Big Day Out – Part 2, Kuranda Scenic Railway

It’s no secret that we love trains, and this trip on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, together with the Skyrail, has been on our bucket list for some time.  After several hours exploring Kuranda, billed as the village in the rainforest, we made our way back to the historic railway station, built in 1914.

The historic railway line was opened in 1891 after 1500 men armed only with hand picks, shovels, and dynamite laboured long and hard to carve a track through the mountains.   They slowly created 15 tunnels, 93 curves, dozens of bridges and 75 km of track.  A magnificent achievement in a very difficult terrain.

And there it was, the train all ready and waiting to take the tourists back.  A fleet of refurbished original red-wooden heritage carriages were coupled behind a 1720 class diesel locomotive, painted in blue and yellow.  This design portrays the legend of the Buda-dgi carpet snake, said to have carved out the Barron Gorge.

Heritage train waiting to start the journey back to Cairns

Beautifully restored carriages

Our two hour journey commenced, and we travelled slowly through the rain forest, with points of interest being pointed out.  The train stopped for a photo opportunity at Barron Falls.  As we were on the opposite side of the gorge, this gave us quite a different view to that which we had earlier in the day. 

View from Barron Falls Station

As the train trundled slowly along the narrow gauge tracks, we heard of the trials and danger that the workmen faced while hacking out the track and the fifteen tunnels.  Red Lynch was the feisty Irish foreman with red hair who organised the labour during construction of the railway, and the local area now bears his name.  The original Kuranda Scenic Railway today stands as tribute to the courage, ingenuity and fortitude of the pioneers of this once formidable landscape. In recognition of this feat, the Cairns to Kuranda railway line is Heritage Listed and is also a National Engineering Landmark.

Enjoying our train ride

An announcement came to look out for two sights coming up simultaneously.  The track was going through a wide curve so we would be able to get good views of the engine and carriages looking back through the windows.out of the left hand windows.

There’s the engine

And here come the carriages

Meanwhile, there was a waterfall to photograph, rushing down the mountainside beside the train.  Just as well we had two cameras going.  We heard the story about the time important guests were having a celebration dinner on completion of this part of the track and the waterfall was so full and noisy that the speeches couldn’t be heard so were abandoned.  The dinner and drinking still went ahead though.

Waterfall beside the railway track

Most of the passengers departed at Freshwater Station to board coaches to take them back to cairns city.  We decided to stay onboard the train for the entire journey, as our accommodation is close by Cairns Station, just a short walk back to our hotel.

It was another great day out, and we really enjoyed ourselves on both  the gondola and train journeys.  So much so that we may even repeat the trip before we leave.