The Great Southern
Travelling from Brisbane to Adelaide by train.
Early last year after watching some Youtube rail travel videos, Janelle and I decided to book ourselves on the Great Southern.
What's the Great Southern some of you might be asking?
A relatively new rail route, it's only been around since 2019, (and interrupted by COVID) utilising the cars from The Ghan in the wet season - December to February when that service doesn't operate.
There's two options with the train, either travelling from its home station of Adelaide Parklands Terminal, (formerly Keswick) to Acacia Ridge, south of Brisbane, or the return trip from Brisbane to Adelaide Parklands. Both trips offer a different set of off train excursions, with multiple options to chose from, so plenty of variety. One couple that were on our train from Brisbane were catching the return journey back so they could experience both!
It’s operated by Journey Beyond, the company that also operate The Ghan, the Indian Pacific, and The Overland.
Aside from The Overland, which only survives due to subsidies from the Victorian Government, the focus of these trains has shifted from public transport, to holiday experiences, the other three trains consisting exclusively of either gold or platinum class sleeping cars..
Like all Journey Beyond services, the locomotives that haul their trains are provided by Pacific National, normally NR class, and, for the Ghan, Great Southern and Indian Pacific routes, the locos carry a special livery reflecting the train.
NRs 30 and 31 are painted in the orange livery of the Great Southern which is quite eye catching, and features a kangaroo as its symbol.
We chose to travel the 2885 km from Brisbane to Adelaide, which is a three and a bit day, three night trip, slightly longer duration than the Adelaide - Brisbane journey which is an earlier departure out of Adelaide, and features two nights on the train.
Our trip departed Brisbane on Monday January 2nd, so we flew up on New Years Day, leaving from an almost deserted Tullamarine airport, and as we only had carry on luggage, it was a very quick passage through to the lounge.
For the aircraft enthusiasts out there, we travelled on Boeing 737 VH-VZX ,Qantas's 180th Boeing aircraft, and their 60th 737, named Daylesford.
We caught the train from the airport into the city, and across the river to where we were staying close to South Bank station.
The airport train runs on a viaduct for the last few km with an elevated terminus outside the airport buildings, which is very similar to what's planned for Melbourne. It was interesting to note there’s still guards on the suburban trains, unlike in Melbourne.
It's been a long time since I've been to Brisbane's South Bank, which was developed on the site of former industrial land. It had been cleared and redeveloped for Expo 88, an international exposition timed to occur to celebrate Australia's 200 years of British settlement.
There's some nice parkland, a swimming lagoon, and strip of restaurants, but it still feels a bit soulless, so after a bit of a wander, we decided to take advantage of the roof top restaurant where we were staying for dinner.
Great nighttime views over the city of Brisbane from The Terrace rooftop bar at the Emporium Hotel.
Unfortunately after a great meal, the fire alarm went off at 2:00, so after traipsing down the stairs with the rest of the guests, the all clear was eventually given, and we made our way back up to try and get back to sleep!
Day One on the Great Southern
Welcome drinks in our compartment on arrival. The lanyards were rarely required thankfully.
We had a car pick us, and two other couples up from our hotels bright and early the following morning, which dropped us off at Hanworth House, an 1860s property in East Brisbane for reception, baggage drop, and breakfast (including sparkling wine), which was a relaxing way to meet a few fellow travellers.
We were then loaded onto coaches for the transfer out to Acacia Ridge freight terminal, as the train is far too long to fit at the main Brisbane station, Roma St. which only has one standard gauge platform.
Acacia Ridge is about 16km south of the city, and as it's a live freight terminal, the coaches parked close to the passenger cars, and we were ushered onboard, with little opportunity to get a photo.
Once on board, we were shown to our Prestige Double compartment, and offered a glass of champagne as we settled in, a pleasant way to start the journey. We also renegotiated our lunch and dinner sitting times, as experience has taught us the late sitting is more relaxed, as there's no-one waiting for the tables.
The standard gauge line south of Brisbane opened in 1930 to Kyogle, almost connecting Brisbane and Sydney by rail - that would have to wait until 7 May 1932 when the double decked Grafton rail and road Bascule bridge was opened, completing the first standard gauge connection between state capitals in Australia. The line is single track, with many passing loops for trains to pass in the opposite direction, some in remote locations, and many, until 2007 staffed with railway workers.
Once underway, we headed out through the suburbs and farmland for some time, before eventually winding up the valleys of the Richmond Range, and a short time after passing the well maintained disused signal box at Glenapp crossed beneath the NSW / QLD border through the 1160 metre long Border Tunnel and descending the Cougal Spiral.
Passing through Glenapp loop climbing toward the QLD / NSW border.
The spiral is one of two in NSW, with the line climbing (when heading north) 30 metres by going round a hill, and crossing over itself with the lower portion of track passing through a short tunnel.
The other, the Bethungra Spiral is between Junee and Cootamundra on the Main South Line, which is a topic for another time.
Given how dense the shrubbery is, unless you knew you were descending the loop, it would be hard to pick as a feature.
