Railway_Digest__February_2018

As the sun slowly disappears behind the horizon, veteran English Electric locomotive 1604 brings The Q train around the shore of Swan Bay,
as it approaches Queenscliff station on Saturday evening 28 October 2017.
The Q train journey
Approaching Drysdale (an intermediate station on the Bellarine
Railway) I saw a rake of light blue-coloured M series cars waiting for
departure, it somehow gave me ‘flashback’. I could have been walking
up to Longreach station to board the Spirit of the Outback. Welcomed
by Q train staff, I was taken along the red carpet to my table. The
refurbishment appears to be extensive. Q class dining car MBL1509’s
interior now looks like a luxury restaurant, with a bar (which resembles
the former Queenslander’s ‘Daintree’ lounge bar) installed at the
Melbourne end of the car. The former economy class seat numbers,
luggage racks and individual reading lights are still intact! Although the
dining car looks nothing like what QR ever operated the Bellarine Railway
has ‘recycled’ a former Queenslander menu booklet! Walking through to
the first class dining car, the former first class twinette sleeping carriage
corridor still looks the same with its first class maroon colour carpet
retained. However, each former cabin is now equipped with a dining
table and a table lamp.
‘Club loco’ has returned to its former glory as a club car with a bar.
The Q Train has retained QR’s original menu board behind the bar
as a reminder of its former ‘Lander’ operations. The menu displays
the drinks prices as if it was the early 90s and even lists items such as
toothbrushes etc for sale. l walked to the front of the train, and took
photos of English Electric 1604 hauling the Q train, which reminded me
of photos of 1600 class locomotives hauling air-conditioned cars on the
Westlander and Midlander.
My train quietly left Drysdale for Queenscliff, reminding me of
travelling on the Sunlander through the northern suburbs of Brisbane.
The train was almost full, patrons were mostly ‘Generation X’ reflecting
that Q train advertising is mostly through social media. We slowly
travelled through canola fields and rolling hills as waiters brought
drinks to the patrons. It was easy for me to imagine travelling on the
Sunlander between Miriam Vale and Gladstone approaching dinner
time. The section between Drysdale and Queenscliff is relatively long
at 16km, and one fully appreciates the Bellarine Railway’s volunteers’
effort to maintain such a lengthy track. The train follows Yarram Creek to
the estuary which forms a large wetlands and scenic area. The sunsets,
especially in spring and summer months, looks extraordinary around this
area, somewhat resembling the southbound Sunlander reaching Bowling
Green Bay wetlands south of Townsville. Finally, an orange sunset is
reflected in Port Phillip Bay as the train arrives at Queenscliff station.
Bellarine Railway operates the Q train from Drysdale and The Blues
Train from Queenscliff. Both offer meals to patrons, but Blues Train
patrons have their meals and drinks on the platform at Queenscliff
station. The Blues Train I observed appeared completely full, as
was the Q Train on the night of travel. The two trains do a ‘switch
back’, crossing each other before The Q train enters the platform at
Queenscliff. One commends the Bellarine Railway for managing to
operate two nearly fully-loaded theme trains at the same time. From
December 2017 and January 2018 onwards, there will be a Q train
departing Queenscliff for Drysdale.
48
RAILWAY DIGEST