Route for Indian Pacific/Ghan

[Mitchey]

Does anyone know of a well-detailed lengthy Australian Route (preferably end to end with about an hours driving time) where I could run the Indian Pacific or the Ghan?

Thanks
Mitch
________
Strawberry cough

 

[builder300544]

Route for Indian Pacific/Ghan
Does anyone know of a well-detailed lengthy Australian Route (preferably end to end with about an hours driving time) where I could run the Indian Pacific or the Ghan?

Wow! Australia must have shrunk a lot since I last visited.

Regards Joihn

 

[NSWGR_46Class]

Southlines four or even Weddin by footplatephil will do, yes the IP has even made it to the back woods of Cowra when it was an inportant cross country link line showing my age.

It was 1965 Chrismas eve - due to problems on the main south the IP worked to Sydney via Cowra - with twin 45 class, no less, in the lead. A Junee, Coota or Harden crew had to drive with a Cowra driver or inspecter for a guide as no Cowra crew were ever qualified for the 45, A Bathurst crew had to be also used if the mixed frieight from Bathurst to Cowra ever got a 44 class as lead engine.

 

[Red_Rattler]

Almost any Australian route will do, as the Indian Pacific/The Ghan have travelled from Brisbane to Perth via Melbourne & Adelaide (or Port Pirie if before standard gauge to Adelaide.

Rivet Counter Warning for next part: :hehe:
Gee, I've even used it on some Queensland routes - and I don't mean the Sydney - Brisbane route/s either!

EDIT: Make that almost any world route!

EDIT-2 ⅔:

Wow! Australia must have shrunk a lot since I last visited.

Yep we got rid of that "strange" state of Queensland!

 

[Electro]

hi I started to do a Nullarbor map from PortAugusta to Kalgoorlie when i first started with 1.3 but never got it finshed.
I did try useing Dem to get it right but its way over my head so i gave up on it, then a HD crash saw a lot of items i had made and the map lost mabye i will start it again

 

[VinnyBarb]

Does anyone know of a well-detailed lengthy Australian Route (preferably end to end with about an hours driving time) where I could run the Indian Pacific or the Ghan?

Thanks
Mitch

End to end? With just an hours driving time? That would be a track length of about 3000 km for the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin and even longer, some 4352 kilometres for the Indian Pacific going east to west in about 3 days travelling time. Now how many base boards would that be if a baseboard is less than a square km (I think about 750m square each). Work it out for yourself

I know the AN Class locomotives, when they where used on these routes could do 150 km top speed (providing the track would stand up to that speed, reallisticly to only around 110 km or so top speed limited). This would make it without stopping 20 hours plus just for the Ghan to go end to end on full throttle for one journey.

Mind you, the texturing of the whole route would be a bit simpler as the scenery does not change very much once outside the populated areas, except getting greener as one travels towards Darwin on the Ghan during Darwin's wet season.

One will also have the longest stretch of straight railway track in the world across the Nullarbor on the Indian Pacific, some 478 km (yes, fourhundred seventy eight km) totally straight railway tracks.

This information is just in case one does not know what it entails to build a route like this. :wave:

Cheers

VinnyBarb

 

[Mitchey]

End to end? With just an hours driving time? That would be a track length of about 3000 km for the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin and even longer, some 4352 kilometres for the Indian Pacific going east to west in about 3 days travelling time. Now how many base boards would that be if a baseboard is less than a square km (I think about 750m square each). Work it out for yourself

I know the AN Class locomotives, when they where used on these routes could do 150 km top speed (providing the track would stand up to that speed, reallisticly to only around 110 km or so top speed limited). This would make it without stopping 20 hours plus just for the Ghan to go end to end on full throttle for one journey.

Mind you, the texturing of the whole route would be a bit simpler as the scenery does not change very much once outside the populated areas, except getting greener as one travels towards Darwin on the Ghan during Darwin's wet season.

One will also have the longest stretch of straight railway track in the world across the Nullarbor on the Indian Pacific, some 478 km (yes, fourhundred seventy eight km) totally straight railway tracks.

This information is just in case one does not know what it entails to build a route like this. :wave:

Cheers

VinnyBarb

VinnyBarb,

I know about the lenght of Australia's two transcontinental Rail Lines, I know about the Nullabor Plain, but what I am looking for is a typical end to end Australian route (perhaps just a section of a 4000km line!!)

Heh heh

Well, I am looking for maybe a NSW mainline route, or a South Australian Mainline route.

Thanks everyone for your help so far.
Mitch

P.S It has been my dream to ride on the Indian Pacific for many years.
I entered a Great Outdoors Indian Pacific Competion 11 times!!!
________
California Medical Marijuana Dispensary

 

[VinnyBarb]

Did you? Travel on the Indian Pacific?

