West Coast Wilderness Railway

After another early start, we headed to Regatta Point in Strahan for our day trip in the West Coast Wilderness Railway. We opted for the full day adventure (Queenstown Explorer) in the
Wilderness carriage.  This would take us from Strahan to Queenstown return via many stops on the way, including morning, afternoon tea and lunch.

We started the day by watching our little engine, Mount Lyle No.3 being turned on the turntable by just man (and woman) power. This little engine comes in at around 23 tons.

Next was time to board as the engine was coupled and we were given a lovely glass of sparkling, and it was still before 9am.

The carriage

There was no doubt about it the trains and tracks were not as smooth as todays trains. But the ride was great.

Filling with water stop.

Another stop for water.

After many twists, turns, bridges, sheer drops and stops for water we arrived in Queenstown and had our lunch and a brief tour.

The return trip was via the same track and once again it was impressive to be going through such a lovely place.  At one of the stops for water, we were able to walk over the Queen River and see some of the discolouration caused by over a century of mining in Queenstown,  This type of mining has now changed and the river is no longer being polluted, but it will take many years to return to normal.