Southern Cross in her frame of peaceful seas
Try to understand this land, Australia
Take her as she is, her mood, her mysteries
Mother of us all, beneath the Southern Cross
In her frame of peaceful seas
We may not always be too impressed by modern trains
But we've never stopped loving our old times
In fact, we seem to like our trains best when the only place they really take us is back in time
In the past, the railway lines and the rolling stock came in all shapes and sizes
And the locos survive in varying conditions
But young or old, big or small, waiting in hopes or fully restored like this one
They all did a mighty job
Watch my style
Want a little watch?
Perhaps the most amazing thing of all is that so many old locos like these are still in service
Steam trains strike a special chord in most of us
Particularly those people whose almost obsessive dedication keeps these giants running
We're going to ride on Australia's favourite trains
The zigzag in New South Wales
Victoria's puffing billy
The coffee pot in South Australia's Flinders Ranges
We'll see the restoration of one of our oldest private railways
The legacy of one of Australia's richest men
We'll catch the old gan to Alice Springs
And that's not all
We'll ride on all kinds of trains
Just one thing in common
They have both a past and a future
There's no mystery about why these old trains survive
They appeal to young and old
To those who work them as much as to those who ride
Today three classic steamers will run side by side from Sydney to the outer suburbs
For sheer exhilaration the power and purpose of steam just can't be matched
It doesn't take much imagination to strip away the overhead gantries and the rest of
the modern trappings
Once you do it's like a time warp
You're back 50 years riding the rails in the golden age of steam
Don't worry about a bit of soot
It's good for you
This is a very rare spectacle
It's not often organisers can get permission to run three steam trains side by side on
a public track
They're on their way to the year's major steam event
Open day at Thirlmere
Australia's biggest royal museum
We'll catch up with the locos later on
But first we're going to step even further back in time
In fact back to the very dawn of Australia's railway age
Clearly enough this railway doesn't run on steam
It's strictly one horsepower
Even so it has a special claim to fame
It was Australia's first
Opened in 1854
Victor Harbour tramway in South Australia is the final link in a line built to join paddle
steamer ports on the Murray River with deep water ports beyond the Murray mouth
Pedal steamers couldn't cross the Murray bar so they were unloaded upriver
Horse drawn trains took the cargo overland to waiting clipper ships
Today the only cargo is people
The business has never been better
People don't realise that it was the first public railway in Australia
They tend to think that Melbourne or Sydney would have had the first public railway
And they're quite surprised that this one started up only months before the Melbourne
one did
If you ever talk to South Australian about the Victor Harbour they always remember the
old tram from times back
This whistling drives it crazy
Hey come on mate
One more run after this
You've got Sydney with its bridge and you've got San Francisco with its cable cars
And the Victor Harbour's got its horse tram
That's what South Australians remember
It takes a team of five draft horses to keep this one horse drawn train on track
They're the last of a noble line
Up to the early 20th century horses still hauled goods and people on many lines
An era long gone
But thanks to Victor Harbour not quite forgotten
Toyota Land Cruiser's revolutionary diesel engine goes like a turbo without the cost
of a third against driving a diesel a whole new feeling
There are times when the best cold drink in the house isn't alcohol and isn't sweet and
fizzy
It's iced cold milk
Natural nutritious and nothing artificial
Pure fresh milk
We're here to help We're here to help you with a smile the fresh food way
Where the wool was fresh for people with so much more milk
Every second you wait every minute you wonder about it time is slipping away in the carpet
call short time only sale
Look at this sensational offer a glorious nylon plush the ultimate in carpet luxury
Scotch guarded too carpet calls price $49 a meter
So take the time to save money on quality carpet
The only thing as nice as a nice new carpet is having it properly laid
Don't be late for carpet called short time only sale
If your old vacuum cleaner's just given up the ghost don't panic just take it on down
to Godfrey's
They'll show you a huge range of brand new models then give you a trade in price that
just can't be beaten
Godfrey's have all the top names Hoover Sanyo Miele Panasonic Aquavac Black and Decker and
Volta and when you buy from Godfrey's your vacuum cleaner comes with the price that'll
leave you laughing
Great range unbeatable prices and top trade ins Godfrey's 449 Port Road Croydon and Elizabeth
City Centre
An emotional battle over little skies custody
She's my daughter
Oh Harold what are we going to do?
