The Gulflander operates as a tourist attraction and leaves Normanton railway station every Wednesday for the 5 hour trip to Croydon, 151 miles away (yep, it's the only place in Oz where the distance is still officially measured in miles and yep, that's 30mph.)
The train returns the next day from Croydon to Normanton.
In the 1880s, plans were made to construct a railway line from Cloncurry in the south to the port of Normanton. However the discovery of gold at Croydon, caused the plan to be changed at the last minute and the line was diverted to Croydon with the extension to Cloncurry to follow. This never eventuated and the Normanton to Croydon line remained isolated from the rest of the Queensland rail network.
@markp Dropped "miles" almost 50 years ago in Oz Mark. They are just used in this instance to reflect the archaic nature of both the train and the measurement.
They have tried several times over here, to convert to this new fangled metric rubbish, I think they have given up now. It got silly. You would go to the timber merchants, got any 6mm ply? yes.
Can I have 6 sheets of 8X 4 ?
So thats 6mm ply ( 1/4 inch) being sold as 8 feet( 2438mm)by 4 feet ( 1219mm)sheets.
Can I have 6 sheets of 8X 4 ?
So thats 6mm ply ( 1/4 inch) being sold as 8 feet( 2438mm)by 4 feet ( 1219mm)sheets.