Day 11: 27/8/25, Karumba to Forsayth by mini bus, train and 4WD bus/truck.

October 04, 2025

Day 11: 27/8/25, Karumba to Forsayth by mini bus, train and 4WD bus/truck.

A relatively early start but not to startling, only 6AM today, catch bus by 6:30, ignored breakfast.

Brolga statue and some very odd tourists (bit grey today but it is 6AM)

Gulflander station at Normanton makes good use of disused rail components

Buffers and rail make excellent garden edging

The remains of one of the original loco’s

Gulflander rail motor, built in the 1950’s and to the left, one of the cars originally used as crew quarters when working on the line (now they go home to Normanton or to accommodation in Croydon).

The rail motor is driven by a 6 cylinder Gardner Marine diesel (107Hp) with a 4 speed crash box (no reverse but drive can be selected from either end of the engine giving 4 speeds forward or backwards).

Drivers controls

Hard to see but the top of the pole is the height of the 1974 floods (cyclone Tracey), Normanton was cut of and Karumba was completely under water (the middle marker is 2009, 1991 about a third up the low one is 1998)

This is an interesting line as it was originally planned to go from Cluncurry to Normanton to connect the beef and mineral towns to a port. But in the 1880’s a gold rush began and the line was diverted to Croydon with a plan to then extend it to Cluncurry which would have connected it to the rest of Queensland Rail, but this never happened. So, it became the rail from nowhere to nowhere, (or as the locals say, somewhere to somewhere).

The line is also interesting because of the terrain it crosses. It starts on an ironstone ridge in Normanton, crosses miles of river flats, and then finishes on limestone in Croydon. The engineer tasked with surveying and building the line decided traditional methods with wood sleepers would not work (termites eat them whilst you watch) so devised a system using inverted “U” shaped steel sleepers with the rails bolted to them in 8M lengths.. They would plough and roll the route, lay the sleepers on the ground, bolt the rail to it, and then drive the steam train along it to press the sleepers into the soil (and this was between 1888 and 1891). This has survived the test of time because 150 years later 95% of the track is still original. Our train driver has confirmed this because a lot of the rails still have their casting dates embedded in the rail (I trusted him, didn’t lay down and check). Occasionally a section has been replaced with wood to save costs but it has proved false economy as they soon have to be replaced again with steel in the original form. The track layout also has the additional advantage that flood water, which happens every year in some places out here, just washes over the top and when the water recedes, generally the track is still there and quite useable.

The train itself is a 1950’s rail motor built in the Ipswich (Qld) railway workshops and utilises and 107 Horsepower Gardner Marine diesel coupled to a 4 speed crash gearbox. The gearbox does not have reverse but they can change the drive from the front to the rear of the motor giving them 4 speeds forwards and backwards. The train is rated to 40MpH (65KmH) but they only do a maximum of 25MpH (40KmH) due to track conditions.

They are also in the process of re-instating a 1930’s AEC powered rail motor which they will use for small trips

There are two mail stops along the way (although only one got mail today)

The trip itself is 90 miles from Normanton to Croydon, which may not seem like much but at 15-20 miles per hour takes quite a while.

There is no ballast and at times all you can see are two steel rails but this allows the flood water to just flow over it rather than washing it away.

We had a quick lunch at Croydon and then boarded our next carriage, a Hino truck with bus adaption, for the trip to Forsyth.

Our new carriage due to the road conditions, a 4WD Hino truck with bus body

It, so far, has been a great experience but if I had one criticism it would be that they should spend the night in Croydon, slow down a bit, see some more sites, and then move on to Forsyth.

We have discovered that the towns out here have 5G communication via Telstra, unfortunately we do not even though our phone is via a Telstra subsidiary (reseller), hopefully that will change in the future (No WIFI or anything else in Forsyth)