I must take a break from our tour of Western Australia for a few posts and return to our adventures in Brisbane. Bill booked for us and our friend Colin to take a steam train ride.
On Sundays a steam train takes a short mystery trip from Roma Street Station. You don't know where it is going until you arrive at the station. The platform was full of families with young children and then there was us three wrinklies.
I am always thankful for volunteers like these and the ones below who make it possible for people to experience real live history.
We were in a carriage made in 1903 and our volunteer guard was a little bit grumpy, but he kept us amused with his rules and regulations.
It used to be swamp land but is now an industrial area.
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| A ship in the port. |
Pinkenba is isolated from other suburbs, as it is surrounded by the airport, the river port and industrial estates. It is sparsely populated. The railway station has closed but our train could do a loop and return to Brisbane.
I was disappointed at first as I thought there is no nice scenery to photograph but then I realised that industrial shots would be something different for me to do. These were all taken from the moving Puffing Billy.
There was one small patch of the original, mangrove trees along a swampy creek.
The old men (Colin and Bill) became young boys again on this day.
I enjoy taking a train ride and steam engines are the best of those I have taken. I went to San Francisco when it was pulled by a very large steam engine whose name I have forgotten. It took two of them to get us across the mountains.
ReplyDeletei love trains, all trains, and especailly these. i can feel the rocking motion now and hear the clickety click of the wheels.
ReplyDeleteLol ! Grandpa times !
ReplyDeleteGreat Photos! I love trains :-)
ReplyDeleteTake care and have a nice day :-)
And thanks for your recent comment on My Blog :-)
I forgot it's summertime for you till I saw the last shot....the guys in their with their bare legs and short sleeves, being boys again on the train.
ReplyDeleteBrisbane's industrial area looks a lot like Long Beach's...well, I guess that's true of any place these days that has a large industrial purpose.
I love trains, especially old trains. There's one in Alberta that comes complete with masked cowboys on horses "robbing" the train. Unfortunately, I wasn't well the day we rode it so I didn't enjoy it as much as I might have.
ReplyDeleteI love the grins on the faces of the two men "being boys" again. Great photo, Dianne.
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel
Trains are beautiful! Neat pics...yes they are boy's again:)
ReplyDeleteOMG - colour co-ordination!!!! Me: Score - Zero!
ReplyDeleteLesson - I will take more care in future!
I think the bemused looks from the "two OLD blokes" was at our carriage guard who probably was informing us of Rule 791, section 10, sub-paragraph A3!!!!!
Still it was a fun trip even allowing for the dramas of getting to Roma Street prior to starting off!!!
Great shots of the industrial and swamp areas.
Cheers
Colin (HB)
Nice train...
ReplyDeleteAnd yes...they become young boys...look those smiles...heheheheh
Nice to come here.
Hi Diane, Colin had written about the train ride...Sounds like you all had a great trip... I love the old trains like that.....
ReplyDeleteWho are those two young men enjoying that train ride????? ha
Hugs,
Betsy
What a great old train!! The mystery destination sounds fun, even if this would not have been your choice of where to go. It is interesting to see things with new eyes. Your photo of all the big sewage pipes is actually really cool.
ReplyDeleteThere's beauty in everything - if you know how to look! And what is it about steam trains that makes the journey so much more appealing??
ReplyDeleteYou just have to love Colin's fashion statement;))))))
ReplyDeleteColin and Bill do look as if they enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed your industrial pictures. I also think I would enjoy a ride on that steam train.
ReplyDeleteSomething different, Diane.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful train. Looks like quite an adventure.
ReplyDeleteSydney - City and Suburbs
It looks like everyone had a great time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the men and women that volounteer for us to go back in time.
It may not have been an especially scenic ride but just getting to be on an old train like that would have been been an adventure to me. I love old trains like that one.
ReplyDeleteThat is a nice ride in an old train. I always love it, did it once in Austria, sitting on the wooden seats which are so small.
ReplyDeleteYes I can image the disappointment discovering that was your destination, but there is always something to make of a train ride ... I enjoyed it with you.
ReplyDeleteAh so it was LAST Sunday, NOT today. From Bill's post I thought it to be today. Yes, Colin, check the mirror next time!!
ReplyDeleteRe the industrial estate. That is the sort of thing I SEARCH for to take shots of unusual shapes and lines and shadows. You needed to be aout poking around with a stick.
That is a decent 'blood pool' on Bill's arm there.
Ha ha - Julie, you have a great sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the mirror could really stand the fright??? ha ha.
You should have been on the train, you would have ended up with a sore finger from clicking - that's outside shots and the inside shots of "our antique carriage custodian".
Colin (HB)
After just recently riding a steam engine for the first time I'd had loved the ride. Not sure I'd have enjoyed the scenery either but maybe without pretty scenery I would enjoyed the leisurely ride more not being so obsessed with my camera. :)
ReplyDeleteSmiling at Colin's own reference to color coordination. :)
I'd also have felt cheated not having a scenic trip! At least you had the good grace to make the best of it. I feel certain I'd have had a dose of the mutters, or worse, a sulk! I'm not going to pretend I liked the pictures of the huge, ugly tanks...the men-boys' faces made this trip worth it for me ;) THANK YOU BILL & COLIN!
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