Aus Rail Historian
@ausrailhistorian.bsky.social
Independent railway historian. Neither an Academic, Royal or Bulletin historian. Email me at: transporttextbook@hotmail.com
Although HSR is a bust in SpecFic Australia of 2058, Medium Speed Rail seems viable with a ‘slow’ 200km/h service from Cairns to Brisbane. Another excerpt from Andrew Roff’s ‘Here are my Demands’.
November 18, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Although HSR is a bust in SpecFic Australia of 2058, Medium Speed Rail seems viable with a ‘slow’ 200km/h service from Cairns to Brisbane. Another excerpt from Andrew Roff’s ‘Here are my Demands’.
Even contemporary speculative fiction set in the 2050s knows High Speed Rail in Australia is a bust, as stated in this excerpt from Andrew Roff’s ‘These are my demands’ (2025).
November 12, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Even contemporary speculative fiction set in the 2050s knows High Speed Rail in Australia is a bust, as stated in this excerpt from Andrew Roff’s ‘These are my demands’ (2025).
Another item from the auction: A reproduction VR poster from Harold Freedman’s ‘Men of Service’ series. Freedman was a war artist in WW2 and later the state artist for Victoria. His major works include the
‘cavalcade of transport’ & ‘the legend of fire’ murals in Melbourne.
‘cavalcade of transport’ & ‘the legend of fire’ murals in Melbourne.
November 11, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Another item from the auction: A reproduction VR poster from Harold Freedman’s ‘Men of Service’ series. Freedman was a war artist in WW2 and later the state artist for Victoria. His major works include the
‘cavalcade of transport’ & ‘the legend of fire’ murals in Melbourne.
‘cavalcade of transport’ & ‘the legend of fire’ murals in Melbourne.
Another auction haul: a 1989 map of rail infrastructure in inner Melbourne including the now gone Melbourne Freight Terminal, Hump Yard & the now cut line to Webb Dock & rail sidings in the Port of Melbourne.
November 11, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Another auction haul: a 1989 map of rail infrastructure in inner Melbourne including the now gone Melbourne Freight Terminal, Hump Yard & the now cut line to Webb Dock & rail sidings in the Port of Melbourne.
Picked up at auction recently what looks like a full set of CountryLink A4 size holiday brochures from 1998. All bar the North West brochure feature the XPT. A bonus was the ‘welcome aboard’ brochure pre-1994 (no mention of sleeping cars). Enjoy! P.S. they might be for sale if people are interested.
November 8, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Picked up at auction recently what looks like a full set of CountryLink A4 size holiday brochures from 1998. All bar the North West brochure feature the XPT. A bonus was the ‘welcome aboard’ brochure pre-1994 (no mention of sleeping cars). Enjoy! P.S. they might be for sale if people are interested.
Picked up at auction recently what looks like a full set of CountryLink A4 size holiday brochures from 1998. All bar the North West brochure feature the XPT. A bonus was the ‘welcome aboard’ brochure pre-1994 (no mention of sleeping cars). Enjoy! P.S. they might be for sale if people are interested.
November 8, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Picked up at auction recently what looks like a full set of CountryLink A4 size holiday brochures from 1998. All bar the North West brochure feature the XPT. A bonus was the ‘welcome aboard’ brochure pre-1994 (no mention of sleeping cars). Enjoy! P.S. they might be for sale if people are interested.
Did a flying visit to Melbourne over the weekend. Only rail action of note was this video of a late running ST22 XPT out of Southern Cross station bound for Sydney races out of twilight into the night as it passes the Beckett St level crossing at Glenroy in Melbourne’s north on Saturday 1 November.
November 2, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Did a flying visit to Melbourne over the weekend. Only rail action of note was this video of a late running ST22 XPT out of Southern Cross station bound for Sydney races out of twilight into the night as it passes the Beckett St level crossing at Glenroy in Melbourne’s north on Saturday 1 November.
Transport Canberra bus #400 having a bit of an identity crisis today: TC at the front, ACTION on the back & sides.
October 27, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Transport Canberra bus #400 having a bit of an identity crisis today: TC at the front, ACTION on the back & sides.
OTD in 2014: in your own time Ablo…
October 27, 2025 at 4:19 AM
OTD in 2014: in your own time Ablo…
A couple of minutes away from its arrival at Canberra (Kingston) station, the SP31 service from Sydney rolls through Fyshwick at 11.07 this morning.
October 25, 2025 at 4:26 AM
A couple of minutes away from its arrival at Canberra (Kingston) station, the SP31 service from Sydney rolls through Fyshwick at 11.07 this morning.
If you wanted someone competent, you’d get Assistant Commissioner Claude Lebel (Day of the Jackal)
October 23, 2025 at 12:04 AM
If you wanted someone competent, you’d get Assistant Commissioner Claude Lebel (Day of the Jackal)
Who's solving the Louvre robbery? Right answers only… Good Moaning…
October 22, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Who's solving the Louvre robbery? Right answers only… Good Moaning…
Only a couple of minutes after departing Canberra station, the Sydney-bound SP34 Xplorer service passes through the industrial suburb of Fyshwick at midday, Sunday 19 October.
October 19, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Only a couple of minutes after departing Canberra station, the Sydney-bound SP34 Xplorer service passes through the industrial suburb of Fyshwick at midday, Sunday 19 October.