Just hope that Joe phones us
Monday on Neighbours
It was in 1854 that Australia's railways first got up ahead of steam
Before long the railway builders were facing some remarkable challenges
Here at the zigzag in Sydney's Blue Mountains they celebrate both the age of steam and its
engineering challenge
It's only thanks to enthusiasts like Michael Forbes that this line operates at all
Michael has spent most of his adult life helping to get this particular railway back on track
When engineers started to build a railway west of Sydney back in the 1860s they were
faced with an immediate challenge
The challenge was the great dividing range
West of Sydney practically on the outskirts of the city the range rises almost sheer to
the plateau of the Blue Mountains
It took 25 years for explorers on foot to find a way through
It wasn't going to be easy to get a train across but they did it
To climb up the plateau and to get down the other side the engineers used an ingenious
structure
It was called a zigzag
The idea was simple to build a track in the form of a giant Z
The train comes along the top of the Z switches back down the middle then forward again and
on its way
We're going to start our journey at the bottom of the Z for the obvious reason that in steam
uphill is really the only way to go
Getting down or up the Z always took a lot of shunting
That's one of the reasons the zigzag is no longer part of the main line
This stretch of track was bypassed in the early 1900s
It was over 60 years before enthusiasts began to restore the line to steam
They had to start from scratch
Relaying the track and finding locos to run on it
For Michael Forbes it also meant learning a brand new skill
Well I learned to drive the thing here because there aren't so many places you can learn
to drive a steam train anymore
So I started off as a guard, went through climate and got trained to drive the engine
by a senior driver of the state rail authority who is also a member here
So he taught me the art and I got examined by him first and then went into the DLI and
they give you a grilling
So the question I must ask you Michael, why do you do it?
Basically it's because I want to, I'm of a generation that was brought up in awe of
the engine driver
I used to watch the big 38s go past and I thought I'd like to drive steam engines and
that's when it started
These days the zigzag operates every weekend and once the runs start they continue to dusk
So that means breakfast on the run
From a distance you'd never guess what was really going on
Well maybe a slight aroma of onions wafting across the valley
They tell me breakfast on the footplate is a fine old steam tradition
Whether it is or not I'd have to say it's a great idea
How's that sausage sandwich going Michael?
Not too bad, there is Gaffer de Wael, strikes again
It's on what they call the middle road of the Z that you start to see why building the
zigzag was such a challenge
This whole section had to be carved out of sheer rock
The remaining gaps were bridged with towering stone viaducts
The zigzag opened in 1869 and for the next 40 years this is how every train got across
the Blue Mountains
In its time the zigzag was recognised as one of the engineering wonders of the world
At the top of the middle road Michael has to shunt again
In genius as it was you can see why the old zigzag had its limitations
There's no doubt this is one of the most spectacular steam locations in the country
Whether you're having a picnic and watching from down below
Whether you're riding aboard or whether you're up on the footplate making smoke
But Michael tells me that the best is yet to come
What is it about a tunnel?
