Hey there!

My name is Nina and I am one of the friendly faces you will see behind the T-Bar on your typical Saturday night aboard The Blues Train! 

I first joined the Blues Train bar team in 2018, and to be fair I had no idea what I was getting myself into… As soon as I stepped onto the platform, I very quickly got the picture. We are literally riding on a heritage train! How cool!

Here at The Blues Train, we are a tight-knit family and that is what makes our nights aboard the train so fun. 

The T-Bar crew get to the platform at 5pm, around an hour and a half before our lovely patrons arrive. When we arrive at the beginning of the night, we have one goal; GET THE BEER COLD. That’s right ladies and gents, here on The Blues Train we are old school, and everything needs to be iced in buckets as back in 1880 when the train was constructed, it was set up sans refrigeration!

So as soon as the precious liquid is all iced and stowed away, we cool down the white wines and spirits; then set up the rest of the bar – all ready for you to order your icy cold beverage when you finally come to see us!

By this time, our patrons have started to arrive, and the T-Bar is set up and ready to serve you. We continue to serve as all our 204 guests arrive at Queenscliff and whilst you all get acquainted with your carriages and tuck into the delicious buffet dinner. After you have all eaten, the team heads up to the buffet to grab a sneaky bite to eat throughout the first leg of the journey, so that we stay fuelled throughout the night. 

Then we get a whistle from the train conductor, and it is time to get this show on the road! Whilst you all head back into your starting carriages ready to boogie to some blues, we load the bar on the train! That’s right, it travels with us!

To get the bar onboard we collapse the menu, disconnect the lights and roll it onto the bar carriage; all safe and sound. We then jump onboard to eat our dinner before rolling into Suma Park, via Lakers Siding. 

When we get in to Suma Park, we quickly jump out, roll the bar off, pop up the menu, and then lights, camera, action; we are there for all of your refreshment needs! 

After our quick stop off at Suma, we pack the bar up again, ready to head to Drysdale, our halfway point. Here, we are ready to mingle! This is our chance to get to chat to all of our patrons as we head around the platform to engage with our guests and invite you to join our VIP list. This is such a fun part of the night and we love seeing how much everyone is enjoying their time! 

After Drysdale, where you have all picked up a coffee from the coffee van, or maybe an ice-cream from the tuckshop, we head off on our return journey – to Suma Park one last time, before the final leg taking us back to Queenscliff. 

Once back at Queenscliff, we farewell all our patrons; what a great night! After all of our patrons have left we separate into two teams; one team cleans the carriages, and the other loads the van back up with left over stock, ready to be taken back to the warehouse. 

We finish up just on 12am, and we all farewell the train until the next weekend and look forward to seeing you all onboard the train again soon! 

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