Monday 8 September 2014

Train Tripping Coastal Queensland


It was Stephen King who said this about writing; "I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever." So in explaining why my latest book is a non-fiction title rather than the fiction novels that I have become known for, I'll just say this; I did it for the joy of it.


After a decade of trying to pen that elusive bestselling novel, King's statement was more than timely words of wisdom. It was a reminder of why I started writing in the first place. I like to tell stories. So after closing my laptop halfway through writing a fifth novel and saying enough is enough when it came to juggling family life, work and a writing career, I went back to simply writing what I was really passionate about on my blog. Trains. I saw a noticeable spike in the number of hits to my webpage after shifting its' focus from mainly sharing writing advice and some news on my books, to reminiscing on long forgotten railway lines in Australia and New Zealand.

Wanting to give myself a lengthy break from the pressures of writing, editing and marketing another novel, I was already planning something I had been putting off since my teenage years. And that was to travel around Australia and New Zealand by train, just for the fun of it. Train Tripping Coastal Queensland is the result of this new found energy I have to write again purely for the joy of it. With the book now nominated for the 2015 Global eBook Awards and a Number 1 Bestselling Travel Guide on both Kobo and Smashwords, I'm sure many more train tripping adventures will follow. It's impossible to push aside the urge to write when you find yourself writing about something you feel so passionate for, and this project became so much more than just a story about travelling by train from one place to another. It is the stories behind the story of why train travel was even possible to begin with on these once remote lines in Australia and New Zealand.

So what do you get when you cross a sign writer who can't spell, a tribe of cannibals, two Prime Ministers and a Chinaman who gives a massage like no other? You get a 3,362 km self-guided railway adventure that is the perfect travelling companion to appreciating Queensland's coast from the window of a train. So welcome aboard the first book in my Train Tripping series, Train Tripping Coastal Queensland. Get your ticket, and let's make tracks!


 

Available now through my Books page

Friday 8 August 2014

Nambucca Heads: great looking railway station!


Nambucca Heads is one of those perfect Mid North Coast New South Wales getaways, located 565 kms from Sydney's Central Railway Station, and easily accessible by train courtesy of six daily XPT services. But it's railway station really has to be seen to be believed.


Opened in 1923, 8 years after the North Coast Line had already passed through town on its way north to the then terminus of South Grafton, the original railway station sadly burned down and was replaced with the station building you see today. Built in 1945, it was constructed in a style different to any previous railway stations that had been built for the New South Wales Government Railways. The distinct interwar style became known as 'stripped functionalist', and today the railway station building maintains its line-side position on the edge of town completely surrounded by the spectacular bush land of the Nambucca State Forrest.

A piece of the past in the present. Older style railway station signs such as this one still adorn the platform at Nambucca Heads Railway Station.

I first visited Nambucca Heads as a young child in the late 1970's. A two week family camping trip to a caravan park near the mouth of the Nambucca River was in those days a big deal. You loaded up the family station wagon with enough equipment to last throughout the school holidays, and made the 500 km drive north from Gosford in about ten and a half hours. Those were the days when the train stopped at every station, including those that are now sadly ghosts of the past, and still arrived in around the same time as navigating the winding two lane goat track of road they called the Pacific Highway. Fast forward to 2014, and the train leaving Central Station in the heart of Sydney gets you to Nambucca Heads Railway Station in a little over 8 hours, that's 7 hours time if you're comparing the trip from Gosford.

The NSW XPT in the classic Countrylink livery it wore throughout the 1990's and early 2000's. I shot this photo at Nambucca Heads Railway Station in 2007.

The 1945 Nambucca Heads Railway Station has changed little over the years apart from its fresh coat of paint. Although Nambucca Heads Railway Station today consists of only a passing loop on the single track North Coast Line, the general area of the railway station still maintains its charm thanks to its location in a pocket of the Nambucca State Forrest. Passengers on the train won't realise when they look out the window of their carriage, that the station also once boasted a water tower (removed in 1984), a five tonne gantry crane, de-ashing plant, fettler's cottage, tool shed and a station masters residence. Although the railway station was closed in 1989, it did re-open shortly after as a Countrylink stop for the XPT train service between Sydney and Brisbane. Today the town of 6,137 can still catch a train to Sydney, and the residents should be proud that they still have their railway station. For its a damn fine looking railway station at that!


Available now through my Books page

Friday 1 August 2014

Raleigh: great wine, no trains!


I'm going to share with you one of my wife's favourite railway adventures, and it involves no trains! Because after finding the former location of Raleigh Railway Station south of Sawtell on the New South Wales North Coast Line, that is exactly what I saw. No trains!


Raleigh Railway Station once stood 586 km from Sydney as the train rolls. Although it is located directly on the Sydney-Brisbane North Coast Line and sees a passing parade of interstate freight trains and six daily XPT services, passenger trains haven't stopped in this town of only 259 in a long, long time. Built in 1915 and demolished in 1990, you'll find no remaining trace of Raleigh Railway Station today. All that stands on the former platform side of the track is a drab concrete block signal relay box marked 586-490.

Raleigh Railway Station south of Coffs Harbour, NSW 2014, showing the signals for the passing loop and siding.

A passing loop and overhead signal bridge are signs of some regular train activity, and a siding does still remain in the former railway yard that was used as recently as 2006 to manufacture concrete for use on the Pacific Highway upgrade, but in 2014 Raleigh is nothing more than a passing loop for trains to cross on this single track stretch of mainline between Sydney and Brisbane. So what do you do when you've already used up your one photo opportunity on the only daylight XPT to slip through this slice of the New South Wales Mid-North Coast on a day of train watching, umm, I mean sightseeing? You take your wife to that little winery you found marked on the map that convinced her to come along for the day in the first place. The Raleigh Winery.

What happens when you bring girls along on a railway adventure, you stop at wineries such as this one. Raleigh Winery, NSW.

I suppose as far as railway adventures goes, this one did unearth another hidden gem. You drive right past Raleigh Winery when searching for the site of the former railway station, so its impossible to escape the attention of your wife if she's sitting in the passenger seat beside you. I was already prepared that waiting to photograph a train passing through Raleigh was out of the question, and why would you when you could be sitting beside the Bellinger River with a cheese platter while sipping a glass of rose` instead.

Chambourcin grape vines at Raleigh Winery, NSW.

After sampling a range of their famous brandy-creme`s and learning that their secret to growing grapes in such a moist and humid environment was by planting Chambourcin grapes at the vineyard along the banks of the Bellinger River, we settle back on their spacious timber deck with a cheese platter, a bottle of rose` and some warm winter sunshine for the next hour or two. Except for me, I'm once more the designated driver as it was my railway adventure. So with one ear on the conversation, and one ear listening out for a horn blast from the railway line only 800 metres or so away, I had to admit I didn't hear a single train pass through for the entire time we were there. Giving the girls their wine time seemed like a good call after-all. Oh well, I may not have seen any trains, but I guess I'll have a bottle of their Chambourcin Rose` to take back home with me to Queensland. It will be perfect the next time I have a barbeque, and a reminder of my railway adventure to Raleigh.