Watch the smiles
There's nothing quite like the effect of steam in a tunnel
A wall of sound
You don't just hear it, you feel it
A lot of them will give up tobacco after this Brian
True, you do cop a bit of soot
No one really minds
Here we go, you can breathe again
Coming out of the tunnel we announce ourselves with a fanfare of steam
Back into daylight we're also close to the end of our run
The zigzag terminus at Clarence Station
With a luxurious crusader we didn't just suppress the engine noise
We suppressed the gear noise, the exhaust noise, the wind noise
So all that is left is the perfect environment for you to create a little noise of your own
Once there was only milk Toblerone
But now there is new white Toblerone and dark Toblerone
Well, we all enjoy a change now and then
An important announcement from Decorator Warehouse
Decorator Warehouse has made a huge purchase of 200 leather lounges in new season's designs
and colors
And every lounge we have must be sold to make room at prices up to 20 to 50 percent off
Save hundreds on this classic modern for the home or office
This sumptuous two seater and two chairs in quality howl leather
Excellent buying on this craftsman built couch only $9.99
Neat, tailored and supremely fashionable outstanding value
Decorator Warehouse, two big locations
144 Unley Road and under the vines, Melbourne Street
This is a half price fabric sale
So you want to get half a screen to see it on
If you're half inclined to hang new curtains
Head for Harley Lad's Unley Road, Melbourne store for the half price curtain fabric sale
Huge reductions on quality fabrics
Almost half the stock down to half price
So here's half a chance to hang new curtains at around half normal price
It's on now for 10 days only, concluding Sunday, October 28th
Harley Lad's half price curtain sale at the 259 Unley Road, Melbourne store only
Open Saturday and Sunday, 9 to 5
The new South Australian short holidays book has a package to suit your pocket
Give them your best Aussie veggies
And give them Chinese you can stir fry
Freshly pinked country harvest
Give them your best from bird's eye
I do everything for satisfaction
I aim at being a perfectionist
For 25 years I've worked in every section of the media
I believe news is a vital part of life
It tells people what they need to know
It also gives people the information they need to make decisions
It's important to me to present an honest and balanced news service
Join Keith Martin on the 10 evening news
The difference is experience
Every day except Christmas, sounds of steam echo through the hills and gullies of Victoria's
Dandenong Ranges
They signal the operation of Australia's best known, most popular and most successful little
train
Puffing Billy was the first big success story of its kind
The restored railway began its operations in 1962
It's become a landmark for Australian railway preservation
Since 1962, Puffing Billy has carried over 6 million passengers
Restored by enthusiasts, still mainly run by volunteers, the train operates a schedule
as reliable and frequent as any mainline railway
This track is one of the last survivors of a whole network of Victorian narrow gauge
railways
They were built to open up rich but hilly farming country
Puffing Billy is what it always has been, a community train
Both visitors to the Dandenongs and those who live here feel it belongs to them
That doesn't mean the old Puffer can't be challenged
Once a year he is, with a popular fun run up the mountain
Mind you, when push comes to shove, the train has right of way
Thirty years ago, Victoria's public railways closed Puffing Billy down
The line didn't pay
Today, enthusiasts have made it a bigger business than ever before
There must be a moral in their summer
Puffing Billy is a proven success story
But what's it like to be at the very start of a giant restoration project, just starting
to get up its own head of steam?
Well, that's what's happening here
Compared to Puffing Billy,
the steam enthusiasts at Richmond Vale near Newcastle in New South Wales still have most
of the job in front of them
Here they hope not only to run a railway, but to restore a whole industrial complex
A coal mine, a power station and a line with a lot of history
The first private railways in Australia were built to link coal mines in this area as far
back as 1856
They were also about the last to operate in steam
Restoration here started in 1977
There's still a long way to go
The task ahead would be daunting to any but the most dedicated
But luckily, that's the kind of person a challenge like this always seems to attract
People who think this complex represents a dimension of Australia's industrial past that
just mustn't be lost
There's really only one way to appreciate a steam locomotive and that is in steam, in
motion
A locomotive like this one that would be stuffed and mounted as they say on a concrete block
in the open or even in a museum under a roof
It just doesn't convey what the machines are all about
They are just a dead inanimate lump of metal
But once you put a fire in them and you raise steam and they really do come to life, they're
almost a live machine
Ernie Winter and his colleagues want to see all their locos up and running
That work will go hand in hand with restoring the mine site itself
The mine and most of the buildings here date back to around 1900
A time when Richmond Vale came into the hands of a remarkable man named John Brown
John Brown was a mining magnate, an entrepreneur of the old school
So John Brown's railways carried John Brown's coal from John Brown's mines to John Brown's
ships
All the buildings were built on a very grand scale and you will see looking around the
site that even buildings that were built over a period of 20 or 30 years are in a similar
architectural style
That gives you an indication of the aim that John Brown had in mind when he built this
place
The high station on site was the largest in Australia when it was built
The colliery was certainly the largest in the South Maitland Coalfields and it was the
largest in the southern hemisphere, probably one of the largest in the world
There are plans to restore more of this line, but work so far has reclaimed one classic
stretch of track
The last uphill pinch to Richmond Vale siding is a grade of 1 in 22, about the steepest
in Australia
The
If Richmond Vale has a mascot, it's this little tank engine, Marjorie.
