Driver's Eye View Plus – Savannahlander - Part 6 - With Commentary - Almaden to Dimbulah

#Australia #Timsvideochannel1 Note - A version of this trip filmed using a camera mounted on the outside of the cab front window without commentary will be available shortly. Almaden takes its name from Almaden in Spain's Cuidad Real province. It is located on the Mareeba to Chillagoe railway line at its junction with the Etheridge line to Forsayth. The remains of the once extensive sidings and the long Island platform indicate that this was once an important location on the Tablelands railways. Our train stopped for an hour, giving passengers time to wander over to the Railway Hotel for something to eat and drink, after which there was still time to visit the station museum and take photographs of the station with its substantial water tower. With departure time approaching passengers returned to their seats and our drivers/guides checked we were all aboard as the diesel engines were started ready for the next leg of our journey to Dimbulah. The scenery on this part of our journey was more varied than that experienced on the Etheridge line as we had three ranges to cross before the landscape became less barren as we entered the fertile plains irrigated by Mareeba-Dimbulah irrigation scheme taking water from the Tinaroo Dam. Our guides explained how the area had once been home to tobacco plantations that began to struggle as smoking went out of fashion when the health issues related to smoking became better known, some of the farmers used government subsidies to switch to growing limes, avocados, grapes, mangoes and coffee, to name just a few of the alternative crops they turned to. The township of Dimbulah (aboriginal word meaning “long waterhole”) grew in significance with the coming of the railway as it became a locomotive servicing point for trains to Mareeba and Chillagoe, it was the gateway to the Hodgkinson Goldfield, also contributing to the towns importance was the Wolfram tungsten mine and the Mount Mulligan coal mine. Our train drew into the tiny platform at Dimbulah where the “Dimbulah Historical Society” put on refreshments for passengers, there was also a small museum and shop selling books about the railways and surrounding area. For information about the Tablelands railway - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablela... To learn more about Dimbula, please click on either of these links - https://www.mbahistsoc.org.au/locatio... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimbula... To learn more about the “Savannahlander” or to book your own outback adventure, please click on this link - https://savannahlander.com.au/ Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/Savannahland... Music - Track - Composer – Source 00:00 & 02:18:47 - ES_Hiding Shadows - Josef Falkenskold - epidemicsound.com This trip was filmed -20.10.2023 Track Gauge - 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) To see the first 4 Parts of this trip, please click on any of the links below - Driver's Eye View (Australia) Plus - Savannahlander - Part 2 - With Commentary - Forsayth to Cafe Bloodwood -   • Driver's Eye View Plus - Savannahlander - ...   Driver's Eye View (Australia) Plus - Savannahlander - Part 3 - With Commentary - Cafe Bloodwood to Einasleigh -    • Driver's Eye View Plus - Savannahlander - ...   Driver's Eye View (Australia) Plus – Savannahlander - Part 4 - With Commentary - Einasleigh to Mount Surprise -    • Driver's Eye View Plus – Savannahlander - ...   Driver's Eye View (Australia) Plus - Savannahlander - Part 5 - With Commentary - Mount Surprise to Almaden -    • Driver's Eye View (Plus) - Savannahlander ...