The line continued twisting and turning, dropping down to Kyogle as we sat down to lunch - it's always very pleasant to sit down to a nice meal and a glass of wine while the world drifts past your window.
Unfortunately neither Janelle or I took notes, or photos of what we ate, aside from the delicious desert!
The tables in the club car are laid out in a four - two configuration, so depending on dining preferences, you have options to join others at a table, or dine as a couple.
A two seater option in the Prestige class dining / lounge car
During the course of the journey, we sat on both arrangements, Prestige Class isn't exactly packed in, so there was plenty of room to spread out and relax.
Finishing lunch and arriving into Casino, my attention was caught by some interesting steam era railway remnants. Formerly the junction of the Murwillumbah railway, the engine shed was still in place, as was the huge old timber tower which held coal to supply the steam locos, nothing like that has survived in Victoria.
Grafton was the next major centre, and crossing point of the Clarence River.
This part of NSW is known as the Northern Rivers, and there are some very impressive watercourses, The Clarence, Richmond and Tweed being the three major ones.
As mentioned earlier, the Clarence was a gap in the railway north, and, in something unique in Australia, trains, or at least portions of them were transferred across the river by two boats, Swallow and Induna, fitted with two sets of tracks each.
Passengers were transferred on a separate ferry, the SS Clarence.
There's an interesting photo of the three ferries here:
And, Induna had some previous history in Africa before it ended up on the Clarence serving the NSWGR.
Continuing south, we arrived at our evening dinner destination, Coffs Harbour.
Dining under the stars at Coffs Harbour.
We detrained at the former timber milling and shipping town, and were transferred north to Charlesworth Bay. Here we enjoyed seaside canapés and a welcome to country on the beach. Moving back a few hundred metres a dinner banquet of local oysters, steak and other delicious bits and pieces, accompanied by live music before rejoining the train for a night time run down the coast.
The Great Southern docking back up at the platform for the evening departure south.
Day two, The Hunter, and the Short North.
Next morning after breakfast the train pulled into Maitland where there was options to visit the Hunter Valley, Newcastle for a walking tour, or Port Stephens with on land or cruising options.
Having never visited The Hunter wine region, the opportunity to have someone else do the driving was hard to pass up, so that was our choice - and as there was two coaches we weren't alone.
There were two winery visits for tastings, and the busses each went different ones, then swapped so things weren't over crowded.
A couple of stops were required to detrain passengers at most stops, and Maitland was no exception.
Brokenwood was our first port of call after a drive through Maitland and the surrounding countryside, with several coal trains noted along the way. The winery and modern tasting rooms have great views of the ranges to the north. We left with a couple of bottles in our possession, and headed to our second tasting of the day, at 125 year old Tulloch wines,
This was a different style of tasting, and saw wines paired with chocolates from Donarch fine chocolates.
It was the first time we'd seen such a pairing, and certainly interesting to see how the flavours worked together.
Third stop for the day was another winery, only for lunch this time, no tastings. The meal was served in wedding style - alternate plates, and the staff weren't at all appreciative of people doing a swap! Given that one of the courses was fish, it was a fairly bold choice.
The food and wine were both very good, with beers and non alcoholic refreshments available.
Back on the busses (sorry, coaches), we travelled through Neath and other well known haunts of rail enthusiasts when steam locomotives was still hauling up until the 1980s.
Arriving at Broadmeadow on the outskirts of Newcastle, the train arrived from the freight sidings where it had been stabled and attended to during the time we were away.
The Great Southern with NRs 30 and 31 on the front pull into Broadmeadow, on the outskirts of Newcastle.
Once underway again, it was very interesting to see the large numbers of new Mariyung, or D set Citirail trains stored in sidings, part of an ongoing industrial dispute between the NSW government, and the Rail Tram and Bus union over the safety of the trains. There's 162 sets of the trains that have been purchased, so they are tucked away all over the network!
The line between Sydney and Newcastle was known as 'The Short North', and holds somewhat of a fabled place in the hearts of Australian rail enthusiasts - the last steam hauled express in the country 'The Newcastle Flier' plied the 162km route until 1970, and names like Fassifern, Cowan Bank, Woy Woy and Hawkesbury river are well known. Numerous coal mine branches join the railway in some inhospitable locations, with long, steep gradients and tunnels frequent.
The other side of the railway is the section along Brisbane Water, and Mullet creek, separated by the steep climb through Woy Woy. On both stretches, the railway hugs the shoreline offering fantastic views across the waterways, with plenty of oyster beds and pleasure craft to be seen.
Mullet creek is a tributary of the amazing Hawkesbury river, the crossing of which, and the climb up Cowan Bank through the Kuringai Chase National Park were a highlight.
It certainly rivals sections of the famed New York Central 'Waterlevel Route' along the Hudson River.
We passed through the outer Sydney suburbs, and had dinner as the train skirted Rookwood cemetery, which once had its own railway branch and station. There was a fairly spectacular thunderstorm while we were passing through the industrial areas before eventually joining the Main South towards Albury.
I’ll leave it there for the moment, part two won’t be too far away.
Thanks for following along on my railway life.