Strahan Station Tasmania
Dawn over the ABT Railways Strahan station.

The railway commenced business in 1896, it hauled copper concentrates from the Queenstown mines to the port of Strahan

Through the boom years of West Coast mining, steam locomotives hauled a fortune in pure copper from Queenstown's Mt Lyell mine, through the rugged King River gorge and down to the Macquarie Harbour port of Strahan. The railway operated between 1896 to 1963. The track system used by this steam train was named Abt (after its designer) rack railway as the cog system dragged the train, cog by cog, up the steep 1:16 slope to Rinadeena. 

Closed down in 1963, the ABT railway returned to nature and slumbered for 37 years, to be reawakened by a restoration feat similar in magnitude to that of its original construction.

Now, after 40 years, the West Coast Wilderness Railway is running again. The journal the train follows traverses through one of the world's last pristine wilderness areas crossing 40 bridges, wild rivers, and climb over 200 metres on a fascinating 35-kilometre journey from Queenstown to Strahan.


dawn railway tasmania westcoast abt strahan spiritofphotography alisonkruger 4wdauscom alisonkrugercom