PLANNING is underway on how the Wentworth region could be incorporated into future slow train visitor packages.
The volunteer group at 707 Operations provided two six-day train journeys to Mildura this year, with a third planned for the Melbourne Cup weekend.
Hundreds of travelling train enthusiasts were able to select packages on arrival, including journeys out to Murrayville, Mungo National Park, Orange World, Trentham Estate, and with Mildura Paddle Steamers.
As both of Bruce Munro’s light installations – the Trail of Lights at Lock Island and the Fibre Optic Symphonic Orchestra at the Perry Sandhills – are coming next year, volunteers are exploring what a Wentworth-specific package will look like.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the demand for our Mildura product and next year’s looking even better,” 707 Operations vice president Matt Lucas said.
“We’ll be back a lot and the lights are a very exciting product for us.
“We’ve actually got a little bit of a test of the lights, we ran up to the Moama Lights in July, the first train sold so overwhelmingly that we had to run a second one the next weekend.
“Our crew almost got a bulk rate on divorce lawyers, but that’s all right.”
Wentworth Regional Tourism member Sara Munday said the opportunity for the north side of the river to be included came at an exciting time for the region, with the impending reopening of the town’s caravan park and launch of the Wentworth Visitor Centre.
“We’re looking forward to that, that will bring more people into Wentworth for sure and that will help expand opening hours for a lot of the businesses,” Ms Munday said.
She discussed the option of providing a curated dining experience for train patrons who came to Wentworth, at the Lock 10 & Weir Restaurant, which she runs.
“This restaurant specialises in food that comes from around 50kms, so you’re eating all local product, locally produced, and we try to employ everybody from the Wentworth side,” she said.
“We also act as a little bit of a tourism hub, so we have a little section over there where people can grab some maps and things and figure out where they’re going next.”
Chaffey Trail chair Mark Eckel said volunteers onboard the train and at the destinations were putting in a lot of effort into every detail of the tourism offering, to make it unique and memorable.
“The people that are coming up on the train will really love that diversification of product, going out to Mungo and going on the paddleboats,” he said.
He also said another opportunity could soon eventuate for future slow train patrons, as APT showed interest in creating a 19 room, five star boat for Mildura, reliant on a government grant.
“They’re investing significant money into the second boat that’s going to be built at Baldwins,” Mr Eckel said.
“When I told Matt about that and then the overnight experience on the boat, where can you get that?
“That’s international product.”