I was lucky to travel 3 times in the 1970s on the old Ghan with its 2 different track guages, where we had to change trains in Odnadatta to go from one guage to the other. In those days the Ghan only went as far as to Alice Springs, where I used to live for 10 years or so.

I was also lucky to travel several times on the old Trans Australia Railway, which of course is now the Indian Pacific. Ah the memories :udrool:

Cheers

VinnyBarb

 

[Red_Rattler]

I was also lucky to travel several times on the old Trans Australia Railway, which of course is now the Indian Pacific. Ah the memories :udrool:

Since you are referencing the Trans Australia Railway as a train (not the railway itself), are you sure you don't mean the loco and carriages that were used to form The Trans-Australian train, which just ran an identical timetable between Port Augusta (or was it Port Pirie) & Kalgoorlie?

VinnyBarb, I wonder if anyone from outside Australia knows about "that" joke about the old Ghan??! :hehe:

 

[Mitchey]

Did you? Travel on the Indian Pacific?

I was lucky to travel 3 times in the 1970s on the old Ghan with its 2 different track guages, where we had to change trains in Odnadatta to go from one guage to the other. In those days the Ghan only went as far as to Alice Springs, where I used to live for 10 years or so.

I was also lucky to travel several times on the old Trans Australia Railway, which of course is now the Indian Pacific. Ah the memories :udrool:

Cheers

VinnyBarb

VinnyBarb,
I never travelled on the Indian Pacific, I just became obsessive compulsive in entering an Indain Pacific (Chairman's Carraige) Competition that the Great Outdoors Television program was holding. Unfortunately I didn't win... Just like the Ghan competition and the Sunlander competition.
________
Marijuana vaporizer

 

[Tokkyu40]

Adelaide to Darwin is exactly as long as you want to make it. Through the miracle of selective compression (we are Modellers after all) we model the fun areas and make the boring bits only as long as we want to.
The entire route could be only 300-500 baseboars long, plus a margin on each side for scenery. Let's say about 1200 baseboards total.
You guys should be able to whip that out in a day or two. I'll wait over here where I won't get in your way.

Claude

 

[lraudonikis]

xxxxxxxxxx

 

[themnax]

ust out of curiosity, is there equipment for the narrow gauge portion of the ghan route. post steam but pre regauging, somewhere arround 60s/70s, whenever it was before the line was regauged to avoid the train chainging?

i mean that's the actual gauge for it, in the dls or elsewhere?

=^^=
.../\...

 

[Johnk]

Most of the 3'6" post steam Ghan rolling stock was from the old standard gauge Trans Continental. (Especially towards the end of the 3'6" service in the early 80's.) The carriages were far too long and wide for the poorly laid 3'6" track, reducing train speeds to an average of 13 miles per hour. I think I was on one of the very few Ghan's that actually arrived on time.

Many years ago a member called 3821 (or thereabouts) designed a mining route in northern Western Australia. It was about an hour's running time if I recall and rather well done to boot. Not much scenery though - just a long straight track. I think it may have been called Pilbra (or similar). It should suit your needs perfectly - if you can find it.

 

[psycho_aussie]

Originally posted by Red_Rattler
Almost any Australian route will do, as the Indian Pacific/The Ghan have travelled from Brisbane to Perth via Melbourne & Adelaide (or Port Pirie if before standard gauge to Adelaide.

Red, I don't remember The Ghan ever coming to Brisbane, though anything that happened before 1976 is before my time...

John, I think you were thinking of 3801 (Bruce Kennewell), and the layout is called Robe River Iron. It is built-in to TRS04, TRS06 and if memory serves me correctly, UTC and possibly Trainz SP3 (SP3 for the original Trainz, not TRS04 SP3). It is based on the Robe River line in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Mitch, there's no reason why the Ghan or the Indian Pacific couldn't be run on maps like Wadalbavale or Razorback. Razorback may not be end-to-end, but you can do about an hours worth of driving over it. Heck, even QR stuff has run over Razorback.

Chris

 

[railway_simulation]

never been on it but planing on doing it soon and the to darwin ghan fly to cairns to train back down on the way ill be taken shots of the trains and get some things like photos and pictures from shops and buy other information that can help me in trainz

 

[Johnk]

I just completed the eastern corridor - Melbourne/Sydney, Sysney/Brisbane, Brisbane/Cairns for the fourth time and promised myself I'd never do it again. The Tilt Train driver cam was only on for less than 8 of the 24 hours the trip takes. Most of the trip from Melbourne to Cairns is done in darkness unless you want to stay in Sydney and Brisbane overnight. I think the Sunlander is better the the Tilt Train should be more enjoyable than it is.