The Zig Zag Railway, May '08

In the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney we visited the Zig Zag railway steam train in Clarence. It was used in the past to bring coal up from the bottom of the mountain. It stops twice on it's way to move the engine from one end to the other to pull the train cars up the next stretch (thus 'zig zag'). Each change-over took about 10 minutes and we got to ride in the engine for one of them, crammed between the coal bin and the furnace with the engineer and his assistant. Cosy and warm. A man we met who takes regular tour groups on the train put two 50 cent pieces on the tracks. The train flattened them out smooth and he gave them to Kyra and Mercedes.