"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Monday, May 01, 2006

The Valley Rattler.

Like a lot of other places Gympie has a tourist railway, this is known as
The Mary Valley Heritage Railway, so named because Gympie is located
in the Mary Valley which in turn gets its name from the Mary River.



This weekend has included
a holiday on Monday, so
friends Warren and Roz
came up from Brisbane to
visit.
We decided to go for a train
trip on the historic "Valley
Rattler"

The weather was most





co-operative, as the day
turned out to be very nice,
The Rattler is hauled by
the traditional Steam
Engine, which, like all the
carriages has had extensive
restoration work done on it.

"The Three Stooges" on "The Rattler"


The trip takes about two hours each way, with a break at the halfway mark
on both legs of the journey.


The train is staffed entirely by volunteers, all of whom obviously love what
they do, this makes the trip a pure pleasure, as everbody is enjoying the
experience so much.

On the outward trip there is a small craft market set up at a midway station,
then lunch at the small town of Imbil, on the return trip at another small
station there is a wine and cheese tasting of local products.

When we got to Imbil the engine was dis-connected and run up onto a
turntable where it was turned to face the homeward leg, hooked back up to
the waiting carriages, and of we went again.

I will post some more pictures in peters pictures for those who might be
interested.

We had a most enjoyable day out on the, very well named, Rattler, took lots
of photos and got the obligatory coating of soot from the steam engine.

11 comments:

Karen said...

That looks like a great train and I loved the "Three Stooges" line LOL

On my way to see more pics...

Have a great day!

Meow (aka Connie) said...

What a wonderful way to spend a day. Sounds (sort of) like our Puffing Billy, although perhaps your Rattler goes further ??? Thanks for sharing.
Take care, Meow

kenju said...

Peter, the train ride sounds delightful. I have just viewed ALL your photos - they are wonderful. I want to visit Australia even more now! I will probably never get there, but your photos help me to see it, if only a little. My dad always wanted to visit Australia, and it was the only place he every mentioned wanting to see. I hope he is able to see it now (from wherever he is).

JunieRose2005 said...

Peter,

Sounds like you had a fun day with friends!

Going now to see the rest of your pics.

Junie

Jacqui said...

Love these old trains that they keep running, you may remember how much fun it was for the kids on Puffing Billy.

Glad you are still enjoying my US story. It ends tonight, but I went on to England so there is one more episode.

Vickie said...

Sounds like a great trip and a fun time...The Three Stooges eh? I call Karen, Monica and myself the The Three Musketeers....lol

Jamie Dawn said...

What a cute picture! You look like you had fun.
The train sounds very neat and I could go for the wine, cheese and other local yummies.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I love train rides and have been on many...we used to travel by train as a child from California to Texas and down to central Mexico and back.
I would love to go on your Rattler, sounds like you had fun and the picture is great.

I visited your picture blog and I was very impressed, especially of you wading in the Jardine River that was infested with crocodiles.

Cliff said...

My wife loves trains (she thinks). She would be jealous. The group doesn't seem to have a head of steam up yet.

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ I thought I left a message last night, even said hi to Warren, but it is gone.
Our cousin, Jim Seletto used to drive the Puffing Billy train in the outskirts
of Melbourne.
Not sure I share your enthusiasm for
Steve Irwin. He sure knows how to get his face everywhere on TV etc.
What is Bio-jet ? Cheers, Merle.

Anonymous said...

Hum, "Three Stooges" huh!!
I like it altho' Peter (the big one in the middle) looks like Curley...but no that's my favourite so that's me (the thin one on the left. So Ros on the right is Moe, Peter is Larry (sorry about that Larry) and of cause I'm Warren (Curley).
Nuk!Nuk!Nuk!