Today’s mail call: A bit out of my usual collecting path, this is a superb original example of a Qantas airlines poster from the 1950s advertising their new Lockheed Super Constellation airliner, the last of the great turboprop airliners before the arrival of the Boeing 707 & Douglas DC-8 jets.
October 17, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Today’s mail call: A bit out of my usual collecting path, this is a superb original example of a Qantas airlines poster from the 1950s advertising their new Lockheed Super Constellation airliner, the last of the great turboprop airliners before the arrival of the Boeing 707 & Douglas DC-8 jets.
Departing right on time, a fully booked 3-car Xplorer set departs Canberra (Kingston) station with the 5pm SP36 service bound for Sydney this afternoon.
October 15, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Departing right on time, a fully booked 3-car Xplorer set departs Canberra (Kingston) station with the 5pm SP36 service bound for Sydney this afternoon.
Sydney Ports (operator of Port Botany) have developed the former NSW Railways’ yard at Enfield into an inland terminal and container storage facility, with regular trip workings between Enfield & Port Botany.
October 12, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Sydney Ports (operator of Port Botany) have developed the former NSW Railways’ yard at Enfield into an inland terminal and container storage facility, with regular trip workings between Enfield & Port Botany.
Following hot on the heels of the previous train, a well-loaded double-headed port shuttle rolls toward the arrivals yard at Botany & the Port. The constrained site of the Port means sidings are between 300-620 metres in length, meaning the yard can be used to break up longer trains for the Port.
October 12, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Following hot on the heels of the previous train, a well-loaded double-headed port shuttle rolls toward the arrivals yard at Botany & the Port. The constrained site of the Port means sidings are between 300-620 metres in length, meaning the yard can be used to break up longer trains for the Port.
Next up was an inbound trip train heading for the port. Extensive investment in the Port Botany rail line has seen the line upgraded, duplicated & bi-directionally signalled.
October 12, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Next up was an inbound trip train heading for the port. Extensive investment in the Port Botany rail line has seen the line upgraded, duplicated & bi-directionally signalled.
Here, a well-loaded shuttle train has departed the port and passes the location known as Gelco after the long-gone Davis Gelatine Company works which were nearby. Details in Alt text
October 12, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Here, a well-loaded shuttle train has departed the port and passes the location known as Gelco after the long-gone Davis Gelatine Company works which were nearby. Details in Alt text
Had a great day yesterday with an old friend Brad on the Botany Line which serves Sydney’s main container port & looking at traces of many sidings & branches once serving industries nearby. The main traffic these days are port shuttles from suburban & regional terminals. Captions: Alt text
October 11, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Had a great day yesterday with an old friend Brad on the Botany Line which serves Sydney’s main container port & looking at traces of many sidings & branches once serving industries nearby. The main traffic these days are port shuttles from suburban & regional terminals. Captions: Alt text
OTD in 2018: Probably my favourite photo i took that year, with export EMD SD-40 unit C507 leading an empty grain train up Demondrille bank near Harden in southern NSW. Very atmospheric & its about as close as I'll ever get to experiencing a pre-1995 'Jet' freight blasting uphill from Bacchus Marsh.
October 6, 2025 at 8:52 PM
OTD in 2018: Probably my favourite photo i took that year, with export EMD SD-40 unit C507 leading an empty grain train up Demondrille bank near Harden in southern NSW. Very atmospheric & its about as close as I'll ever get to experiencing a pre-1995 'Jet' freight blasting uphill from Bacchus Marsh.
Friday mail call: A 1990 report by the Australian Rail Industry Council, another key document that set the parameters for the micro-economic reform of the rail industry in the 1990s (corporatisation, service contractions, reducing sizes of railway workforces).
September 27, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Friday mail call: A 1990 report by the Australian Rail Industry Council, another key document that set the parameters for the micro-economic reform of the rail industry in the 1990s (corporatisation, service contractions, reducing sizes of railway workforces).
The midday train (SP33) from Sydney was 35 minutes late when it arrived into Canberra today on a warm, windy spring afternoon at 4.55pm, only 5 minutes before its scheduled 5pm departure time to Sydney of. Luckily the practiced NSW Trainlink crews turned the train around quickly to leave at 5.19pm.
September 26, 2025 at 7:22 AM
The midday train (SP33) from Sydney was 35 minutes late when it arrived into Canberra today on a warm, windy spring afternoon at 4.55pm, only 5 minutes before its scheduled 5pm departure time to Sydney of. Luckily the practiced NSW Trainlink crews turned the train around quickly to leave at 5.19pm.
A couple of years ago, I purchased a late 1990s QR poster advertising the speed of the new Electric Tilt Train (first image). I wasn’t sure if it was part of a wider campaign until I saw the second image from May 2000’s Railway Digest, showing a billboard beside the Queensland North Coast Line.
September 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM
A couple of years ago, I purchased a late 1990s QR poster advertising the speed of the new Electric Tilt Train (first image). I wasn’t sure if it was part of a wider campaign until I saw the second image from May 2000’s Railway Digest, showing a billboard beside the Queensland North Coast Line.
Yesterday’s mail call #3: A booklet from Australian National Railways (successor to Commonwealth Railways) circa 1978-9 to provide an update on progress in constructing the new railway to Alice Springs (NT) from Tarcoola (SA).
September 20, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Yesterday’s mail call #3: A booklet from Australian National Railways (successor to Commonwealth Railways) circa 1978-9 to provide an update on progress in constructing the new railway to Alice Springs (NT) from Tarcoola (SA).