Thurs, 12th Feb, 2015 Gravel Oval, Queenstown (West Coast Wilderness Railway)

7am and it was 12 degrees in the van and 7 degrees outside. When will summer come!!

Headed to the railway station to board the West Coast Wilderness Railway for the Rack and Gorge trip on Abt Railway (rack & pinion railway). The train was just arriving as we pulled up giving a cute little toot as it went into the station.

Found our seats in the lovely little carriages. Our engine is Mt Lyell Engine No. 1.

Rick took a great photo of us.

One of the fabulous hosts photo-bombed my shot of Leanne & Rick.

All aboard and with a toot we headed off for our half day tour. Our host was Andrew, a lovely young chap. Though he got us at the start when he asked us to listen to the safety briefing and advised that we needed to turn off all electronic devices etc. We started to reach for our phones then realised what he said and then the whole carriage roared with laughter. Going to be a good day. We passed the train workshop and some of the staff were outside to wave to us.

Others were hard at work on another engine.

When the town was at its peak there were over 9000 people here. A lot of houses are now empty and just left to fall apart unfortunately.

Others are lovely.

Our host was Andrew and he was great. He said he would tell us the story of Queenstown as we travelled today. First off there was an Irish man named Mr James Crotty and he was here with us today. He said that he wore glasses and a grey cardigan then we all laughed when we realised it was Steve. He gave him a top hat that he needed to wear the whole trip. He looked very dapper!! Mr Crotty was a prospector so we thought that was funny Andrew picked Steve. He came to Queenstown after some other prospectors had discovered a huge ironstone outcrop that was known as Iron Blow. Specks of alluvial gold at the foot of the Blow encouraged the prospectors to thinking they had discovered the capping on a rich mother lode of gold. They were soon in debt as they didn’t find much gold. They took on some financial backers of which one was James Crotty.

We stopped then at Lynchford the area of two gold mines – Princess and Queen River Gold Mines. We were each giving a gold pan and a bag of dirt and shown how to pan for gold. Unfortunately no one found any!!

There was lots of information in the station. “Sluicing the rewards of a prospect, in the Queen River Valley in the early 1880s.”

The largest gold nugget found in Tasmania by James McGinty in the Rocky River in 1883 and it weighed 243 ounces.

More info about more gold nuggets.

A nice specimen.

Info about the steam engine.

Crossing over the Queen River which is still very orange but they all say it is ok.

Started the climb up the hill and the steam was billowing out. The rack and pinion was keeping us crawling up steep climb (6.25% therefore 1 foot rise for each 16 foot travelled).

Up in the tree tops with the deep valley dropping away below us.

They passed around a small version of the rack & pinion. It runs in the middle of the track and as it has offset cogs there is always two points of contact keeping us on the track.

Andrew continued on with the story. The gold mine was a ‘dud’. They sold their shares not realising they were missing on a fortune of copper hidden below. James Crotty needed more money and looked for another backer. Another Irishman, Mr Kelly, arrived (played by another man, he had a black top hat) but when they sent of samples off looking for gold, Kelly didn’t tell him what they really did find. No gold but lots of copper. Crotty sold his share to Kelly then got mad when Kelly got rich when he started the copper mine at Mount Lyell. He built a smelter and then built this railway to get the copper to the harbour at Strahan in the late 1800s.  Crotty then opened another copper mine nearby so the competition between them grew. Crotty built his own smelter and another railway which didn’t have to go over steep mountains as he headed his copper down to Kelly Basin (named after another Kelly – see Bruny Island info etc).

We then stopped at Rinadeena, home of gold and gemstone mines. We went up to the overpass to take a photo of the train.

Called to Andrew who did a great pose.

Looking back at the rack & pinion track.

I met Mr Kelly and found out that “Mr Crotty” had already had words with him “I’ve got a bone to pick with you”!!! Steve getting in the character well. Throughout the trip staff would come up to Steve asking for a pay rise explaining what they have done for him etc.

Another info board.

