Railway Digest Magazine December 2022 Back Issue

A most remarkable journey from Sydney to Perth
Bill Phippen had booked a return trip from Sydney to Perth in October/November 2020 as a treat to mark his 70th birthday. To secure the dates and gain the significant discount for advance purchase, the tickets were bought early in 2020. Thus, by the time that the journey took place he had been waiting nearly three years for the experience. However, while the Covid lockdowns may have been the main reason for the delay, it was the unexpected floods in NSW that turned his long-awaited trip into an adventure!

Nothing Beats Queensland
Well, so say Annastacia Palaszczuk and Stirling Hinchliffe.
Queensland is a vast state, with an interesting variety of rail operations over three different gauges, including one of the largest 1067mm gauge networks in the world. Here, we present some images taken during this past year around the ‘Sunshine State’.

A long weekend in Perth
A family visit to Perth was the reason for Phil Melling’s trip to and from Geraldton for four days from 28 to 31 October 2022. PHil prefers to travel on what he calls the “Inland” route from Geraldton, following the former Midland Railway of WA to the outskirts of Perth. The journey can on some occasions reward the traveller with several trains. Once in Perth, between family commitments, he hoped to see a few trains as well.

The Savannahlander
The Savannahlander is one of the great rail journeys in Australia, travelling from the tropical city of Cairns, on the far north Queensland coast, to Forsayth, in the heart of the Queensland Savannah. In September this year, Clancy Davies took the family for a ride on the Savannahlander and was suitably impressed by the experience.