by James Waite The 3ft 6ins (1067mm) gauge Mount Lyell Abt Railway opened in 1898 to provide transport from the copper mines rapidly being developed at Mount Lyell, near Queenstown in western Tasmania.  The use of an Abt rack section provided the only feasible means for the railway to reach Strahan, a port on McQuarie […]

Better than expected: two to three pairs of trains every day, good weather and hard contrasts between iPhone and rusty passenger coaches. They plan to re-open the closed branch line. So far a permit is still compulsory, but I think it will be a free area in a couple of months. The police came once to […]

… and we are there (as expected). C2 218 with a westbound coaltrain (19 March 2013). C2 218 with an eastbound empty train (19 March 2013). Greetings from China, Olaf

From Hans Schaefer, 15.3.2013 They have two engines: Ol49-59 and 69. Pt 47-65 is in Chabowka for major boiler repair. It will be back this autumn. Both Ol49 used to be reliable, but 59 went to Lesno on Monday for repairs an inspector required to be done. Ol49-69 got a leak out of the right […]

Rongshan is back to life. The passenger timetable (see http://www.farrail.com/pages/touren-engl/china-2013-03-Rongshan-prison-railway.php, you need to scroll down) is slightly changed … and at the moment it’s sunny there! The diesels are still in the depot, they’re running with steam. Rongshan ist wieder zurück im aktiven Leben. Der Personenzugfahrplan hat sich leicht geändert … und derzeit scheint die […]