Kuranda Scenic Railway | Heritage Class vs Gold Class

That falls in the rainy season is amazing! ! Station at Kuranda is quite beautiful and unique. Very enjoyable vid.

This is how my school (Redlynch State College) got its old logo from…
Interesting

the steam engine that once ran on that line now runs at the bellarine railway in Vic hauling the Qtrain with ex sunlander carriages

BRITISH RAILWAYS MECHANICAL ENGINEERS VISIT IN 1986.
When I visited in late 1986, the original station at Cairns was still in place and the town was only half the size it is today. And Queensland Government Railways had already seen the tourist opportunities of this line. As they were operating a diesel hauled trip to Kuranda & return daily. Indeed I suspect the 1950's "Heritage" coaches still in use today, are probably the ones I rode on in late 1986. Of course this line is doubly stunning for Americans or Europeans who I think assume Australia is just a vast flat plain of scrub desert !

So to find mountains and beautiful Tropical Jungle is a stunning and entertaining surprise in itself. As a Railway Engineer I was of course also interested in all of the rail operations based on Cairns. To what I think was the Area Manager for the area, I suggested to increase attraction, the "tourist" train needed a Steam loco (oil fired to reduce any problems of trackside or wildfire). I think this train has on occasion used steam for the "tourist" train. But as seen in your film it seems they now need two diesels to haul it up into the mountains, as the train appears to have even more carriages than when I made my visit. So is obviously proving even more popular !!

Certainly I recommend a ride as it wasn't just the amazing colours of the plethora of massive tropical flowers, which the train had to almost push aside to reach Kuranda station. Which was itself a riot of colour. But also the stunning views of the waterfall you pass right in front of, as the train crosses a large arch girder bridge. It's almost as though the railway was designed & built solely for Tourism !

Lovely Kuranda scenic railway

That guy holding his phone outside the window at the beginning of the video made me nervous. I'd be afraid of dropping it if I did that. You may recall I commented on your Spirit of Queensland video about being inspired to take that trip. Whilst in Cairns I will certainly take this trip and the Skyrail. Looks like you can book it with a shuttle bus back to Cairns Central, which seems ideal. I'm not sure if I should take a tour, that includes Hartley's, and gives 1 hour in Kuranda, or skip Hartley's and explore Kuranda more, especially the birds and butterflies.

Are you going to do the Savannahlander one day?

Excellent information and narration. Very beautiful journey...

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Wow....what a seens n what a falls..I enjoyed tku bro

We did the Karunda Scenic Railway(in Gold class) and SkyRail during a holiday to Oz in 2018 and will be doing the KSR again during our next Oz holiday in October 2024.

I remember doing this trip many years ago, it was a lovely trip. The skyrail was interesting given my fear of hieghts but was still absolutely worth doing.

Fantastic presentation. Well done. Thanks mate

Where are you from, Adam? Loving your videos!

3 foot 6

Another great video Adam; I’ll definitely check this out when up in cairns 👍👍

Pretty brave doing this in December!
Weather can really ruin the trip during the wet

A wonderful journey Adam, i really enjoyed this. The scenery is amazing and i love those old world train stations. I watched this while having my breakfast this morning, a lovely way to start the day. 😊

Another great video. Your train videos are the best I have ever seen. Thanks.

I am quite surprised you did not video or mention Robb's Monument named after the contractor who built the track.

Kuranda was a beautiful peaceful place when it was inhabited mostly by timber workers and Aboriginal families then the hippies found it was excellent for growing marijuana and they moved in en masse. After time came those who saw the opportunity to turn the place into a cash cow. For instance the mango sorbet shown comes at a scary price like most things in Kuranda these days. And what about the robbery that took place back in the day on the railway? Did they avoid speaking about that? Big hello to the Grogan family of the old days who couldn't keep up with all the so called wonderful development. All gone now guys.

To expensive

Another great video contribution from you Adam. I've done the trip twice before (1987 and 1998) back when I was in the Rail Industry and had the benefit of First Class Interstate Passes on leave (no such luck now as I didn't get my 30+ years of continuous service - politics of the day deprived me of that).
Nice to see the 21st century iteration as I have a Canadian railfan friend coming to do this and other classic rail journeys in September and this will serve to stimulate conversation about his experience of the same journey.
By the way, I can experience some free interstate travel and discounts on other services, having obtained a retired rail employee pass and a seniors card, so to the political forces of the past, ....swings and merry-go-rounds!
Thanks for the timely posting Adam!🙂😉🙂

We did this trip from Freshwater a few weeks ago. Great trip. Heritage was good enough for me. Cheers from Port Hughes.

9 nice opening English nice

Visited the falls in 88 left my keys at the bottom so back down I trudged.

Hi Adam, i did this journey back in 1989. in those days they didn't have any of the tourist stuff they have today. you just climbed aboard and sat where you like. there was no information or gold class. the only commentary on my journey was a group of Americans from California who got very excited to see the waterfall. great video thanks.

Another great one Adam,enjoying your trips more and more 😊

Oh man if I had known you were in cairns I would of come say hi this is literally my home train

Visually spectacular!
We went to the SkyRail terminal, where they shuttle-bussed us to Freshwater Station. After visiting Kuranda, we rode the cable car back down, which returned us to the SkyRail terminal.

Feel as though I’m travelling on your channels so informative it’s so awesome thank you for taking us on your journeys 🙏👍

HI Adam. So lovely to watch your latest adventure. Must check my notification alerts because I seem to have missed your last two posts, from New Zealand. Wishing you safe onward travels

Been to CNS so many times and have never done the Kuranda train....thanks for the insight and great video as usual. Def will give it a go when next up that way

Great video! I visit Cairns regularly for work, and always make time to see this train come and go, however I have actually never been on the train itself! Thanks to your video, this has really prompted me to pull a finger out and go do it!

(The old QR diesels make it feel like a heritage tour in its own right!)

Great video - really enjoyed your commentary.

Well done you look like a season traveler I have actually enjoy your videos

Beautiful country👍✌️

I grew up in Cairns right opposite the railway line to Kuranda. A lot has changed since I left in 1978! Still beautiful, and Barron Falls are a sight to behold in monsoon season… great video, brings back so many memories…

Stunning video 💚

By the way, have you been on the ' Gulflander' between Normanton and Croydon? I am unsure as to whether it is still running.

Fantastic video and thank u for adding subtitles to your videos

Lovely video. QR is really getting their moneys worth out of those 1700 class locomotives. I can remember them back in the 70's operating Brisbane's suburban rail services.

Awesome video as usual!

Looks like a nice way to spend the day.

I think the fat guy behind you would have been disappointed with the food.

Great video once again love the detail you go into really makes for a interesting watch. Enjoy can’t wait for more

Great video Adam, appreciate taking a look at a place I might never get to like so many of your videos. You are definitely a hidden gem in our country, and abroad from time to time, and I think many are missing out not viewing or subscribing.

Safe and happy travels!

What a great video; you must have spent days, if not weeks working on this with shots on and off the train. I agree the gold class is worth the money.

The train and the skyrail offer very different experiences and I would suggest to anyone to do both,. I found the return journey by train rather long because of the constant application of the brakes !

Good work !

Superb video again. Thank you!