Milton Anderson has been driving her for over 40 years.
Well, I started driving this locomotive in 1950 and drove it for 10 years.
And after that, I left the position that I had to take up another one.
And some years later, I discovered this in a park at Edgeworth in a bit of a mess.
Bantles had been at it and a chap was trying to shut the smoke box door.
And he had no hope, so I explained to him the proper procedure.
And he says, why don't you come and join us?
So that's how I became involved back in the Richmond Vale Preservation Society.
They are alive.
A steam locomotive will talk to you as you're going along.
It's not like the modern diesels.
All they do is growl.
But these things, they've got a character of their own.
And if you understand them and work them properly,
they'll talk back to you in a language that only a driver can understand.
A future success story like Puffing Billy?
One can only hope so.
Richmond Vale is worth preserving.
A fascinating slice of Australia's industrial past.
Toyota Land Cruiser's revolutionary diesel engine goes like a turbo without the cost.
Toyota gives driving a diesel a whole new feeling.
What you're about to hear is a true story.
A major retailer saves a life and 42 jobs.
Over the last two weeks, a massive liquidation of lounge suites was held by the loungers
to save a manufacturer from bankruptcy.
It resulted in saving the financial life of the manufacturer and 42 employees.
In a shock move, the manufacturer offered the loungers the next four weeks' production,
some 520 suites at his factory cost.
The decision by the manufacturer has stunned the loungers, who have no alternative but
to offer these 520 suites at factory door prices.
Terms of no deposit and up to four years to pay will apply.
No deposit and up to four years to pay.
At the loungers, Nalesworth and Great Street City.
Thank you.
A portrait sitting will cost you just $2 and there's a memory for everyone in the full
Pixie Photo package.
For the professional touch you'd expect from over 17 years' experience, save now on a
beautiful family portrait package at a shopping center near you.
Where are we?
Pizza Hut.
Major Lee.
Awesome.
Only Pizza Hut has Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Rad Badges.
We're talking first degree pizza.
There are four to collect with any Pizza Hut pizza.
You have to eat pizza?
Cowabunga!
All for $1.99 each.
$1.99?
Excellent!
But hurry, time is limited.
Better off shell dudes.
Pizza Hut, making it rad.
Dining, takeaway or home delivered.
Last week the face of football in Strait Chain forever was first to show you Woodville and
West Torrance making their emotion charged history making decision.
The 10 Evening News was first to announce New Eagles coach Neil Baum.
And the 10 Evening News was first to show you the New Look Eagles Guernsey.
The 10 Evening News, the most comprehensive coverage of sport in Adelaide.
Join Peter Marker for your sport only on 10 Evening News.
The difference is experience.
It's the busiest day of the year at Thurlmere in New South Wales, Australia's biggest rail
museum.
The three locos we saw setting out from Sydney were all headed here.
Now they're about to arrive.
Thurlmere is in the highlands south of Sydney, just far enough out of town to justify a decent
run in steam.
You can't spend a day here without realising what the excitement of old railways and steam
itself is all about.
It's the opening day of the steam season, a day for polishing and pride.
