I've envied retired people going up north during winter - grey nomads.
So we planned to do this soon after we retired, icorporating tourist railways, too.
Looking up Tourist Railways in Search engines reveals that many tourist railways operate only one weekend per month,
so planning a trip around tourist railways is very tricky.
Glenreagh Mountain Railway - Coffs Harbour
Glenreagh Mountain Railway is about half an hour drive through beautiful mountains from Coffs Harbour.
I approached the bloke to pay my entrance fee wearing my TRAK cap and he told me about the TRAK carriages at Mario's place
so I bravely asked for a cab ride in their steam loco called "Betsy" (great - grandmother of Thomas-the-tank-engin).
They are a friendly group, they even backed Betsy up to the platform so I could step easily into the cab.
They also operate an old Melbourne tram (using a motor-generator on a trailer) which took us to a very pleasant picnic area,
the country atmosphere of which is enhanced by cow paddies.
The Workshops Rail Museum - Ipswitch
Although not a Tourist Railway, it is more than a static display.
Queensland Rail maintain their heritage rolling stock here and lease out overhauled steam locos to Tourist Railway Operators.
Although it has fewer workers than when it was the main maintainance centre for Queensland you can tour the steam workshop.
As well as heritage items they also have hands-on demonstrations and simulators about diesel locos, tilt-trains and magnetic levitation, you can also have a ride on a TRAVERSER.
Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway - Ipswitch
The Queensland Pioneer Steam Railway (QPSR) is an all volunteer group operating Heritage steam (and diesel) at Swanbank, Ipswitch.
On our tour a little loco originally built for the State Rivers and Water Supply Commision of Victoria in 1925 and used for construction of the Hume Weir. The train had only two carriages, one built in 1885 and the other in 1918.
This very old rollingstock is a most stricking contrast to Ipswitch Museum's magnetic levitation presentation.
Big Pinapple - Nambour
Not a Tourist Railway but a commercial venture.
It is interesting to see how they have modified a narrow gauge sugar cane train to take tourists around their plantation.
The main street of Nambour still has the rail track once used daily by sugar cane trains.
Mary Valley Rattler - Gympie
This is one of the most developed tourist railways I've encountered but may be doomed by a proposal to flodd the Mary Valley
for water storage for south east Queensland.
If the Mary Valley is flodded it will be a great loss of a most beautiful part of Australia including the railway and it's history.
Full day and half day tours are available running from the old Gympie station into the Mary Valley,
when our train tour reached the point of return the loco was turned on a manual turntable.
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