April 3 – Train trip to Melbourne

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April 3rd 2014

Published: April 3rd 2014

We took the train from Sydney to Melbourne today, and it took most of the day. We set the alarm for 5:30 and had another early-starting day. By 6:00 we were ready to take the luggage down to the lobby and catch a cab to the train station. Since we are still carrying clothing for 5 weeks of different weather, it was an exercise to get everything there, but we persevered and succeeded.

The taxi got us to the central station by 6:20 and we pulled the bags inside. There is a luggage check available if you get there done more than 30 minutes before the train left, which we achieved. So the luggage was checked all the way to Melbourne and we got a little breakfast in the train station. We then were able to board the train and find our seats for the day’s ride.

Certainly we could have slept later, gone to airport, flown an hour to Melbourne, and been checked into the hotel by early afternoon. But where’s the adventure in that approach? Instead we reserved ourselves seats on the day train and got to be able to see the countryside scroll past our window, instead of looking down from 25,000 feet. The seats seem a little wider than an airplane, there is a whole lot more leg room than an airplane, the price is comparable, but the experience was so much more unique for the purpose of our vacation. Below is more information about the ride, and then we will insert some additional observations at the bottom.

This is a link to the map of our train trip to Melbourne:

http://www.railaustralia.com.au/pdf/CountryLink_network.pdf

Here is the description of where we expect to encounter on the train:

The following description of the route is intended to in some small way act as a travel guide for passengers.

Sydney is a sprawling metropolis and it takes some time to journey through the suburbs. It is not until the Nepean River is crossed at Menangle, some 60kms out, that the country takes on a rural appearance. The Menangle bridge is the oldest railway bridge in Australia having been opened in 1863.

From Picton the train commences the long steep climb up the escarpment of the Southern Highlands. There are a few small villages but the country is substantially native forests. A wide variety of eucalypts can be viewed as the train winds its way around several large horseshoe curves in the course of the climb. Immediately after passing through Mittagong the train passes through the Mt Gibralter tunnel to enter Bowral. There will be a brief stop at Moss Vale., 145kms.

The journey continues through Bundanoon and on through Penrose & Wingello where fruit growing has always been popular. From Marulan the train moves out onto the Southern Highlands plateau and follows the Wollondilly River into Goulburn, 225kms.

Goulburn is approached by crossing a 14 arch brick viaduct over Mulwaree Ponds creek. There is an impressive war memorial on Rocky Hill on the eastern side of the train. Goulburn is the oldest inland town in Australia. It is the centre of a large and prosperous grazing industry producing fine Merino wool.

Departing from Goulburn the train follows Mulwaree Ponds for some distance before entering the Breadalbane Plain. The summit of the line is reached by crossing the Cullerin Range. The Cullerin Range is marked by long lines of wind generators. The summit is 2396ft above sea level and there is a small marker on the eastern side of the line. There may be a brief stop a Gunning. The train continues through mixed grazing country and native forests to Yass Junction.

Yass is the centre of some of the finest merino wool growing properties and a stud breeding industry. The town is several miles from the railway. From Yass the line turns to the west and quickly moves into the grain growing district of the south west slopes. From Binalong a popular crop is canola and the fields are particularly attractive when the crop is in bloom. There is a brief stop at Harden. Finally a long descent of Morrisons Hill into Cootamundra, 430kms.

Cootamundra is an important transport centre and an interchange centre for passengers. Another long descent of Bethungra Hill follows departure from Cootamundra. This descent is so steep that the northbound track takes a separate route to climb the hill by way of a spiral around the hill and crossing the southbound line several times. From Bethungra village there is a fast run through wheat fields into Junee, 486kms.

On the western side of the train, not far from Junee station is Monte Christo Homestead which dates back to the earliest years of settlement. There are rooms in the house which are haunted. Visitors of the most cynical and unbelieving disposition often change their minds after a visit to the house.

Most of the way to Wagga Wagga is through wheat growing country. At Bomen there are large commercial undertakings. From Bomen the train crosses the flood plain of the Murrumbidgee River. The flood plain is about 4kms across. The train crosses on a series of concrete viaducts and finally crosses the river on a steel truss bridge. Wagga Wagga is a large and important rural city. The army and air force have garrisons associated with the city and like Goulburn further north, it is a Cathedral city.