The original Dubs & Co Abt steam locomotive No. 1 was getting a top up of water and a check by its caring driver. The fireman today was a woman. They don’t burn timber anymore, it is mixture of oil and diesel. The engines are fairly original but of course some things have been upgraded for safety reasons.

Pose time.

Steve found the old mine entrance.

Blocked off of course.

A real size rack and pinion to check out.

I got a nasty burr on my shoe. As I tried to pull it off it came apart into hundreds of little thorns!!

Inside the café were more photos. The King River Sawmill in the early 1900s. Sawmills such as these were situated in the forest close to the source of loggable timber. They were either dismantled and moved to a new site or simply abandoned when the supply of accessible sawlogs ended. The sawmills were generally steam driven and operated by a 4 or 5 man team.

Back in the train we learnt more about the railway line. This land was rugged terrain. Surveyors of the day said it couldn’t be done. The country was too steep and weather too extreme but they didn’t count on the determination and ingenuity of hard working “west coasters”. The Railway traverse some of the steepest grades in the world, which were overcome by the rack & pinion system created by Mr Abt. Travelling past lots of tree ferns.

We were to cross over 30 or so bridges but we didn’t notice them till I saw this one as we round the bend.

Then another one.

Lovely views out the windows.

The King River and Gorge came into view.

A bit further around.

It is flowing well because the power station was letting water out to make some power. Then we noticed some white water rafters. Andrew said he had done it last week and it was amazing.

We then did the steep descent into Dubbil Barril. They have to turn the engine around on the turntable so we can head back home.

While they got ready (more water etc) we wandered down the station to follow the path under the bridge to the river. The rafters were just coming by.

More info boards to read.

Looking up at the bridge – amazing how they built it back then.

I thought we were going over this bridge but it is further down towards Strahan. This half is better with the rack & pinion and the King River Gorge.

So glad we got to see the river flowing well.

The King River is still tainted in colour from the orange stuff coming from the Queen. This little creek though is lovely and clear.

Back at the station we read all about Roman Abt who created the Rack & Pinion system.

Mr Crotty & Mr Kelly shake hands.

I found a Huon Pine tree at last.

More info boards.

The engine swaps ends.

We all swapped sides in the carriages so we had a different view. Off we go again on the Rack & Pinion pulling us up the mountain (5% incline 1 foot rise in each 20 foot distance .

Last look at the Gorge.

Zoomed in on a poster I missed at one of the other stations.

Better view up the side of the train to the engine.

Past the Queen River again.

When we pulled into Lynchford, No. 5 engine was there. It has been getting an overhaul and they were taken her for a test drive to make sure she would get up the hills etc. Andrew commented how much he loved his job – playing with trains and chatting with people all day was heaven.

That is No. 5 original carriage and when she was lent to Victoria for the Zig Zag Railway her carriage went too. No. 5 was the only engine to be sent out as a whole engine. Unfortunately the boat sunk on the way but she managed to survive and has been up and down these hills for years. No. 4 sadly was an engine that always had problems. Eventually they pulled all the parts of her (each other engine has a part of her) and then buried the rest in a hole – so sad. No. 2 is in the Museum in Hobart and No. 3 does the Strahan to Dubbil Barril run.

She uncoupled her carriages and headed off for her test run.

The day is fabulous and we get a superb view of Mt Owen as we head back into Queenstown.

Andrew finished off the story of the two Irishman. Mr Kelly and Mr Crotty continued their battle. Mr Crotty married a young girl of 22 – so I hit him on the head!! Then Mr Crotty’s smelters broke and instead of using some of his wealth he went back to England to find some more backers. Unfortunately he got sick and died over there so the mine stopped working and it closed down. The township of Crotty now lies under Lake Burbury. Mr Kelly went on to continue to make Mount Lyell Copper Mine the richest in the world.

The scarred hills are from the sulphur clouds pouring out of the smelters. Also they had cut down all the trees to run the boilers. Over the years there has been a lot of replanting and Leanne & Rick who were here 20 then 10 years ago certainly have noticed the difference. The townspeople don’t want the mountains replanted otherwise it will lose its tourist value.

The shot of Mt Owen from the street where yesterday it was completely covered in fog.

