Pichi Richi Railway

[mepham]

Drove the family and some friends up to Quorn this weekend to ride the Pichi Richi Railway. With 3 kids 5 years old or under we decided to take the short steam run to Woolshed Flat which is approximately 3 hours return.
We sat in the old SAR no74 carriage originally built in the 1880s. An exWestern Australian W class 4-8-2 built in 1951 provided the locomotion.
Whilst passing through Pt Augusta (we live in Pt Lincoln) we saw the latest extension of the PRR into the Pt Augusta station. Tracks are nearly all laid with ballasting to start soon.
Heard a rumour that BlueBird Rail are looking at renovating a couple of Bud rail cars to complete the tourist journey through to Adelaide. By my rough calculations Adelaide to Quorn return would make it an approximatley 700km, 2 day round trip. Not bad for a tourist train??

[Gats]

Thanks Andrew for the post. Glad to hear the PRR is still up and running and they are expanding.
The BlueBird Rail Adelaide return trip sounds fascinating. Would make a great shopping expedition to Adelaide for the locals, no doubt. Certainly would beat driving.
Where are the Budd cars coming from?

Gary.

[mepham]

There are 2 ex Commonwealth Railways Budd cars residing in South Australia that I know of. One is preserved at the Port Dock Museum in Adelaide and possibly not available. The second is stored in the Pt Pirie Rail yards with extensive damage to one drive end which was invloved in a fatal crossing accident. I see this unit regularly and believe that it is recoverable and may already belong to the Bluebird company. Rumour has it that they have also travelled to America and looked at ex-SanteFe units for parts.

Since posting the original message the local TV news has had an article on the use of a W class and a preserved ballast consist working the new line into Pt Augusta.

I have also been to Wallaroo and noticed that the Yorke Peninsula Preservation railway is now working up to Bute and have a Redhen sitting in their yard awaiting restoration. As a kid I used to hate catching these in the summer compared with the airconditioned buses. Now I can not wait to catch a ride on one.