Re: A truly legendary journey

[Tim Shenton <timbos@bigpond.com>]

Lachlan Smith wrote:

> I travelled on the "daylight" Ghan from Adelaide to Melbourne last
> Wednesday - an experience I definitely do not want to repeat:
>
> The train experienced major technical difficulties near Salisbury and as a
> result did  not arrive in Keswick until about 9:30am (as opposed to the
> scheduled 7:45am).
> This didn't bother me too much, but I really felt for those in transit from
> Perth, having arrived on an early running Indian Pacific at 5:35am that
> morning.
>
> On boarding the train (travelling coach), it was discovered that there were
> major problems with the seat allocation, with family members placed on
> opposite sides of the carriage and some even scattered between carriages.
> It took about an hour for the frustrated stewardess to rearrange everybody
> so they were sitting where and with whom they wanted to.
>
> I was happy with my seat, until the lady in front insisted on shutting the
> blind, using some bazaar story about the sun on the glass affecting the air
> conditioning. I sure as hell wasn't going to sit next to a closed window
> for 12+ hours, and managed to convince her that the 12 degree temperatures
> outside made the air conditioning unnecessary.
>
> The train eventually began moving at about 11:10am, only to stop after
> about 20m to wait for a freight train. We finally departed at 11:30am -
> well over two hours late.
>
> The journey through the hills was exceptionally slow - one loco hauling 27
> cars.
>
> The journey was then uneventful until Gheringhap, when we were told we
> would be waiting an hour to cross 2 outbound freights. However, this was
> not to be, and we were on the move again after 15 minutes.
>
> We finally arrived in Spencer Street at 12:30am  - as opposed to the
> scheduled 21:05pm. I then had to wait while my half of the train was
> shunted to platform 2.
>
> I finally stepped onto the platform at about 1:15am, having been on the
> train for over 15 hours - I could have been New York had I been flying :)
>
> I accept little blame can be laid on GSR, nevertheless, it was a truly
> awful train trip. I have since learned the same train has made up no time,
> and has indeed lost a great deal more. I believe that it is now likely that
> GSR will have to cancel a service in order to get back on schedule
>
> Lachlan
> ADELAIDE

It's not only trains that run late.  recently I took a return trip via plane
from Kalgoorlie to Perth going down on a Tuesday, back on a Thursday.
On a slightly wet day I boarded the plane (a 737) and we took of on time.
However near Kelleberrin we suddenly turned 180degrees and were told we're
going back as Perth was fogged in!. We refuelled at Kalgoorlie and eventually
arrived 2hrs late.
The return trip was just as eventful - plane took off on time at 6:30am flew
all the way to Kalgoorlie, only to be unable to land due to low cloud and
headed back to Perth.  After a 1hr wait in Perth we boarded a replacement
aircraft and eventually arrived 3hrs late.

Some might say take the train instead but the service provided by the
Prospector is a shadow of it's former self.

Tim