Isn't this just the most fabulous work of art! November 1937 until April 1962
The train is known as the Southern Aurora. It was a luxury train to the Victorian and New South Wales border town of Albury and began service in 1937. At Albury a change of trains was required to continue to Sydney. The reason for this was Victoria used the Irish broad gauge train track distance between the two rails, 1600mm or 1.6 metres. Victoria's dominant railway engineer was Irish born and would nothing to do with the English rail system. Broad gauge is superior but not widely used, the Betamax of train gauges if you like. Yes, you are old enough to get that.
New South Wales however used standard gauge, 1435mm, so a change of trains was required at the border town of Albury.
There are some terrific quotes US writer Mark Twain made about Australia and this is one of them about his train trip from Melbourne to Sydney. His sleep was interrupted at midnight by the need to change trains at Albury. Here is his quote:
“The strangest thing, the unaccountable marvel that Australia can show, namely the break of gauge at Albury. Think of the paralysis of (parliamentary) intellect that gave that idea birth.”
By 1962 a standard gauge track had been built so the need to change trains at Albury ceased. Sometime in 50s the steam train was replaced by a diesel powered train.
In the 80s the Southern Aurora was combined with the other Sydney Melbourne service, the Spirit of Progress to form the imaginatively named Sydney/Melbourne Express. The service is not called the XPT, I guess express train. It is anything but, if XPT sounds like speed.
Photo from the Border Mail. The train looks very old fashioned.
Now I have a little vested interest in this train service as we are using it in the near future. Today I thought I would see how well the service performed. I just hope today was one of those days where everything went wrong and is not normal. The trains are old, dating back to the 80s, and I guess unreliable. Unused new trains are sitting in yards in Sydney to replace the old trains but there are 'issues'.
The Melbourne bound train from Sydney broke down at Seymour and it took about three hours to repair. I believe this overnight train that arrives at Southern Cross Station at 7.30 forms the 8.30 day train to Sydney. Cleary that wouldn't happen and later I discovered the train had been replaced by a coach the full distance from Melbourne to Sydney.
The day train from Sydney is due at 18.30 and as I type at 18.12, it is 40 minutes late. I guess it forms the 19.50 overnight train to Sydney so it should depart on time.
Oh no, but fortunately the suburb is not too far away. "Due to a fatality at Tullamarine, this service is replaced by road coaches from Melbourne to Broadmeadows. At Broadmeadows passengers will join the XPT train for the remainder of their journey."
I'll be keeping a close eye on the train for the next couple of days.
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Another little jaunt? I look forward to knowing more. Fatality at Tullamarine? Sigh. Hard for the family and for the driver and staff if the train was involved.
ReplyDeleteYes EC, another little jaunt.
DeleteI take some (small) comfort from knowing that UK rail is at least as bad as the worst of Australia, though coming nowhere near the best. HS2 - what a disaster!
ReplyDeleteJB, you are spoilt with good train services. What a pity they are just so damned expensive. I am so interested to know what the average person thinks about HS2? It is costing a lot. No surprise there. It is disruptive. Yes, that is what happens. It is planned to stop short of London Euston now, requiring a change of trains. To me, that is a disaster. Do you think a high speed train on that route is not warranted?
DeleteI like the painting, as does my husband. :D I'm sorry reading about the fatality and yet another point of contention between the Irish and British. ~shakes head~ Mark Twain quotes never fail to amuse. Be well!
ReplyDeleteDarla, at least the Irish and English get along a bit better now. The Irish have plenty of reasons to be haters.
DeleteMark Twain was right - having different rail gauges in the same country was lunacy.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely correct YP. What were they thinking, even about making money by inter colony trade.
DeleteI love that picture. Taking a vacay on a luxury train is on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Sandra, we will probably not ever experience that now. Do it before it is too late.
DeleteThe picture is a work of art. Looking great.
ReplyDeleteIt is Roentare, thanks.
DeleteEnjoy your break. I believe it is quite an arduous train ride but await your report in full.
ReplyDeleteSM, I don't see it as arduous. The train is old but quite comfortable in first class. It takes time, but there isn't a rush. The scenery will be good. We can order a nice not meal. Our expectations aren't high. Have I convinced myself?
DeleteThe more they change, the more things break down and need fixing or just don't work. We should have stuck with the old stream trains maybe?
ReplyDeleteRiver, I really don't know how reliable steam trains were. I expect most of us have a romanticised view of them. They were certainly much less complicated.
DeleteThe first time we went to Sydney by overnight train, I thought the bedroom and private bathroom were very sophisticated :)
ReplyDeleteIt must have been great Hels. I wonder what year that was?
DeleteLoved reading those nuggets from history. Train travel has a unique charm. When I visited Sydney in 2019, I took the train for a short trip. Next time I am there, I would love to take a longer journey by train. India has an incredibly vast network of railways, which is used by millions to travel the length and breadth of the land. Credit it to the British who laid them for their commercial purposes. The present administration is now upgrading and modernising the system.
ReplyDeletePradeep, I wish I could recommend a Sydney train trip but my knowledge is lacking. At least you have something to be grateful for to the British invasion of your land. I do keep myself aware of what is happening with your trains, including unfortunate crashes.
DeleteAndrew, the train on the left in the pic is the “Spirit of Progress”. The “Sthn Aurora”, entered service following the completion of standard gauge in 1962.
ReplyDeleteAnon, how dare you spoil my post with facts. I am gonna have to fix it up, aren't I.
DeleteOh the woes of transport at times.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful painting.
Margaret, I wonder if we have a train to our airport before you have a high speed line to Hobart.
DeleteHonestly, I was more interested in clothes and boys than in trains, lol !
ReplyDeleteAnd here trains and the whole public transport is a catastrophe !
Gattina, when I was young, that too was I was interested in. I must have a good look at your public transport. I am sure it is not as bad as you suggest.
DeleteWell, I was going to say it sounds like it would be fun to take that train -- but maybe not!
ReplyDeleteWe shall see, Steve.
DeleteAmtrak is struggling with issues with their newest higher speed trains, they are still in testing. I was on a train that had someone step in front of it, we were delayed a few hours.
ReplyDeleteIs it TP. Interesting. I well remember the train incident as you were returning from New York.
DeleteI love traveling on the train. Did it a lot on short trips within Ontario but once took the train from Vancouver to Toronto although I did stop over at a few stops along the way. English friends did the Toronto to Vancouver in the posh Rocky Mountain train and loved it.
ReplyDeletePat, that sounds like a quick trip between two major cities but I know very well it isn't. We did the Rocky Mountaineer a few years ago and it was great. Only Gold Class though, not posh class.
DeleteI like the Twain quote about the train gauge.
ReplyDeleteStrayer, he was a good one for quotes.
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