Trails to Rails Grand Tour 2022

The Trails to Rails Grand Tour was designed by TeamStrange in the US as a rally that could be run anywhere in the world. The premise is to find and photograph steam trains with your motorcycle and rally flag. Points are awarded for each train photographed- 1 point for a steam train and 5 points for an operating steam train. There is also a bonus location in Australia 140km up a dirt road off the Eyre highway at the memorial where the east and west tracks met.

The Grand Tour runs between 1 April 2022 and 15 November 2022.

To be classified as a finisher you need 25 points.

Update – 30Dec22, results are in (link) – in total there was 95 starters and 53 official finishers. I was scored as having 51 points and came in equal 26th

NSW

**Albion Park** – Illawarra light railway society

**Dorrigo** – The spooky silhouette of oiled trains in the black of night.

**Forbes** – this train is literally in the middle of a paddock.

**Goulburn** – Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre

Wauchope – Timbertown Historic Railway

Queensland

Amamore – Destination of the Mary Valley Rattler.

Gympie – starting location of the Mary Valley Rattler

**Ipswich** – The Workshops Rail Museum. To get this photo they allowed me to walk my bike into the museum courtyard. *Do you want some steam for your photo?* Sure.

**Nambour** – Steam museum – the staff insisted that I roll my bike across a ramp and into the museum to take a photo of this cane steam train rather than the inferior one out the front behind mesh.

Nambour – Sunshine Coast Model Railway Society

**Swanbank** – QLD Pioneer Steam Railway

**Toowoomba** – Downs Steam Tourist Railway and Museum – the team were incredibly accommodating and encouraged me to bring the bike into the workshop to get a photo with their train.

**Woodford** – Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Society

**Yandina** – The Ginger Factory. This old steam train has been converted to diesel and is being used as a tourist train around the ginger factory.

Victoria

Victorian Goldfields Steam Train on the Outskirts of Maldon

Maldon Railway Station – Victorian Goldfields Railway

Wildcard entry

**Colbinabbin** Silo Art depicting the history of their village on grain silos including the building of a rail line in the early 1900’s to transport produce and livestock to the markets in Melbourne. The creation of the line also required the township to move to a move accessible location on the plain where the township now stands. The steam train was important part of their town both financial and social through bringing people together for their annual farmer’s picnic.

Steam train locations I nabbed

By my calculations I should get 50 points (30 points for operating steam trains + 20 points for static steam trains), not including a possible wildcard point. Below is a map of all the locations I visited.