英闻天下——163 Aus Scenic Rail, Worlds' Steepest Passenger Railway

 　　The Scenic¹ Railway is the steepest cable-driven railway in the world. It was originally constructed for a coal and oil shale² mining operation in the 1880s.

 

　　From 1928 to 1945 it carried coal during the week and passengers on the weekends. The coal mine was closed in 1945 after which the train became a tourist attraction in Katoomba for decades.

 

　　However the Scenic, it's closing temporarily in January for construction to upgrade the 310 meter track and carriages. The new train is scheduled to arrive from Switzerland in early 2013.

 

　　Tourists' emotions are running high for the much-loved mountain attraction. For some it won't quite be the same.

 

　　"I rode on the first ride here in the late 1940s, and many times since."

 

　　It has become one of the state's signature attractions.

 

　　Some 25 million people have made the journey up the Blue Mountains for the experience.

 

　　In 1984 Scenic World began building a roller coaster known as the Orphan³ Rocker, named after the nearby Orphan Rock. It is the first roller coaster to be completely designed and manufactured in Australia. The highlight of this ride is meant to be a swooping⁴ banked turn that takes riders within meters of the edge of a 200-meter cliff.

 

　　It has in the past been referred to as a "sit down suspended" coaster, because although it is a conventional sit down coaster the trains can tilt⁵ from side to side, like a suspended coaster, giving it its name. However roller coaster has never publicly opened due to demands for redevelopment elsewhere onsite.

 

　　Former Scenic World director Philip Hammon says the railway became a tourist draw card largely by accident.

 

　　"When they opened it as a coal mine in 1928, after only a couple of years they started carrying passengers in a coal skip. They would put a burlap sack over the inside of the coal skip so as not to not dirty the dresses too much."

 

　　Current director Anthea Hammon says the train has simply run its track.

 

　　"So every piece of machinery⁶ has a finite lifespan. The design life of the current scenic railway was about 20 years, and we're at about 18 now."

 

　　Times have changed but the thrill of the mountain railway remains⁷. A man and his son just back from the ride say they had a great time.

 

　　"That was really lovely and we enjoyed it and my son was just getting crazy."

 

　　And a group of young women say they never tire of the railway.

 

　　"We've been on it thousands, I don't know, thousands of times. It's great. We love it every time."

 

　　For CRI, I am Zhang Wan⁸.

1 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

2 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

3 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

4 swooping   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
• And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东，一下子谈到西。

5 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

6 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。