Cairns-Kuranda Railway in Australia

#Kuranda_Railway_Australia

The Kuranda Railway will take you through dense rainforests, steep ravines and waterfalls all within the World Heritage Barron Gorge National Park.
 The journey from Cairns to Kuranda takes arounds two hours with some short stops for viewing plus  marveling at the engineering as you pass through fifteen hand carved tunnels plus over 37 bridges

 KeyTip; 
 There are three classes of tickets ( Heritage, Gold & Royale) so as per usual it depends on what service and add-ons you would like,
 I opt for Heritage ($84.00 Australian...$76.00 US) for a return ticket as i am here to experience the train and see the outside, not what is sitting in front of me with food / beverage 😅

 

Construction of the railway began in 1866 which was completed five years later and went as far as Kuranda (which was established as a town in anticipation of the completion)
It was built so supplies could reach the northeastern part of Australia ( rich mining areas) as the wet season made any roads impassable

With the removal of three million cubic meters of rock plus earth (which had to be excavated during construction) for the rail, plus the tunnels and the making of the bridges, there were 32 men that were tragically killed by accidents

Because of John Robb and his brave workers it gave Cairns new life with the completion of a consistent supply chain
So then the area prospered with its gold, tin / copper mining, logging, fishing plus sugar cane industry  

The Cairns to Kuranda Line opened up for passenger travel in 1891, since then a few interesting facts;

 A) During World War Two the railway carried thousands of American and Australian service men / women to Cairns as it was a RAAF base, plus it was a major repair depot for the US 7th Fleet.

 B) In 1973 the mountain line was the scene of Australias Great Train Robbery when two masked bandits blocked the rail and robbed the payroll that was headed to the workers

C) At the Kuranda Station look for the memorial for John Robb plus his men;  A Pick and Shovel

D) The first operation as a tourist train was in 1936 using four seating carriages

 E) In 2010 the train was derailed by a landslide with a few injuries, after a geotechnical study of train line was assessed then reopened 

When walking the streets of Cairns;
 Most would not realize that a lot of rock and rubble from the construction of the rail line was used to fill in the swampy marshlands into solid ground for the roads, plus it was also used for the building foundations here

The railway is only 37 kms (23 miles) as it passes through the suburbs of Strafford, Freshwater and Redlynch then finally onto Kuranda

Once at Kuranda Station you are a short walk to the town that has a zoo, markets, art galleries plus ethnic Aboriginal crafts

The carriages were the original ones from the 1930s and then beautifully restored to its authentic Victorian design for this tourist train

KeyTip;
 On your journey to Kuranda make sure you get seats on the right hand side of the train to get the best views of the coast and valleys
Plus request a forward facing seat instead of backwards