Lynch's Creek, Rinadeena, Dubbil Barril

After Lynch's Creek we continued on the railway, this time assisted driven by a rack and pinion system, used to drive the engine up the unusually steep inclines. The guide stated most trains struggle to traverse inclines any more than 40:1 ratio (incline gradient 40m length to 1 m elevation) however this one we were on are the 2 steepest railways in the southern hemisphere. From Lynch's Creek to Rinadeena it is 20:1 incline, but from Dubbil Barril to Rinadeena (on the way back) it is 16: 1 incline. The train uses 3000 litres of water each time it does a climb and has to fill up at several points along the railway.
Once at Dubbil Barril we got to watch the train turned around on a manual turntable and did a rainforest walk to check our part of the King River Gorge, before getting back on the train and heading back to Queenstown, arriving back in Queenstown just after 2pm.Read more