With the south east Queensland lockdown lifted, and travel to regions such as Gympie opened up, Mary Valley Rattler’s first-ever Murder on the Rattler Express is back on track for a dastardly debut on Saturday 11 September.
The fun event will provide a great opportunity for passengers to dress to the nines in 1920s glamour and glitter, and sharpen their Agatha Christie skills to detect the murderer amongst them.
Each passenger will become a character in the drama, and can dress accordingly. Upon booking, everyone will receive a special name for the journey, along with event money to bribe or blackmail, and an ‘accusation form’ that they can use to smoke out the murderer.
The murder most foul will take place at Amamoor Station, and passengers in each carriage will be able to use the return journey to Gympie to hone their investigative skills for the big reveal over dinner. The clues will be everywhere.
A drinks cart will operate on board the Rattler, and a seated dinner in Gympie Station’s Rusty Rails Café will be where the murderer is revealed. There will be prizes for the passenger who solves the murder first, and also for best dressed and richest player as a result of their wheeling and dealing with the event money.
The Murder on the Rattler Express service will depart historic Gympie Station at 6pm on Saturday 11 September, in a steam train that was in operation back in the 1920s. The Rattler will travel through to the historic village of Amamoor, where the Rattler is rotated on a restored turntable for its return journey to Gympie.
The meticulously hand-crafted carriages and the rolling hills of the Mary Valley will provide an atmospheric backdrop for passengers as they seek to uncover the murderer within their midst.
Tickets are $195 per person, including a set dinner at Rusty Rails Café and all the props required for playing the murder game.
General Manager of the Mary Valley Rattler, Micheal Green, said that while it had been disappointing to cancel the Friday 13 August event, by holding the special service on a Saturday would make it easier for visitors from Brisbane and elsewhere to enjoy a full weekend in the region.
“The romance of the rails brings back all those memories of glamour and glitz and we are looking forward to people dressing up, having fun and getting into the spirit of the occasion,” he said.
“There aren’t too many opportunities for people to dress up and get into character, and with the event now being held on a Saturday, we are hoping that visitors from Noosa, the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Hervey Bay and the rest of south-east Queensland will come to the Gympie region for a really fun and entertaining weekend.”
Bookings and further information at maryvalleyrattler.com.au
