kimberley's underground mining railway

I spent 5 years as Personnel and Industrial Relations Manager at a Tasmanian silver/lead/zinc underground mine similar to the Sullivan mine at Kimberley in Britsih Columbia. The enthusiasm and professionalism of the Kimberley "Underground Mining Railway" experience is quite outstanding. The underground tour is both educational and very realistic. Mr. Bill Roberts conducted the tour on each of our visits. He is entertaining and, as a long-serving employee who has written a book about the mine, he provides a very authentic dimension to the visit for adults and children alike. Whenever we're in Kimberley with visitors we do this trip when the tours are operating during the summer. It's not expensive and but worthwhile.

I take my son every year on this train. As locals, it's nice to know the history of our town and support this great little train. A very bumpy ride. We went in the morning and it was a little chilly, and they gave us some blankets to keep us warm. A very nice, comforting touch to our ride. Thank you ladies!

Wow did I learn a lot about mining and Kimberley. All the guides were extremely knowledgable about the mining industry. Very informative wouldn't recommend it for very small children.

This was worth the time to see how mining was done in this area. The people doing the tours actually worked at the mine which makes it more interesting along with demonstrations of some of the equipment they used.

What was not to like? A steam train ride and a mine guide.The guide we had was excellent. Will do the tour again next time we visit.

We went for just the train ride event they do at 10am. We were so surprised and loved it!! It was a great 45 min ride and our son was in heaven. Everyone was so sweet and nice and made the experience even better. We will for sure go back and do the mining tour next time.

This was a great rainy day activity. Our kids love train rides. The tour of the mine was really informative. Our girls are 8 & 6 and they did well, although at times they didn't follow what the Miner was speaking about. The Miner that presented was the real deal, he worked in the Sullivan mine for decades and was very knowledgable. It was very interesting to learn about the mining process and they demonstrated some of the machinery. The train takes you up the hill to the mine and into the mountain for the tour. The entire trip is about 2 hours. There are also a few buildings to tour at the train station. It cost about $55 for our family of 4. We enjoyed it and would recommend others visit.

Nice little train ride into the mine - probably the part the children enjoyed the most. The guide was very informative and had an obvious passion for his subject. The information was almost a little too detailed on the mechanics of it all and it was somewhat difficult to understand some of it. It was neat to see some of the old machinery run and the kids especially enjoyed seeing the large equipment fired up. It is great to see such an important part of the history of the area is being preserved and past on. There is also a small museum and school house to see on the property and all the staff are very friendly.

An authentic German barn transported from Bavaria. And wonderful food. It is best to book ahead as it fills quickly.

We've been coming to Kimberley for years and have never visited the mine. I'm so glad we did because now we have such a better sense of this community and the people who built it. Bill is extremely knowledgeable and shares information and stories that will impress everyone. I was impressed by the dedicated volunteers at this site, their obvious pride is contagious. This is not suitable for small children, but the guides are very accommodating and provided space for children whose interests could not be held.

We arrived around 1030 and made it okay to get on the 11 AM train . We enjoyed the train ride and saw three deer along the way to the mine. The underground portion of the tour was very informative. Our guide Bill had retired from the mine in 2000 and was an absolute wealth of knowledge. He ran some of the machines for us. We also toured the powerhouse and that too was interesting.

We went to the underground mine not expecting too much. It started with a train ride which was really cool and then a tour of the old mine. The guide was amazing and very informative and talked a lot about the history of the Kimberley Mine and how things operated. It was a little cool inside the mine so you may want to bring a sweater. We also had our kids with us which were 6 and 9 and I think it was more interesting for the adults but they also enjoyed it as well.

This is always a great stop when we get summer company. Very realistic, very informative, but not for the claustrophobic. Wonderful scenery from train on trip up to mine. Lovely little gift shop that won't break your pocketbook.

Was a good trip, a bit long for a 2 year old though, but it was neat to go underground and keep cool on a hot summer's day! Would recommend the express train on weekends in the summer for those with little ones.

Very good and educational, a bit too long for smaller children, just right for adults. Educational too.