The Indian Pacific

[faulcon1]

Here's a commentary by an Englishman travelling on this train from Sydney to Perth on one of the greatest railway journeys one can ever take. Just out of interest the all too brief shot of Springwood Fire Station is my local village.

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

Hmm, a bit disappointing to see ( or rather not see) one of the most interesting parts of Sydney's railway history - the former Cemetery (Mausoleum) station just outside Central.  A superbly restored building and no longer in use for its original purpose and just as much a part ofa. travelogue I would have thought as a film about the train and the various places it passed or called at.

 

PS Never go to Lithgow on a Saturday afternoon - it's shut!

[wasabi]

 

You mean this one?

 

Taken in 1993 - taken in 1993 from the IP, when it was (at least notionally) run as a train service rather than a 'tourist experience'.

 

I remember the train stopping at a little place called Cook in the Nullabor to cross a freight service.  Amazingly, the shop there resolutely closed 15 minutes after the train arrived.  We passed a golf course near there - I wonder if that survives?  I think the golfers were Japanese for the most part, no doubt 'tickers' of rare courses.

 

He refers to an airstrip in the outback as if surprised, but how else would the Flying Doctor get there?

 

[IPW}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wasabi]

Sorry about all the white space in the last post - I have never been able to post photos properly.

[The Stationmaster]

5 hours ago, wasabi said:

Sorry about all the white space in the last post - I have never been able to post photos properly.

Not to worry - that is indeed it  - and you'd get a really good view of it from the IP

[faulcon1]

Well that's the problem with YouTube audiences and this video only went for thirty seven and a half minutes. Most people click to watch something else after ten minutes. It's very hard to squeeze four days travel into half an hour and he has to prioritise what he wants to show. I know that the Indian Pacific is now an expensive train to travel on from Sydney to Perth and they no longer have the car carriers on the back either so you can't take your own car with you like you once could. There are also widen stretches of road on the Nullabor Highway to allow Royal Flying Doctor aircraft to land.

Yes mortuary station in Sydney has been restored nicely but it's a pity that the other end of the line in Rookwood Cemetery which also had it's own mortuary station of the same design has been demolished. Only the footings are left. You can clearly see where the railway once ran into the cemetery.

[ardbealach]

Travelled on the IP from Sydney to Perth back in 2004 and attach some pics taken at Cook where the train refuelled.   Also interior shot of the dining car and car carrying wagons at the head of the train at Sydney prior to deprature.  It was less of a "luxury" train back then. [Alisdair]

[faulcon1]

Here's a short video on Sydney's Mortuary Station

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by faulcon1

[faulcon1]

Here's another video of the same station with a look at the other end of the remains of the receiving station at Rookwood Cemetery.