Charlie Honey was a Gulflander train driver of yesteryear. The Gulflander runs between Normanton and Croydon in the Gulf country of outback Queensland. It leaves Normanton every Wednesday at 8:30am. It then makes the return journey leaving Croydon at 8:30am on Thursday. Weather permitting the train has been running since 1891. The journey takes five hours because the track is meant to be travelled slowly but Charlie liked to work hard on improving his times. One morning he left Croydon at 8:30am and at Normanton at 11:30am he answered the telephone to be greeted by his superior. Charlie was sternly asked to change his habits and he did. Never again did he answer the phone before 1:30pm!
itchingforhitching 
Hahaha! He clearly recognized and corrected the error of his ways.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think perhaps he knew when not to answer the phone. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I knew Charlie when I was an apprentice at cairns railway workshops . It was said that Charlie would smoke2 packets of drum tobacco daily . He certainly was a character I’ll never forget.
LikeLike
Gosh, I’ll bet he was good at rolling ‘em.
LikeLike
Good old Charlie…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ol Charles & his log cabin…he was known to flick the odd match out the window of rm93…in the middle of summer, paddy just watched,then picked up the pieces.
LikeLike
You had me going for a minute there…log cabin. Haven’t seen that tobacco in years. He sure must have been a character.
LikeLike
He sure was, he use to take me around the block in his hq statesman Deville he was a great man, and I was told he was crook with cancer and on his way out but it was another week until my birthday and his wish was to spend that day with me as I was his favourite grandchild and he passed 12:30am into the next morning he got his dying wish,, it’s wierd cause I woke from sleep to watch him go out on the stretcher as he slept I awoke. Cheers for your reply I wish I was old enough to take over his position but it took nan ages to find the right man for the job I think it was over a year
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grandad chook, what few good memories I have of you I cherish, cause U passed when I was so young,,but growing up I watched a interview by channel nine reporter, because nan recorded it on a vhr tape and every couple of years I would watch it before I was twelve and caught the bus across the highway to the savannah home to Normanton and went for a ride on the old ( Tin Haire) the gulflander, in my mind I was one of those passengers on that ride of the interview and grandad chook (Charlie Honey) was driving, and seeing the station still all original as I remember on the video nothing changed, but over time that tape got lost and I never got to watch it and I was sad. But a few years went by and I had an idea, it was kind of if you weren’t recording it in 1987 you would never see it again.what are the odds some great person did have a copy and uploaded it on the internet for us all to see…god bless them and now I get to see grandad when ever I want..cheers and I thank you for giving him praise. Your grandson Robbie
LikeLike
Robert, I reckon your Grandad just might have been one of the great characters who made this country what it is today. He must have been quite a character.
LikeLike
I would have loved to have met Charlie, he looked and sounded a real character, a real Aussie gentleman, on the video I have of him here on file he said he can be a bit grumpy at times, but we all get grumpy now and then, especially me at 68. Presently I am at Normanton at present and riding on the Gulflander on Monday, I’d like to ride on the track that Charlie did all those years as the train driver. RIP Charlie Honey. 🥀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Enjoy the Gulf Country!
LikeLike