Main Western

As a result of the 2022 floods some parts of the outback have also received substantial rainfall. This leads to small patches of flooded land like this.

Then we got to Ivanhoe, the highlight of the train ride. The train stopped for 10 minutes as a rest stop where passengers can breathe some fresh air, despite being one hour late. The platform is short but this is not the smallest station in NSW- that belongs to Darnick, the next station.

Normally the train reaches here a lot earlier but due to it being delayed the sun is almost set. Dinner is served around this time as well before arrival into Broken Hill.

Broken Hill Citiscapes: a lookout just behind of the train station houses a memorial. Clear views into the rail yard forming the rail link between Sydney and Adelaide/Perth. On certain days the Indian Pacific train to Perth stops at this station where passengers go on excursions.

It's a city with a rich history. Argent St where the main street is houses several pubs and nightclubs. There's the well-known Mrs Macs Pies and Palace Hotel on the other end as the city's oldest pubs. The Demo Club and Musicians Club are also nearby, being the main clubs to visit. An indigenous guy comes by for a chat on Japanese animes.

At the rear, the old railway museum on Sulphide St. is still preserved with some exhibits. The most notable being the Silver City Comet, the predecessor of the current Xplorers. Friendly guy in the museum still has fond memories of being on the train for more than 7 times in his childhood.

Streets of Broken Hill are named after chemicals: Beryl, Cobalt, Wolfram, Bromide, Sulphide, Chloride, Oxide and so on. The main highway is named Silver City Hwy anyways linking the city with Mildura in Victoria, more on that here.

Sun rises on Barrier Highway after our first stop of Wilcannia, an hour after Broken Hill. Few passengers got on and driver also went for his coffee. The bus continued cruising along Barrier Hwy before reaching Cobar around 9 am.

Here we are at Cobar, our breakfast stop and also a driver rest stop. Drivers typically need a 30min stop every 4 hours. I went for a random cafe round the corner, had a pretty good breakfast warp, and got back onto the bus.

Most of the passengers got on after Cobar. Nyngan, Trangie, Nevertire, on the straight section down towards Dubbo. Nyngan's station has a museum which isn't open, something interesting to see. The highway also runs parallel to a freight line from Dubbo to Cobar.

End of the coach trip at Dubbo, as the bus drops passengers off at the station's coach bay. The station is fairly big with a waiting room, one platform and a large coach bay. Driver drives off shortly after dropping off passengers and I headed out searching for lunch.

Dubbo has a decent Chinese population due to its mining history. Hence a lot of Chinese restaurants in its city. I went a bit further, found a cafe and got a takeaway pasta (which tastes pretty nice).

Not the XPT this time. Back near Jul 2022 there was a massive landslide on Blue Mtns cutting the rail line off. The Broken Hill Xplorer we took on Monday was stuck in the far west and was instead used to run between Dubbo and Bathurst on days when the Xplorer doesn't run. The train was reconfigured to XPT car numbers and luckily there's enough seats for everyone.

Late train speeds down at 150 km/h along Geurie and Wellington. Great views of the flatter parts of Central West.

Soon the train gets to Orange and Bathurst. Terrain gets hilly and we're back to the curvy tracks.

Finally at Bathurst where all passengers changed onto a coach. It took the straighter section of Gt. Western Hwy towards Lithgow, then down to Penrith and all the way to Central.