We got back with 15 minutes to spare to dash across the road and have the $12 lunch at the Empire Hotel. Delicious hamburger with to-die-for caramelised onion. The chef was clearing a table so we asked her how to make it – sounded too complicated for me.

Headed off to check out the Iron Blow. Passed this guy and his collection of garden gnomes. Should have stopped for a better look.

The view certainly is the attraction.

Man, are these guys crazy!! They were not young either. Took us a while to get past them with the tight blind corners.

Up to Iron Blow – the first mine site of the Mount Lyell Copper Mine.

Another copper casting about the Iron Blow.

Info about Gormanston.

 You can see the regrowth on these mountains.

Another quick overview about Crotty and Kelly.

We walked out onto the cantilever platform to look over the mine site.

Amazing colour.

Fabulous view over the open cut, through the valley and to Lake Burbury where the town of Crotty once stood.

Around to the side the North Lyell Mine is still operating. A mine ute came past so I asked the chaps about the mine. On guy has been working there 28 years.

Headed back down to the main road.

A cairn at the intersection commemorating the opening of the West Coast Road in 1932. Andrew had mentioned that he pans for gold at Horsetail Falls. I had seen it on my map too. We found the track to it but it was not very stable and went for a while so decided not to bother.  Apparently they are going to spend a few hundred thousand putting in a boardwalk to it. As it only flows when there has been heavy rain the locals think it is a waste of money. As we headed down the road we could see where the falls would be when there was water to run over them.

Another shot as we wind our way down.

Stopped at the info hut on the range as we don’t have the vans on this time.

More info on the Iron Blow – I took photos of it all as they all say something a little bit different.

It certainly wouldn’t have been a nice place to live and work back then.

The cause of the orange Queen River.

More information about the mine disaster in 1912.

 A note from one of the miners to his wife.

Some more tree plantings.

Back in Queenstown we headed up to the Spion Kop Lookout. The chap at the Museum had said it was a ‘good’ walk – our calves will not like it. Stopped first at a replica of a mine entrance and some old machinery.

 Bit hard to see things as it was all in cages.

 The North Lyell was Crotty’s company.

He certainly wasn’t kidding about the walk but we made it to the top!!

He had also told us about the cannon up here and how they thought they would protect the town.

This poppet head or lifter stands proud of the town.

A directional cairn.

Better shot of Penghana (the home of many mine managers) from up here.

The Gravel Oval and surrounds.

Not sure if this is the working area or where the mine tours go through.

You can see the road climbing up the hill. Can’t see all the tight corners though.

 The big bus looks small against the hill.

Mt Sedgewick is 9.7 kilometres away.

Looking down over the township of Queenstown.

Lots of lumps and bumps over that side.

The train station and Empire Hotel.

Found a mulberry bush on the way done with some ripe fruit. Looked good and tasted good too. Some nasty spikes too. Most are sprayed by the councils as they are classed as pests.

The bumble bees down here are huge.

When I spoke to Valerie she mentioned they checked out the catholic school here as it is the same name of the one in Cairns the girls went to – St Josephs, so we went round to get a photo for her.

Some cute and interesting coloured houses here. Also saw one that was completely black and white with lots of magpies over it (footy supporter).  Drove past the ultimate Bogan house but wasn’t game to get out the camera as they were all looking at us!!

Boring stonework for the Baptist Church but I suppose with the sulphur etc back then everything would have looked yuk.

Steve wanted to investigate the water in Queen River so headed off following it. He reckons it was still being contaminated by the existing mine but it was still orange well before it reached the current mine area. Turned around as we were heading for Strahan and got a photo of the mine area.

Found the National Parks office beside the office area of the Mount Lyell Mine.

Poor old loco needs some work.

The frame work (what I have been calling a poppet head) is to haul up the little lift compartment.

Great day out. Back to the van for drinks in the members pavilion again. A chap has arrived with his two kids and a four wheeler and they are going round and round on the gravel. I wonder if the cricket club or council know about it after all the working in flattening it out!!

Rang Val Russell for her birthday.