Darwin-Adelaide

[Volker]

Now as we´ve got some (one or more?) fans from Australia here, I´ve got another question:

I have heard of a new railwaytrack in Australia. From Darwin to Adelaide. In the Internet I´ve found some Informations at http://www.freightlink.com. But I haven´t found anything about the trains driving on this track.

I sounds interessting to me, to travel through the whole continent by train with some stops between. I think this could become a nice kind of holidays, couldn´t it?

What I want to know: Will it become possible to travel on this track with passenger trains? Or is this only for freighttrains (is this the right word for "Güterzüge"?).

And it also sounds very interessting, that the trains will becom a length of about more than one kilometer up to 2 kilometers. What kind of locomotives will pull these trains?

Are there some more sides in the Internet with further information?

Best wishes from the f...ing cold and windy south of Germany

Volker

[PeterR]

Take a look at the usenet forum de.etc.bahn.misc. There is a thread "Erster Zug quer durch Australien - von Süden nach Norden". I hope you will get the information you want. I haven't read it.

[Frank Wenzel]

@Volker: Look at http://www.lok-report.de and you will find a good news site with a small oversea area: http://www.lok-report.de/news/news_uebersee.html

The first entry is about that new railway link and yes, they will have an (expensive?) passenger train, too. Already about 11.000 tickets were ordered at the "Great Southern Railway".

[Bruce Kennewell]

What I want to know: Will it become possible to travel on this track with passenger trains?

A train called "The Ghan" travels this route, 2 days from Adelaide to Darwin.
Here is the web site.............
http://www.gsr.com.au/ghan/

What kind of locomotives will pull these trains?

The freight trains will be hauled by these...
http://locopage.railpage.org.au/private/apt_fq.html

which are copies of these.....
http://locopage.railpage.org.au/westrail/q.html

This is now the longest north-south transcontinental rail link in the world.
We already have an east-west link, Perth to Sydney, which has the longest straight stretch of railway line...400+ kilometres.

Bruce.

[Volker]

Thanks to all who gave informations about that interesting track. I´ve checked de.etc.bahn.misc and it is very interesting. Alltough I do not really need some informations about the problems of the ozone or if it is better to use electric energy instead of diesel But there are also some usefull links.
Thanks to Bruce and Frank for the other links. I´m going to check them this afternoon.

And maybe, some day, I will travel with "The Gan" from north to west (if I can afford it *lol*)

*btw* The description of the track says, that most of the track goes through the outback. I imagine only dry and hot deserts when I hear this. Is that right? Or what kind of nature can I see, travelling on this route?

Thanks in advance and greetings,

Volker

[Vern]

Should be an easy route to model - in any sim! Mile upon mile of endless desert!

[Bruce Kennewell]

And maybe, some day, I will travel with "The Gan" from north to west

I think you mean "from north to south", because Darwin is in the north and Adelaide in the south.

The east-west route, which I have travelled (1974), is between Sydney (east) and Perth (west) and the train which does this run is called the "Indian Pacific".

This is a fabulous trip and for any train-travel fan who visits Australia I would recommend doing this trip before doing the Ghan, as it sees a far greater diversity of landscape and environment, from the east-coast temperate area, across the Great Dividing Range and on to the Western Plains of New South Wales, down through the wheat area of South Australia and then across the Nullabor Plain and on to Perth.

The description of the track says, that most of the track goes through the outback. I imagine only dry and hot deserts when I hear this.

That is pretty much exactly what the line traverses BUT....don't automatically associate "outback" with "Sahara"!

Depending upon the time of year, the "outback" can range from hot, dry and arid to warm, wet and green.
There is a distinct change of topography and environment between Adelaide (southern terminal) and Alice Springs (centre of the trip) and then Alice and Darwin (northern terminal).

This is one trip which my wife and I have promised ourselves for the future, having already done the east-west trip; although we'd like to do that again too!

Some links which may be of interest.........

http://www.johndarm.clara.net/ip.htm
http://perthtrains.nachohat.org/date/2002-11-03/

http://www.gsr.com.au/indian/
http://www.railaustralia.com.au/indian_pacific.htm
http://www.discoverwest.com.au/prindpac.html
http://www.oztravel.com.au/travel_mall/ ... AUSNSW.htm

http://www.alicesprings.nt.gov.au/
http://www.alicesprings.net.au/
http://www.alice.au.com/alicecam/

http://www.ourdarwin.com/

Come on down!

Bruce.

[Bruce Kennewell]

Should be an easy route to model - in any sim! Mile upon mile of endless desert!

Not forgetting "flat"!

Certainly easier to model than the Rockies, for instance!

Bruce.

[Volker]

Good morning everybody

I think you mean "from north to south", because Darwin is in the north and Adelaide in the south.

Of course I did This was maybe becourse I want both to do - from north to south and east to west *lol*

Thank you very much Bruce, for giving those detailed and interesting informations.
I am really going to plan a holiday in Australia and then I will certainly travel with one or both of these trains.
But I think such a trip to the other side of the world is rather expensive. And I am just an ordinary officer with only an average income . So it may last any time until I can realise this....
So far I watch Malcom Mc Douglas on TV *rotfl*
or someone follows the practical idea of Vern and builds this track for Zusi *lol*

with best wishes to "down under",

Volker

[JoH]

@Bruce

The new railway down under features on the cover of the April issue of the German railway magazine "em", see here http://www.macinform.com/em_images/heft/em200404.jpg

Jo

[Bruce Kennewell]

The new railway down under features on the cover of the April issue of the German railway magazine "em",

That's a nice photograph, Jo.

(Interesting to see that "Down Under" in German is exactly the same as in English! )

Regards,
Bruce.

[Christoph Blümer]

(Interesting to see that "Down Under" in German is exactly the same as in English! )

"Down Under" is often used as a foreign-language synonym for Australia. But it's not a german word...

Christoph