Kuranda, gardens of delight on the Cairns Railway…
An orchid situation, in Kuranda?
For many people, the highlight of any holiday in north Queensland was and still is the train journey up the Barron Gorge from Cairns to Kuranda. The story of the building of the railway has become northern folklore. As has the ‘tourist train’.
When the railway opened to Myola on 15 June 1891, Kuranda became the principal station after Cairns. Refreshment rooms were provided at Kuranda from 1894 and operated by the proprietor of the nearby Kuranda Hotel, which was an uncommon arrangement at the time, on the Queensland Railways.
The original station was reconstructed in 1914-15, to accommodate the growing tourist traffic in the area. In a new innovation to defeat termites, and to simplify maintenance, it was built with concrete, one of the first stations to do so in Queensland. The Annual Garden Competition started by the Commissioner for Queensland Railways in 1914 provided an opportunity to soften the ‘harsh lines of reinforced concrete’ with tropical vegetation. The station became famous for the use of tropical plants, especially orchids, to create a ‘jungle on the platform.’ Kuranda won the Northern Division competition in 1915. As a result of its fame and its success in the competition over many years, it became railway folklore that it won the competition every year.
Come see the scenery, and Oh!, The train!
The image of a train slowly winding its way up the mountains, through jungle, dodging waterfalls, became an important part of the tourism experience for any visitor.
The tourist train, the forerunner of today’s Kuranda Scenic Rail experience has a long history going back to the very beginning of the Cairns Railway. The ‘tourist train’ with the antiquated carriages of the Cairns Railway, (jokingly described as ‘having been young when Dinosaurs were in short pants’), was as fascinating as the journey for many people.
During the tourist season in 1933 the tourist train to Kuranda operated on a Thursday and Friday. The train departed from the Cairns Wharf at 9.00am, Cairns at 9.20am and arrived at Kuranda at 11.30am. On Friday, the train departed from Cairns 9.40am and arrived at Kuranda 11.30am. A First Class single fare cost 4 shillings and one pence from Cairns Wharf. 1963 was the first time that regular “all year” tourist services operated on the railway from Cairns to Kuranda.
Shortly after leaving Redlynch, the train begins to climb, and then the scenic feast commences. In and out of tunnels, (there are 15 all told, round curves, beside chasms, and across bridges (of which there are 47), with a brawling stream beneath, the train winds, puffing and snorting.
Margaret Clow,
The Mecca of our Desires- Kuranda and the Famous Barron Falls, 1914.
Ellis Rowan in her book Flower-Hunter travelled on the railway when it was being constructed, 1887. In a novel twist she travelled on the cow catcher of a locomotive. She recalled:
“I have now travelled… on the cowcatcher of an express engine… I wouldn’t have missed it as a novel experience, but have no wish to try it again… The line by which I have travelled has only been open for four months, and it is by far the most beautiful, they say, in Australia...”