2020 BRISBANE VALLEY RAIL TRAIL EXPLORATION RIDE 02 – WULKURAKA RAILWAY STATION-COOMINYA-WULKURAKA/THOMAS STREET RAILWAY STATION 

wulkuraka – fERNVALE – lowood – claradon railway bridge – COOMINYA

 

1

days

89

kms

590

meters climbed

A couple days after our first ride since the start of Covid-19 lockdown we were back on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail again. And just like first the trip on the train 2 days earlier there was hardly anyone else on it from Brisbane to Ipswich. It was also the first day of easing restrictions on how far you could travel so we were expecting to see more people on the train. We swapped trains at Ipswich and got the Rosewood train to Wulkuraka Railway Station for the start of our ride to Coominya and back. From Wulkuraka to Fernvale it was obvious that we weren’t the only people that decided to venture onto the rail trail. Thursdays ride we came across about 13 riders over the entire distance. Todays ride we had surpassed 20 riders before the pathway turned into gravel. The last count we had was around 230 people going back into Fernvale on the return journey.

Cominya was turning out to be quite the popular turn around spot for those going to/from Esk and those coming from Fernvale and Lowood. After having our food and drink stop we turned around for the return journey back to Wulkuraka. 

It was dusty and dirty riding along the rail trail with a thin layer of dust coating everything. When leaving Fernvale we knew we weren’t going to make the train at Wulkuraka Railway Station and would have to wait 45 minutes for the next train (unless we raced back) so for some extra exploring we decided to ride to Thomas Street Railway Station which meant crossing onto the other side of the Bremer River via the 126m long 118 year old heritage listed Sadliers Crossing Railway Bridge. When we arrived at Thomas Street Railway Station by this time Bronwyn was buggered and was happy to be going home but I suspect the happiness was more as a result of me getting some chips from the vending machine at Ipswich Railway Station for the 60 minute train ride back to Brisbane.