A day when even the most carefully preserved old locos get just a little bit extra care
and attention.
As even the keenest steam enthusiast knows, he's really only here as a minder.
The locos are the stars of this show.
This is a day for riding on and looking at, listening to and talking about just one subject.
The steam locos we never knew we valued until they were nearly lost.
There's a big static display here too.
It preserves a wide and remarkable range of both locos and carriage sets.
An event like this leaves you in no doubt that we still love our old trains.
And if we do, maybe one reason is they gave such valiant service.
Iron horse isn't quite enough.
Iron workhorse is closer to the truth.
This Stevenson loco entered service in 1864.
It was retired a century later in 1964.
An Australian railway's grandfather, father and son could well have driven the same engine.
Among the relics preserved here, there are reminders that our railways once met every
kind of need for transport.
There was a train and a carriage for every purpose.
Mail not only traveled by train, it was also sorted on board.
Racehorses and their strappers traveled by train.
The mighty Farlap once rode in this very carriage.
Convicted prisoners also traveled by train to jail.
In their heyday, steam trains hauled goods of all descriptions.
They could even take along a crane in case of trouble.
This one's hand operated and nicknamed Hernia.
A Pullman sleeping car, vintage 1891, but not much different from the ones I remember in
the 1960s.
Didn't know they were so old.
Washbasin here, water jug, a ladder to climb up to the top bunk.
Even sitting up, a Pullman car was quite a gracious way to travel.
These carriages were full of craftsmanship, as Arthur Tubby showed me.
Pullman carriages were imported from America and there are vast improvement over the British
style carriage that were in use at the railways at that time.
Much bigger, much area, a clarestory type roof.
We'd probably say that Glamour went out of rail travel when the diesel locomotive arrived.
The new carriage doesn't sound much more streamlined, but this certainly represents Glamour, doesn't
it?
It does.
You've got workmanship went into these carriages, you've got creature comfort, a bit of style
and a bit of class, I suppose you'd call it.
And the chance to sit back for a couple of days, two or three days and make friends with
your fellow human beings.
Yes, you weren't worried about how quickly you could get from Sydney to Melbourne, it
was an adventure that you knew was going to take two or three days, so you sat back and
enjoyed it.
The vintage days of railway.
Exactly.
The truth is, of course, as I discovered back at the zigzag, there's really only one place
to travel on the footplate.
So that's how I'm going to travel home.
Well, some of the way to Australia's heart, Alice Springs.
Tuesday, 7.30 on 10, everyone's giving an award-winning performance.
They're dancing in the aisles and strutting their stuff in the streets.
Then at 8, the Marines are under attack.
Major Dad is in major trouble.
He's got a freezer's toast.
Nerves are raw, tensions high.
Come on!
And they're coming at him from everywhere.
The majors winning.
Get out of here.
Major Dad, right after Candid Camera, Tuesday on 10.
Your family budget.
Every day it's been cut to ribbons, chopped down and bowled over.
Thank goodness for Cole's New World Dollar Dazzlers.
The proven way to make ends meet just when you need them most.
Delicious Milky Way's in a four-pack, one dollar.
One kilo surf is great value at just two dollars.
And one kilo Chapman's regular or salt-produced fritz, two dollars.
Don't you miss out on Cole's New World Dollar Dazzlers.
In the deep south of America, they like jazzy jazz, juicy steaks and spicy seafood.
And that's inspired our new steak and Cajun prawns at Sizzler.
We start with the juicy steak, add our spicy Cajun prawns and fries or baked potato.
At a very tasty price.
Where do you go for steak and Cajun prawns?
Sizzler.
This is a half-price fabric sale.
So you want to get half a screen to see it on.
If you're half inclined to hang new curtains, head for Harley Lad's Alley Road, Melbourne
store for the half-price curtain fabric sale.
Huge reductions on quality fabrics.
Almost half the stock down to half price.
So here's half a chance to hang new curtains at around half normal price.
