Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

The Ffestiniog Railway is celebrating its 175th birthday this weekend. It is actually 175 years since signing the Act of Parliament which created the railway - thus its claim to being the oldest independent railway company in the world.

The stations are festooned with bunting - some of it small Welsh flags other parts traditional triangle bunting. The children riding over the weekend will be given special 175 flags and there will be lots of other signs of jollity. Our local micro brewery Purple Moose has created a special CLXXV Beer for the occasion.

On Sunday night there will be a staff party where we shall be greeted with champagne and pineapple as apparently that is how they celebrated 175 year ago - then the pine apple (two words!) was THE new fruit. They had an ox roast ours will be a BBQ - with outside caterers not our own catering staff!

We hope it will all be jolly good fun! However there is a little part of me that feels 175 years since signing an Act of Parliament is not really something to celebrate.

Katharine wrote:We hope it will all be jolly good fun! However there is a little part of me that feels 175 years since signing an Act of Parliament is not really something to celebrate.

Your thread name says it all. Think of it as a thank you to staff.

David

Ditto above. Enjoy yourselves and have one for us!

Hi Katharine

Do you visit overseas tourist railways? I thought of you last weekend - season opening for The Steamranger, which runs trips from Mount Barker to Victor Harbour through the Winter: banned in Summer due to the risk of fire.

It's a lovely trip through the Adelaide Hills, down to the Southern Ocean, which I have taken a couple of times. Some years ago we made the trip on a beautiful Winter's day, standing outside on the little platform at the end of the carriage: five whales in Encounter Bay, wattles in bloom - fantastic.

The track forms one boundary of my ex's property, where daughter, horses, etc live, and at the very end of the property is a 'station'. Apparently it is the highest point on the line, and it is where the trains took on water in the days when the line was fully operation. No idea where the water came from, as it's dry as.

Anyway, each year on the opening day of the season they run quickie trips from town out to 'our station', and back again, and we have a great time waving at the 'poor' people

Jess keeps a red flannel petticoat handy at all times, in case of a tree walking down the bank onto the line

We also have The Pichi Richi railway in the Flinders Ranges, but can't comment on that, having not travelled on it yet.

Best wishes

Caroline

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:Hi Katharine



We also have The Pichi Richi railway in the Flinders Ranges, but can't comment on that, having not travelled on it yet.

and the Karumba railway up in Queensland which runs through forest, beside waterfalls etc down the steep side of the mountain range. Spectacular.

(For those going to that area the cable car over the railway is another "must")

sejintenej wrote:

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:Hi Katharine

We also have The Pichi Richi railway in the Flinders Ranges, but can't comment on that, having not travelled on it yet.

and the Karumba railway up in Queensland which runs through forest, beside waterfalls etc down the steep side of the mountain range. Spectacular.

(For those going to that area the cable car over the railway is another "must")

Kuranda - haven't had the pleasure yet, but everyone I know who has speaks of it with wonderment.

We do have railway based holidays, including going to OZ for the centenary of the Puffing Billy Railway near Melbourne. That trip included Perth - Adelaide on the India Pacific Railway and a trip on the Ghan to Alice Springs (didn't go to Darwin then). We only overnighted in Adelaide so didn't get to any tourist railways there.

Our son went on the Pichi Richi and was delighted to claim a railway that his father hadn't ridden!! We didn't get to Queensland on that trip so that is a pleasure to come!

Other far flung rail based trips have included Alaska, NZ, and Colorado then on to California and across to Chicago by train, and a very memorable trip to Canada and to Churchill to see polar bears.

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:

sejintenej wrote:

icomefromalanddownunder wrote:Hi Katharine

We also have The Pichi Richi railway in the Flinders Ranges, but can't comment on that, having not travelled on it yet.

and the Karumba railway up in Queensland which runs through forest, beside waterfalls etc down the steep side of the mountain range. Spectacular.

(For those going to that area the cable car over the railway is another "must")

Kuranda - haven't had the pleasure yet, but everyone I know who has speaks of it with wonderment.

I stand corrected

However, Karumba, in the Blue Mountains, is also a bit spectacular. The gradient is over 45% in places so hold on to everything!

Katharine wrote:We do have railway based holidays, including going to OZ for the centenary of the Puffing Billy Railway near Melbourne. That trip included Perth - Adelaide on the India Pacific Railway and a trip on the Ghan to Alice Springs (didn't go to Darwin then). We only overnighted in Adelaide so didn't get to any tourist railways there.

Our son went on the Pichi Richi and was delighted to claim a railway that his father hadn't ridden!! We didn't get to Queensland on that trip so that is a pleasure to come!

Other far flung rail based trips have included Alaska, NZ, and Colorado then on to California and across to Chicago by train, and a very memorable trip to Canada and to Churchill to see polar bears.

Sounds fantastic! Well, maybe not the regular Oz services. I have made the Overlander trip (Melbourne to Adelaide) a few times, and I have to say that I didn't find it pleasurable, even when the kids and I were upgraded to a sleeper because they had overbooked in comrade class.

sejintenej wrote:However, Karumba, in the Blue Mountains, is also a bit spectacular. The gradient is over 45% in places so hold on to everything!

Oh! I didn't recognise the name, but have been on the train which I think you are talking about - we called it the very scarey train - open carriages which take you down to an old mine? Somewhere near The Three Sisters?

The kids were about 2 and 4, we were staying on a small cruise ship which my ex was working on, and a trip to The Blue Mountains was included. I had no idea what to expect, and all I was told was that 'it's a bit steep'. Hmmmmm, somewhat of an understatement

Fortunately, I was sitting between Jess and Mitch, and I have long thigh bones. I grabbed each one by the scruff of their sweatshirts and rammed my knees up against the back of the seat in front.

I don't remember much of the scenery - too busy hyperventilating. The kids thought it was fantastic and were most upset when I refused a second trip