For The Love Of Steam:
THE PICHI RICHI RAILWAY
Panorama DVD
Located in the Flinders Ranges region of South Australia, Quorn was once a major railway hub for passenger trains heading across the continent.
When the Adelaide to Alice Springs Ghan line was rebuilt to by-pass the town, Quorn declined into a sleepy backwater - until a renaissance of steam took hold.
With the formation of the Pichi Richi Railway Society, Quorn sprang back to life and is now a popular tourist stop on the Flinders Ranges sightseeing trail.
Front and centre in this excellent documentary about the historic steam railway are the engines themselves - especially the NM 25, one of the workhorses of the state rail system until diesel took over in the mid 1950s, the impressive W22 and the diminutive "Coffee Pot".
The Coffee Pot is a motor coach, the only one of its kind in the world still operating. Build by Kitson & Co of Leeds in 1905 it is actually an articulated vehicle (like a semi trailer) with a 9-seat First Class compartment and 13-seat Second Class compartment.
All the engines and the historic passenger coaches they pull are lovingly restored, maintained and operated by a team of dedicated volunteers, some retired and some who devote their annual leave to 'playing trains' for real on the Pichi Richi Railway.
With insightful interviews with many of the Society volunteers, we are taken behind the scenes in the workshop, and then on an actual train trip to Woolshed Flat, site of a railway construction camp set up in 1889.
The footage of the Society engines puffing through picturesque Pichi Richi Pass will have viewers wishing to book themselves a seat on the railway's seasonal schedule.
This superb DVD reveals some of the reasons behind the allure of steam engines for young and old alike.
Review by Kerry Hennigan
DVD from Panorama Australia: www.panoramaaustralia.com.au
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