It seems slightly mad but each of the Australian colonies chose different railway gauges narrow in Queensland, standard in NSW, and broad in Victoria. South Australia seems to have been even crazier doing all three! In the south they had the more expensive broad gauge but could not afford to run it into the outback areas so put in narrow gauge up there. Later the narrow gauge lines were replaced by standard gauge. We returned to Peterborough because is the only place in Australia where you can see all three gauges.
Is that a Coolibah tree beside the abandoned house? Every Australian knows about Coolibah trees because the bush ballad Waltzing Matilda is nigh on our unoffical national anthem but most of us live nowhere near the inland where they grow. Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, Under the shade of a Coolibah tree, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me, And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me.
I always learn the most interesting facts from your blog (besides the most interesting words :-)).
ReplyDeleteThis definitely touches my "railwayman's daughter" nerve.
Umm, I am sorry, this could be understood wrong: with interesting words I didn't mean the typo in the title but things like "poached egg daisy" or "quagmire" - you don't learn these at high school.
ReplyDeleteBill being a train buff from Europe could never understand this stupid system of each state having a different gauge. I agree with him. The narrow gauge in Queensland is plain uncomfortable on long trips. Amazing shot to capture all three in the one place.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was crazy.
ReplyDeleteMore railway stories to come. As for those typos, I know I am a bad typist.
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