budget were no concern. Taking the Ghan to or from Darwin might be interesting, but it was really good to have three nights on board. Having two complete days allowed us to develop a pattern of sorts. I didn't feel guilty about having a nap in the afternoon – there would still be plenty more time.

 

From ground level, you can get a much better feel for the sheer size of this country. I certainly gained a respect for those early explorers who did this journey on horses or camels.