Dreamworld Express - will the full circuit come back?

[Noll_57]

2 hours ago, franky said:

Did they destroy the track completely during construction of Rivertown? It looked to me like they protected it fairly well.

Yeah, the track behind Rivertown is completely gone and the section near Jane’s Restaurant has been paved over. 

[red dragin]

4 hours ago, wikiverse said:

Queensland has nineteen 2ft gauge sugar cane railways covering over 3000kms (a longer distance than Melbourne to Cairns).  There is absolutely infrastructure in QLD to build/maintain/service them.

The mills have their own navvy teams, who keep everything running during cutting season, then do heavy maintenance during the off season (bridges etc). 

Cross River Rail plus general QR maintenance is pretty much constant too, some massive works coming up around Christmas. 

So labour is stretched and also probably out of the parks budget with the current demands elsewhere. 

[Ashley Jeffery]

7 hours ago, wikiverse said:

I get that there are probably few fabricators, but this isn't really a niche theme-park thing.  Queensland has nineteen 2ft gauge sugar cane railways covering over 3000kms (a longer distance than Melbourne to Cairns).  There is absolutely infrastructure in QLD to build/maintain/service them.

Fabricators are booked out with regular QR replacement rails and the new Caloundra line.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 05/07/2025 at 3:29 PM, Noll_57 said:

Yeah, the track behind Rivertown is completely gone and the section near Jane’s Restaurant has been paved over. 

They removed the track entirely before Rivertown was constructed. It shouldn't need fabrication - it should be almost as simple as putting it back down. obviously they may need to consider any change to grade, and get it certified, but I can't imagine that they'd need entirely new rail for the whole section.

[dbo121]

17 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

They removed the track entirely before Rivertown was constructed. It shouldn't need fabrication - it should be almost as simple as putting it back down. obviously they may need to consider any change to grade, and get it certified, but I can't imagine that they'd need entirely new rail for the whole section.

It’s about managing cash flow / balance sheet / capital expenditure and potentially labour cost at correct price . 
 

They are an asx listed company wanting to deliver each financial year so much manage results .

The circuit will return . Just a matter of when . It will not drive more visitation numbers so no rush but would be in shock if not done by Xmas as adds to overall experience  ( which you could argue boosts people returning to a certain degree ) 

[New display name]

I hope DW are dragging the chain because the plans are bigger than just reinstating the track.  I want a kickass tunnel behind JR, therefore I’m not looking at a shed and the back of house of a restaurant.

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

^Agree - that was the issue with the train in the former Rivertown\ABC Kids area - all those old shoptfronts with their worn AC and refrigeration units on display for all to see. The new rivertown has certainly made the trip far nicer through that section, it would be a shame if there weren't something nice to look at through that BOH area behind JR\ JRR

[dbo121]

5 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

^Agree - that was the issue with the train in the former Rivertown\ABC Kids area - all those old shoptfronts with their worn AC and refrigeration units on display for all to see. The new rivertown has certainly made the trip far nicer through that section, it would be a shame if there weren't something nice to look at through that BOH area behind JR\ JRR

Good point . There could be more to just putting rails back in . Would be nice 

[Sammus77]

I could be way off here, not entirely sure how these things work. However I would have thought that this would have been part of the overall Rivertown project and funded into it. I assumed they would have had it booked in and organised with whatever suppliers, builders etc a long time ago. 

Again I could be way off, but I think the train actually does pull in crowds. It’s regularly commented on social media, as is the return of the paddle steamer etc. people love the nostalgia and the rides the whole family can enjoy. All the same I sure hope it returns this year. It will be so nice to have a ‘whole’ park again. (Without huge areas of construction or maintenance) We haven’t had that in many many years.