#AUSTRALIA #SAVANNAHLANDER
Our group enjoyed a tasty lunch at the Einasleigh Pub and the more energetic strolled down to the Copperfield River Gorge to look for wildlife and take a few photographs. We returned to our train where the drivers said they were happy to do a photo run past across the the Copperfield River bridge for those wishing to take photos of our train on the bridge, an opportunity too good to miss. After the run past the photographers boarded the train for the run to Mount Surprise, passing through pleasant outback scenery, crossing the occasional dried up river bed and witnessing the behaviour of suicidal kangaroos. Our driver gave a talk on the history of Australian Rail-motors and DMU's finishing with the last units built at Queensland Rail's own Ipswich workshops. The 2000 Class unit we were travelling in was one of those last units. The camera picked up some interesting snippets of conversation between the driver and passengers recalling amongst other things, past rail experiences and fond memories of their favourite cars whilst the rest of the passengers enjoyed a moments peace and quiet.

During the last minutes of this video we visit "Discovery Resorts – Undara" and join a fascinating "Undara Lava Tube Tour"

A second version of this video without commentary will be available in the next day or two.

Here is a little information about the train, mostly courtesy of Wikipedia -

The service was introduced on 3 April 1995 by Queensland Rail to replace the Forsayth Mixed (marketed as the 'Last Great Train Ride'). The line was closed from Mareeba to Mount Surprise at the same time. It was initially run with a 2000 class railmotor set that was refurbished at Townsville Workshops. Initially this service only ran on the Mount Surprise to Forsayth section of the Etheridge line. However, after an upgrade of the line for sugar syrup trains from Cairns to Arriga, and a limited restoration of the rest of the line, the railmotor started travelling from Cairns to Forsayth in September 1998. In 2004 it was decided to put the running of the train out to tender and the winning bid was submitted by “Cairns Kuranda Steam Pty Ltd”. Please listen to the commentary to hear more about “Cairns Kuranda Steam” and how it came to be running the Savannahlander.

To learn more about the “Savannahlander” or to book your own outback adventure, please click on this link - https://savannahlander.com.au/

Savannahlander Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/Savannahland...

Map at 00:30 - Google Earth
Map at 00:36 - Google Maps

Music - Track - Composer – Source
00:00 - ES_Outback Hunter - Jon Bjork – epidemicsound.com
01:39:44 - ES_Earth Awakens - Jon Bjork - epidemicsound.com

This trip was filmed -19.10.2023
Track Gauge - 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)

If you want to watch any of the earlier parts featuring this amazing journey please use the links listed below -

Driver's Eye View (Australia) - Savannahlander - Part 1 - Mount Surprise to Einasleigh -    • Driver's Eye View (Australia) - Savan...  

Driver's Eye View Plus - Savannahlander - Part 2 - with commentary - Forsayth to Cafe Bloodwood -    • Driver's Eye View Plus - Savannahland...  

Driver's Eye View Plus - Savannahlander - Part 3 - with commentary - Cafe Bloodwood to Einasleigh -    • Driver's Eye View Plus - Savannahland...