It's on now for 10 days only, concluding Sunday, October 28th.
Harley Lad's half-price curtain sale at the 259 Unley Road, Melbourne store only.
Open Saturday and Sunday, 9 to 5.
Foodland's big birthday competition is on now.
Get your invitation entry form from this week's Foodland catalogue.
It's your chance to win a South Pacific cruise for two on Firstar, the fun ship, with one
thousand dollars to spend.
There's also a fabulous Akai audio system with CD player from Trust Got Hi-Fi.
Plus hundreds of Constellation shopping vouchers to be won.
So hurry into your local Foodland and RSVP your birthday invitation into the barrel.
And shop Foodland where you'll get big birthday bargains.
For over 30 years, Leo Conchi and Sons have been supplying fine quality furniture.
Furniture that creates style and elegance in your home.
And now, Leo Conchi and Sons has the latest styles and designs of contemporary Australia.
Locally produced furniture of such quality that only Leo Conchi and Sons can proudly
offer.
The ultimate in designer satisfaction at affordable prices.
Leo Conchi and Sons, Verbridge Road, opposite the airport.
Before railways came to the outback, horses, but more so camels, carted most of the heavy
freight.
Camels were ideal.
They drank less water and they could carry huge loads.
We imported the camels and we also imported their drivers from Baluchistan and Afghanistan.
They came to be nicknamed the Gans.
And they blazed a camel trail from South Australia to the centre.
So when a railway was pushed to Alice Springs in Australia's heart, naturally it too became
known as the Gans.
There have been a few Gans trains.
This is the latest.
It's a modern train that still provides a romantic journey.
Partly because of where it goes, partly because it does the trip in style.
The whole vast outback rolls past your window.
When you get sick of that, there's space and time to make new friends as well.
When Australian National introduced the new Gans, they also built a new track for a Toronto.
That left the old Gans line more or less stranded.
But two stretches of that line have been restored by enthusiasts.
They run very different trains and we're going to ride on both of them.
Forty years ago, Quorn in the foothills of the Flinders Ranges was a busy railhead.
These days it's usually a much quieter town.
The volunteers who keep this railway running mostly come from Adelaide, over 300 kilometres
south.
In fact, on this particular long weekend, they've come from all over Australia.
In the old days, a trip on the Gans started with an overnight stop in one of Quorn's many
hotels, and with an early morning call.
Sleepy-eyed, you struggle down to the station to start a journey that three days later might
find you in Alice Springs.
Although the first train we're going to ride on here actually never went as far as the
Alice.
Everywhere I've been on this journey, the eyes of old railway buffs grow moist and misty
at the mention of one particular train.
It starts from here.
It's not the only train operated by the volunteers of the Pitchy Richy Railway, but it is the
star of their show.
They call it the Coffee Pot.
When the Coffee Pot runs, and that's not often, it brings people from miles around.
Built in Britain in 1905, the Coffee Pot is the only surviving steam rail motor of its
type anywhere in the world.
It's the babies.
The coffee pot began its working life on this line.
A commuter train running between what were then much busier little towns in the Flinders
ranges. Restoring it to this pristine condition took 8,000 hours of work.
The coffee pot isn't the only old train that runs from porn. In fact, every steam weekend
the Pitchy Richy Preservation Society fires up a loco that couldn't be a greater contrast.
Big and powerful, this W Class loco was one of the last to enter Australian service.
The carriage set it pulls is actually older than the loco itself. These are original GAN
cars. Now the original old GAN was a day train. Travellers stopped overnight not only in porn,
but at other outback towns along the way. By day they made the best of fairly spartan
accommodation. Not that it worries anyone today.
On a long flat outback run, a steep climb through the Flinders ranges was always what
it still is. A highlight of the trip.
It's just as well for today's Pitchy Richy Railway that the people who built this line
a century ago built it to last. Mind you, I notice we're not exactly charging across.
