Just completed 3,000km train trip

[Johnk]

I've just arrived back in Cairns Australia after having travelled from Melbourne by train. The trip involved three trains:

Melbourne - Sydney Standard Gauge CountryLink XPT travelling overnight (8pm to 7am)
Sydney - Brisbane Standard Gauge CountryLink XPT also travelling overnight (4.30 pm to 7am) - See photo above.

Brisbane - Cairns 3'6" Narrow Gauge Sunlander TravelTrain Service (Left Brisbane 9am and arrived at Cairns 4.30pm the following day.)

The Sunlander was an interesting setup with some new cars I hadn't seen before. There were two locomotives, baggage car, seven sleeping cars, a buffet car, club car, three sitting cars, a generator car, two covered car carriers similar to those used on the Channel Tunnel trains (side loading) and an addition baggage car at the end. The car carriers are a new innovation to protect the cars from rocks being thrown by kids.

The train is normally 16 cars long with five sitting cars instead of three and only one baggage car and car carrier. I'm not sure if the new configuration will continue or if it was only temporary.

For people modelling the Sunlander, or any of the QR TravelTrains for that matter, keep in mind that these trains always travel in the same direction. Unlike the XPT where the seats can be turned into the direction of travel, the Sunlander's seats are fixed. The train must therefore traverse a Wye at each terminus to ensure that the seats are facing the correct way.

The service on all trains was excellent, but the serverce

 

[Euphod]

The service on all trains was excellent, but the serverce

Are you okay? What happened? How was the service?

 

[American_Connections]

Both directions at once

Thats funny, here in Romania they have seats facing both directions, I guess cause they don't know which direction they are going! One question though, why the generator car? Doesn't the locomotives supply power?

 

[Johnk]

Why a generator car?

The 16 car Sunlander is often hauled by a single locomotive. I guess the power available under those circumstances is insufficient. The train is also power hungry. There are usually two dining cars (first and economy), 240 volt power to every sleeping cabin, hot water for showers and toilets in every car, lighting and air-conditioning that never stops in the tropics. That must add up to a lot of power. It's not the only train in Australia to have its own generator car.

The seating arrangement is odd, but it does stop people putting their feet on the seats in front. A filthy and all too common habit here in Australia. By turning the train in a wye, at least the baggage car is always at the front, the car numbering always runs from front to rear and the car carriers are also at the rear.

 

[Tiger313]

By the sound of it, the Sunlander isn't an hourly service either, like most European trains are. To be honest, I didn't realize that there were narrow gauge tracks running that kind of distance.

 

[scottling]

Guess what, there's more! You've got the Sunlander (Brisbane-Cairns), the QR Tilt Train (Brisbane-Rockhampton and/or Cairns) and the Spirit of the Outback (Brisbane-Rockhampton-Longreach) all run about twice weekly, except Tilt Train, which is daily or twice daily. The Spirit of the Outback I went on departed Brizzy at 6pm and arrived at Barcaldine at 4-ish pm next day, so basically twenty-four hours to Longreach.

And about the Sunlander, on a return trip from Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, we were coming home via Montville and Melany through Landsborough at 1:54 pm (was due at Caboolture at 2:00, about 20km away, maybe more) and took snaps at the level crossing . What happened next was awesome. The plan of action was to race the Queensland Rail Sunlander to the next station, Beerwah, get to the crossing there ahead of the train, in time to take snaps roughly three metres from the train! And so, we got there, the Sunlander was blocked by an EMU! This gave us precious extra seconds, we screamed into Beerwah, sprinted to the crossing gates, and the camera broke:'( I was desparate for it to work but it was switched on when it said switched off. Four words; tough rotten hard luck.