In December 2000, Westrail awarded a contract to United Goninan, Broadmeadow for seven Transwa WDA/WDB/WDC class railcars to replace the original railcars. [11] [12] a b c Dunn, John (2010). Comeng A History of Commonwealth Engineering Volume 3 1966-1977. Rosenberg Publishing. pp.77–91. ISBN 9781877058905. Cooke, David (1984). Railmotors and XPTs. Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division. ISBN 0-909650-23-3. I liked the writing especially the descriptions of the Klondike. This a family saga with dual time lines, the 1880’s and present. I found it interesting that the main characters are based on the author’s family and other real people. Even though I get the connections between the present and past stories, I felt removed from the present story. Maybe there wasn’t enough of it told to connect to the characters. I didn’t know much about them. Having said that, the recent story does put emphasis on the wrongs done to First Nations people which is an important take away of the novel.

Food is not complimentary on board and can be bought at the buffet. The buffet offers a variety of items such as ham and cheese croissants, pies, muffins, soft drinks, potato chips, lollies and alcohol. [6] [7] Based on the author's great grandmother's memoir this is a tale of danger, adventure and greed in Alaska's Yukon Territory. 1895 Yukon is no place for a woman let alone two but that is where Alice follows her sister after the family hits a major gold vein. Alice yearns to escape from home and is eager to find adventure but gets frustrated that her role is little more than housekeeper and companion to her fragile sister. When a major theft happens and the suspects, a native brother and sister, are not reported Alice takes matters into her own hands. She further asserts herself by marrying her brother in law bonding the two families twice over. With great wealth should come great responsibility but as we see in two generations this is not the case. A fascinating account of adventure, success at incredible odds, greed and who has rightful ownership of the land and its riches. I will also give the heads-up — it’s unsurprising given the subject matter, but — there is quite a lot of conversation around the issues of discrimination, displacement, and racial resentment during this period and continuing into today. I think the author did well in terms of providing a view into a variety of different forms of discrimination: some characters flat-out didn’t trust the Indigenous population, some patronized them, and some in the present-day narrative, arguably, went too far and assumed too much in their efforts to be sensitive to the past. However, I did feel that all of these interwoven viewpoints and challenges were very much “told” to the reader, rather than “shown,” and felt a bit forced or stilted.I don’t remember reading about the Gold Rush in a novel and definitely not in the Klondike. This is a fascinating adventure story. I’m not very adventurous and perhaps that’s why I found it appealing. Gold, then later to oil, a man and his wife find their fortune in the Klondike and that fortune breeds greed, ambition, deceit, manipulation and some truly unlikeable characters .

All in all, had a couple hang-ups but it was a solid read about a historical period that you don’t see too often around here on Booksta. Would recommend giving it a try! Clarence’s sister in law Alice, accompanies the men to to keep house in their cabin at the icy Canadian camp. Alice is to tend to her ill sister Ethel. Alice is outraged when Clarence hires attractive Jane, a First Nation woman to live in and cook. Clarence and Alice have a love hate relationship and each have secrets kept from each other and from Ethel.Higham, Geoffrey (2007). Marble Bar to Mandurah: A history of passenger rail services in Western Australia. Bassendean: Rail Heritage WA. p.121. ISBN 978-0-9803922-0-3. There are also interesting passages regarding personal responsibility of the individual success stories that emerge — are those that strike it rich responsible for providing a strong moral example, and taking others under their wing? Or must they be even tougher and stingier than others, so they aren’t taken advantage of? How much of their lives are they obliged to share with the curious and the striving? Each seat on board is in the same class. At every seat there is a touchscreen entertainment system with a small selection of movies, TV shows and music. They also offer a tray table, in-seat power ( Australian type only), and a foot rest. [6] A sweeping rags-to-riches story of survival and greed across American history following a family transformed by the Klondike Gold Rush

With the standard gauge line from Perth to Kalgoorlie due to open in mid-1969, the Western Australian Government Railways decided to replace The Kalgoorlie overnight sleeper service with a daylight service. The new service commenced on 29 November 1971, cutting the 653-kilometre (406mi) journey time from fourteen to eight hours. With an average speed of 85km/h (53mph), it was the fastest service in Australia. [1] [2] [3] [4] Stops [ edit ] The adventure elements of this story were spot-on, and many of the complex dynamics wrapped up in both the Bush and Berry families were compelling. Amid the wealth that the central family came into, siblings and parents and children find they can no longer fully trust one another, have to tread carefully in their words and in the arrangements they agree to.

Onboard Services

This might have been 4 stars if the connection between the time lines was better executed. Still worth reading. It felt like an accurate reflection of the history. I found the Klondike sections fascinating and learned a lot. I loved this historical family saga about relationships, while striking gold in the Yukon. Clarence Bailey, eldest son of a poor California family leaves California with a few provisions, and treks his way on foot to Canada. Clarence strikes gold and sends for his brother, Ethel his wife, and male workers to join him. Free wi-fi trial begins on Transwa's Prospector train". Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. 29 August 2022. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023 . Retrieved 15 October 2023.

The women return to the party and pretend to be enjoying it. The narrator meets a boy named Lee and kisses him, saying “it felt no different from kissing a living mouth.” However, she is frightened when he calls her by real name, Jean, instead of Candy, the false name with which she generally introduces herself. Her legal name is Aubergine, which her parents gave her because they thought it sounded glamorous. When they discovered it was the French word for “eggplant,” they decided to call her Jean for short. Horrifying. I don't remember ever reading a book with the main character as despicable as Alice. While I knew the story was based on the author's own family history, I didn't realize until the end that Alice Bush's diary was the real inspiration for the novel and I wonder how much is fictionalized. There is one train each way daily between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. On Mondays and Fridays, there are two services each way. [5] Onboard facilities [ edit ]We’ll charm them. We’ll drink a little, dance a little. And then, come dawn, we’ll escape down the mountain. One hundred and fifteen years later, Alice’s great-great-great granddaughter Anna, is tasked by her grandfather Peter, with traveling with her husband Owen to visit the granddaughter and great granddaughter of Jane to make amends. The trip proves to be a journey of her own as Anna discovers the complicated history of how her family wronged another and amassed their incredible wealth.