It was fine and warm when we awoke today.
Several weeks ago we booked tickets on the Pichi Richi Railway. This is a narrow gauge (3 foot 6 inch) railway and is the last remaining portion of the famous “Ghan” railway. The railway was built in the 1870’s and we booked a return trip from Port Augusta to Quorn on a stream train known as the “Afghan Express”. The railway is operated by the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society Inc. since its formation in 1973. The society has built up a collection of historic narrow gauge rolling stock of the old South Australian and Commonwealth Railways. These are restored and operated on a voluntary basis. Trains now depart from both the Quorn and Port Augusta Railways Stations on a regular basis.
Before leaving the caravan park for the short drive to the station, another camper showed us a washing line he builds that installs into the rails of Dometic awnings. The design is brilliant and we purchased one.
The “Afghan Express” today used the original steam loco that was employed to travel to Alice Springs on the “Ghan” track. The engine was built in 1925 and has been restored to a magnificent working engine. There were two carriages and a guards van all built by the Commonwealth Railways in 1920.
[singlepic id=242 w=210 float=left]
The trip to Quorn took two hours and was very enjoyable. We were presented with numerous photo opportunities and the results will be added to our gallery shortly.
We had a two hour stop in Quorn which gave us time for lunch and then time to look at the buildings in the town and the derelict adjacent railway yard. It rained during our return journey but we failed to notice the rain as we were entertained by train stories by one of the volunteers travelling as crew on the train. The return trip to Port Augusta took two hours. We travelled just short of 80k’s on the train.
We are not sure about the weather over coming days as rain is forecast in the direction we are travelling. We can cope with the rain and will cross our fingers we don’t have to cope with head winds.
After we leave Port Augusta later in the week to commence our journey north , we will need to carry additional fuel, “just in case”.