Riding The Rails
Not everything that rides the rails is what we would traditionally call a train. Over the years many other kinds of vehicles have been modified to run on railway tracks.Riding the Nullarbor Rails
Adventurer and cameraman Geoff Mackley travelling by LIV (Light Inspection Vehicle) from Cook to Adelaide. An awesome way to see a vast desolate and beautiful land. He fitted out his 1956 mint condition International Harvest truck ito travel the outback. He says his knowledge of the roads saved his life. The final leg of his 6 month outback trek was the Port Augusta to Fremantle route. Australian National Rail gave him permission to ride their rails.
The only vehicles permitted to run on rails, outside of actual trains and service vehicles, are cars that work mostly as line inspectors. To be allowed to have one, you'd need some kind of permit, and have the appropriate training to operate one. When they were government owned, the railways did all their own track repairs and servicing, and had their own fleet of vehicles like this one.
Gisborne Rail Bike Adventures
You can ride one of New Zealand's disused railway tracks with Gisborne Rail Bike Adventures. They is a relaxed one-hour return journey that takes you out through rural plains, past vineyards and across the picturesque Waipaoa bridge. Suitable for all fitness levels, this is an attractive option for those with a limited schedule who want a taste of the unique ‘Gisborne Railbike’ experience.
The Kalamazoo
When it comes to riding the rails of America you have few choices: Amtrack, illegally grabbing a ride on a freight train hobo-style, or taking a short trip on an antique tourist railroad like the Coopersville and Marne Railway near Grand Haven. The means of transport there is a personal, motorized railcar named a Kalamazoo.
These individual railcars, or railpods, were built by Kalamazoo Railway Supply, or Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, hence their name. Their firest railcars were steam powered, but perhaps the most famous of their inventions, their railpods were their manual-powered railcars propelled by pumping a handle. Perhaps you remember these from cartoons and movies? There are no remnants of the old rail car company in the town that bears its name anymore. After 100 years in business, Kalamazoo Manufacturing ceased operations in the 1990s. Their manufacturing facility was demolished in the early 2000s.
The Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company sold many examples of their hand-powered railcar to Australian railways, some even being used for races. They were the ideal vehicle for track maintenance gangs, allowing them to cover the vast distances of rural and outback in next to no time. While depictions on TV and in movies might suggest that being a member of a handcar crew is a joyride, in fact pumping a traditional handcar was hard work. The disagreeable nature of this experience must have been heightened by the dead weight of the tools they had to carry. Many Kalamazoos have been preserved and can be seen in numerous Australian railway museums.
Railway Track Riders
The 3' 6" gauge railway line in Maydena, Tasmania, was once used for hauling timber and osmiridium ore, as well as a way point for the Dam builders uat Strathgordon. A portion of the disused rail track is now being used by a pedal powered 'Rail track riders' tourist attraction. The Railtrack Rider is the first, and to date only, tourism product of its type in Australia. It is a tour deep into the southern Tasmanian rainforest, travelling on lightweight, pedal-powered rail carts (Railtrack Riders) along an abandoned rail line. Location: 2 Mayne Street, Maydena.
The video above is a summary of a Railtrack Rider experience covering the approximate 4 kilometers back to Maydena station. The experience is highly recommended for locals and visitors to Tasmania, Australia. The video was taken 28 November 2020. Maydena is also very popular for its mountain bike tracks. Railtrack Riders is a Maydena community venture and bookings can be made via their website:
Rail Ambulance
The Rail Ambulance, a vehicle used for medical transportation services on railway lines, was developed and first used in Queensland in 1918, with the last withdrawn from service around 1990. The rail ambulance was usually a specially equipped petrol engined rail inspection trolley, funded by a local community, with a railway employee volunteering to drive it when necessary. These unique vehicles were operated by the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade.
The interior of the Gayndah rail ambulance
Being a vast, relatively unpopulated area, how to provide Queensland's remote communities with medical services in a cost-effective way has been a continual challenge. Australia's railways were built from 1865, and in many areas provided the major form of transport until a significant road improvement program was commenced from the 1950s. It was in this context that the mining community of Blair Athol introduced the first rail ambulance in 1918, in order to enable injured people to be transported to the nearest hospital at Clermont.
The idea rapidly spread, with rail ambulances being introduced at Dalby (1919), Mount Mulligan (1920), Roma and Charleville (1922), Goondiwindi and Baralaba (1923), Cloncurry (1925) and Blackall (1941). Other towns known to have had a rail ambulance at some stage include Charters Towers, Pentland, Atherton, Ravenshoe and Millaa Millaa. The last rail ambulances were withdrawn in 1990 from Mareeba and Blackall, as by that stage road ambulance services were available through the State.
One of the most notable rail ambulances was a 1926 Citroen (above), which is on display at Herberton, Queensland, in new quarters beside the original 1910 Herberton/Cairns railway line. Operational as an ambulance for over 50 years, the vehicle's engine still runs after all those years. From previously being a static display it is now able to be driven out of its shed onto the railway line using a turntable.
A citroen was probably chosen for conversion to a rail ambulance because a Citroen tourer had gained notoriety a year earlier for having become the first car to drive right around Australia. That Citroën was a 1923 5CV model, its owner and driver was Nevill Westwood, a 22-year-old Seventh Day Adventist missionary who bought the car secondhand in Perth. It had already travelled 48,000 kilometres. Nevill left Perth with Greg L Davies in the Citroën on 4 August 1925. Their adventures included passing the burnt wreckage of a car abandoned by adventurer Francis Birtles on an earlier trip to the Northern Territory.
Funeral Trains
Sydney's Rookwood Cemetery was created in the early 1860s as a replacement for Sydney s Sandhills Cemetery which was removed so that Central Station could be built. The branch line to Rookwood Cemetery opened as the Necropolis line on 22nd October 1864. Trains to the cemetery, which ran exclusively for funerals, operated between Sydney's Mortuary Station and Rookwood for over 80 years, transporting funeral mourners and visitors to the cemetery until the 1930s: eminent Australians John Fairfax, Sir Henry Parkes and Samuel Hordern all took their final journey from Mortuary Station.
Sydney's Prison Tram
Prison tram 948 is the most unusual exhibit at the Sydney Tramway Museum at Loftus, an outer suburb of Sydney. No. 948 carried prisoners between Sydney’s Darlinghurst Police Station, Darlinghurst Courthouse and Long Bay Gaol. The one-of-a-kind tram was built at the tramway workshops at Randwick and entered service on 4 September 1909.
It has a side corridor leading to six compartments, each with a capacity for six prisoners. The compartments have a sliding door, with windows on the corridor side only. Two of the compartments were typically set aside for women. Folding seats were provided for police and warders at each end.
Top Gear's Car Train
A car-based train consisting of a caravan pulled by a Jaguar car was one of two trains created by Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and Jame May on an episode of the motoring TV show, Top Gear. It was made from a Jaguar XJS and an unspecified make of caravan. Jeremy, Richard, and James originally planned to all use the same train but disagreements in carriage numbers left Jeremy with the XJS. Also, Jeremy wanted to make a sports train which was fast.
What Locomotive Is That?