That's probably to give us time to admire the view. Or maybe just so our driver has
time to wave to fans who turn up in droves even out here.
Richard Harris in his acclaimed role, back to avenge the killing of his Indian brothers.
Return of a Man Called Horse, Tuesday night on 10.
How do we say shape in France? Silouette.
And how do we say your gault in France? Your plaie.
So what is the your gault we eat in France to look after our shape?
Your plaie silhouette. New your plaie silhouette.
Around half the calories of regular your plaie with the same big fruity taste.
New your plaie silhouette. Is French for shape.
Mmm. Delicious 100% meat recipes. New tastier diced meat dinners in sauce.
Now more than ever, my dog is guaranteed to tempt fussy eaters.
I've been researching the facts and the clinical tests prove there isn't a pain reliever more
gentle to the stomach than Panadol. Panadol from Winthrop has pure paracetamol,
so Panadol provides effective relief from headache, pain and fever.
And you know you can trust it. But remember, always use Panadol only as directed.
And please, see your doctor if pain persists.
Short holidays, short holidays, short holidays.
Busy people take short holidays. Smart people know how to get away from lazy
days in South Australian shorts. Take off in our shorts.
The new South Australian short holidays book has a package to suit your pocket.
Pizza Hut. Where are we?
Pizza Hut. Major League.
Awesome. Only Pizza Hut has Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
Rad Badges. We're talking first degree pizza.
There are four to collect with any Pizza Hut pizza.
You have to eat pizza? Cowabunga.
All for $1.99 each. $1.99?
Excellent. But hurry, time is limited.
Better half shell, dudes. Pizza Hut, making it red.
Dine-in, take away or home delivered. God loves the little things, small and humble,
poor and gentle. God loves the little things, the little things
of life. It's a real scream when the comedy company
take an outrageous look at voodoo and magic. We've got to call Dick Tracy.
Next on Ten. Three days and more than a thousand kilometres
after leaving Kwaun, the old Gann reached the centre.
Here right in the heart of Australia, the Gann Preservation Society operates both sit-up
and sleeping cars from the old Gann. They run on 30 kilometres of track that winds
up in Alice Springs.
But the old train's got some rattles, she's fought some hectic battles.
So we might arrive on Sunday on the Gann. And I'm a-headin' for the centre on the Gann.
Alice Springs, I'm comin' on the Gann. The Gann was never a train to maintain a
tight schedule. In this harsh country, it was not unusual for
the train to be stopped by sand drifts, floods or washouts along the way.
Passengers sometimes found themselves camped along the track until it could be cleared.
These unscheduled stops all became part of the old Gann legend.
Another delay. The nice thing on these old trains is that
in the final analysis, the timetable doesn't really matter.
Let me tell you about the lady who once travelled on the old Gann.
She got on a Quorn and she kept saying to the conductor,
when do we arrive in Alice Springs? When do we arrive in Alice Springs?
He kept telling her. Finally she came up very agitated and she
said, look, when do we arrive in Alice Springs?
And he said, why do you need to know? She said, I'm due to have a baby.
He said, well, madam, you shouldn't have got on if you're so close to being confined.
And she said to him, I wasn't even pregnant when I got on.
So now I'm almost home. Not entirely thanks to the old Gann,
although it has brought me some of the way.
And even here in Alice Springs, hundreds of kilometres from anywhere else,
the steam fans are out in force. If the enthusiasts who keep these old railways
running deserve a reward, and they certainly do,
I think they get it every time they take their trains out on the track.
As I said at the start of our journey, most of these old railways don't really take us
anywhere at all, except back to the past. But when it comes to trains,
maybe the past is where we'd like to travel.
Join us next Sunday night when Ted Egan travels to Western Australia's Broom
and discovers the secrets of both its pearl and tourist industries.
Broom and the Pearl Coast premieres next Sunday night at 6.30.
Meanwhile, stay on tent for a white-ish hour of fun with all your favourites
in the Comedy Company.