The Great Toowoomba Rail Incident

We packed up had a talk to a couple who are camping here but don’t live far away. He owns a farm and can’ stop working on weekends unless he leaves so he comes down here and camps for the weekend. They don’t do anything just sit around, what a great idea.
We drive through Laidley and head towards Toowoomba. It’s a big town but you have to drive up a huge mountain just before you get there. We have a bit of a look around and find a windscreen place as the rock chip finally gave way. Then just as we drive down the main street in front of the Westfield the Axle spring shackle broke on the Caravan. The axle twisted back and locked up the brakes and skidded us to a halt right on the middle of a railway line. At first I just though the electric brakes must have locked until and inspection found the snapped axle mount. This was not only serious. but bloody scary as well. I had to jump back in and drag the locked van off the railway line before a train comes.
It would only move just enough to clear the track without snapping the axle off completely. A tow truck pulls up behind us and put son his flashers and this stopped the car problems a little. Di I mention the embarrassment factor as well? I jacked up the caravan moved the axle forward and used a G clamp and chisel to hold it in place. Lowered the jack and drove off to the place the driver recommended, unfortunately 5km away. This 40 minute drive in 2nd gear was such fun.
Anyway $ 284 & 4 hours later it is fixed with new shackle brackets both sides and all new welds (the other side was cracked) we are off again. Apart form the obvious dangers of this happening on the railway line and massive social embarrassment it happened at very low speed in a town where we could get this serious damage repaired in the same day. Bloody lucky compared to all the places we could have been.
We try not to complain you have got to expect some repairs if you are going to drive around Australia and take all those back roads I love.
We headed off to Somerset Dam another windy mountain drive about 80-100km away. It got late and we stopped at a rest area next to an outlet for the dam, No Camping allowed but 3 other RV’ had already pulled in. We were buggered and needed a rest.
Thank god that day was over.