Railway Digest Magazine February 2018 Back Issue

North West Frontier – Revisited
Some readers may recall Alan Graham’s account of his 2014 Pilbara trip, published in the April 2015 edition of Railway Digest. In his closing remarks Alan hinted that another visit might be possible if the right circumstances permitted. By mid-2016, after renewed contact with my long-time good friend Greg who continued to be employed by the Fortescue Metals Group as a locomotive driver,
thoughts of returning to the Pilbara became more compelling. In this month’s RD we present Part One of Alan’s account of the marvellous adventure that resulted.

Gold Coast light rail stage two opens early
In contrast to the late and controversial delivery of two other south-east Queensland rail projects, the Redcliffe railway and New Generation Rollingstock EMUs, stage two of the Gold Coast light rail (known as the G:Link or simply the ‘G:’) opened ahead of schedule on Sunday, 17 December 2017. The opening celebrations commenced with the 5.29 am departure of Bombardier Flexity 2 No.05 with the first public tram service from Helensvale station. John Hoyle was there.

Fine dining on Bellarine Railway’s Q Train
The Bellarine Railway, near Geelong, has recently entered the dining experience world with its Q Train, promoting food and drinks as the main theme. However, although the Q Train is promoted as a dining experience, rail enthusiasts will find the former Queensland Rail M series ‘Lander’ cars and the spluttering sound of a QR English Electric diesel locomotive add much interest. James Chuang reports.

Byron Bay solar train
On Saturday 16 December 2017, the world’s first solar-powered train opened for business. As our reporter, Darren Tulk observed, the tastefully refurbished 660 set, built at Chullora workshops in 1949, broke a white ribbon in a low-key ceremony at the North Beach station, three kilometres north west of Byron Bay, before taking VIPs on the first public service.