South of Wagga Wagga the train passes through several small towns. Many of them are conditional stopping places. Of particular interest at The Rock is a large rocky outcrop high on a hill south west of the town and which gives it its name. Some of the towns have substantial commercial buildings of significant architectural value. These date from earlier times when they were very busy centres, before the days of the internet and telephones. Of particular note are buildings in Culcairn, Henty and Gerogery.

Albury, 646kms, is a major city on the state border between New South Wales and Victoria. On the opposite side of the station platform a Victorian Railways passenger train can sometime be seen. There are long viaducts across the Murray River floodplain before and after crossing the main channel of the river. The Murray River is in New South Wales and the state border is on the southern bank. The train bypasses the twin city of Wodonga and proceeds across the north eastern plains of Victoria.

A stop will be made at Wangaratta, 713kms, probably the most important city in NE Victoria. It is the centre of a varied rural and industrial area including wineries and textiles. It is also an access point to the Victorian snowfields.

10 miles beyond Wangaratta the train will pass at speed through Glenrowan. It was in this valley below Mt Rowan at the Glenrowan Inn that the infamous Kelly gang made its last stand in 1880. See this link for the story.http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g25... The remnants of the Glenrowan Inn can be viewed on the western side of the train. The demise of the Kelly gang saw the end of the era of bushrangers in Australia and also brought to an end the era of "the Australian wild west". A more colourful era than the American wild west as depicted by Hollywood and American culture.

A stop at Benalla follows. Benalla is also a major rural centre for NE Victoria and is the centre of a prosperous rural district.

A fast run follows through mixed agricultural country and several towns. The largest and most important being Euroa. A brief stop may be made at Seymour (60 miles from Melbourne). From a point a few miles north of Seymour the train will begin to parallel the Victorian broad gauge line into Melbourne. Seymour is on the Goulburn River which flows north and joins the Murray.

Shortly after departing Seymour the train will make its final descent of the Great Dividing Range from Kilmore.

At 1145ft above sea level at Heathcote Junction this is the highest point of the line between Melbourne and Albury. The country is native eucalyptus forest and the valleys are relatively broad.

Once out onto the plain the sprawl of suburban Melbourne is unmistakeable from about Craigieburn on. The city skyline is visible on the eastern side of the train. A brief stop may occur at Broadmeadows. From here the train skirts the western suburbs of Melbourne. There are the spectacular crossings of the Marybrynong River on a 1260ft steel viaduct 180ft above the river bed, followed by an equally spectacular crossing of Moonee Ponds Creek.

The final run into Southern Cross Station (Spencer Street Station) is through industrial suburbs and several freight yards. While these may be of low interest they reflect the commercial prosperity of the city and the State of which it is the capital.

Arrival at Southern Cross Station will be at platform 1 and the station exit is past the front of the train.

One mistake we made was to not have printed a copy of the above description. We did not have an tour guide giving us the historical.scenic/geographic highlights to look for, so we had to just watch it on our own. But it was interesting.

During the ride, there was a buffet car (C) immediately ahead of our car (D). There was a breakfast available shortly after our train left the station. Since we had eaten already, we did not need anything else. They also served Devonshire Tea about 10:00 if we had wanted (Janet declined though). We did get some of the lunch that they offered and took it back to our seats. By the way, they have nice large drop-down trays and this was very convenience all day (like typing on the computer).

OK, 11 hours of “adventure” may be more than was necessary, but that was the only option. Anywhere in between we could have gotten off, but there is no other conveyance from there on to Melbourne except for the train. Along the way, people did get on and off at intermediate stops, and some others stayed the whole way with us.

Janet did find that the train car was a little cool. We had packed jackets for many of our early excursions, but all of those things were in the checked luggage and not available to us. But she had her knitting along and she used part of Abby’s poncho on her arms while she took an afternoon nap.

They did offer an evening meal, but it was the same as we had for lunch. We weren’t really hungry (and we have some snacks along anyway), so we skipped the train dinner. Lunch had been a hot meal of roast beef and vegetables, with a roll and drink. The beef was pretty bland (even Janet thought it needed some salt!), but it was pretty tender and we were able to cut it with a plastic knife and fork.

We arrived in Melbourne about 7:00 in the evening. The train had been about 15 minutes behind schedule most of the time, but we were not in any particular hurry so we didn’t mind. But it did take all day for this adventure.

We got a taxi and went to the hotel – Crown Promenade. It is pretty fancy and we will have to learn all our way around. We will give more detail in the next couple of days. For now, we are going to wrap up and get ready for tomorrow – the beginning of the final days of our vacation.

April 3 – Train trip to Melbourne

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