All aboard the puffing billy

BARBARA Postle remembers a time when steam trains ruled the rail.

As the Q150 steam train arrived at the Rockhampton station from Mt Larcom, the Gladstone resident said it reminded her of  when she used to travel on steam trains every day to go to school in Brisbane.

“I have been brought up with the stream trains and I miss them, especially the smell,” she said yesterday on board Queensland Rail’s mighty BB18 ¼ 1079 steam engine.

“We used to get covered in soot.”

She spent yesterday’s journey enjoying the sites from the Pullman Carriage, which she said was the “classy carriage”.

“We got a really classy ride, it was lovely and very nostalgic,” she said.

“I have travelled on many different steam trains in India and Tasmania.”

The train arrived at Rockhampton yesterday and was greeted by a welcoming ceremony with more than 1000 people cheering and waving Q150 flags.

Rockhampton City Brass Band played music from the 1950s and 60s, and Rockhampton Regional Mayor Brad Carter helped to create more steam by shovelling coal into the steamer’s firebox.

Premier Anna Bligh said Rockhampton was one of the luckiest towns in Queensland with two visits by the Q150 Steam Train as well as local train rides.

“Rockhampton is the only town in Queensland that has eight local steam train rides in sector 1 and sector 2 of the Q150 Steam Train’s journey around the state, and they are all sold out,” Ms Bligh said yesterday.

“That’s an indication of the Q150 Steam Train fever that’s hitting towns around the state like Rockhampton.”

The train will run day trips to Bajool today and  tomorrow before steaming into Rockhampton again on May 23 for trips to Lakes Creek and Gracemere.