I was at the lineside in Broadford to watch the brand new Southern Aurora go past complete with the neon sign on the rear of the last carriage. It only lasted 24 years in service and it has been more than 30 years since the service ended. Such is progress.
Progress? The governmnt are so in debt even 35-50% income tax is not enough. You drive & pay 50% fuel tax on our ever crowded highways thanks. & despite the huge poulation growth of Sydney & Melbourne (3 million tether when the Spirit was new, 5 million Whan The Aurora was new & over 11 million today) You get a train with far reduced accomadation that still takes longer than British mainline expresses did, in the steam era. No wonder few people use it (& I'm sure that makes th pollies look @ each other & smile)
The Aurora is still about but has been sold to another so called private heritage rail company, (well sold to 2 private mobs actually, as there were two sets of the Aurora for each direction at night when it was running as a real train), so they can rip people off on so called nostalgia trips.
@@125sloth You're dead right about ripping the people off. @ least when you take the Ghan Or Indian Pacific, you get a higher quality train (disregarding the service for a sec). These Comral cars, on The Ghan & IP, built from 1966-75, had intiriors that were more upmarket & modern, than the Aurora or latter Overland sleepers (very similar inside to Aurora), when new & have been upgraded considerably, since then.
@@johnsergei Excatly right. And there was a guy in NSW who recently bought an 'Aurora' set from the Canberra museum that basically went broke, to start another tourist type service. Except they were not genuine Aurora cars, but stainless steel sleepers that looked similar, but earlier than the Aurora from NSW. This train did not have individual toilets in each single roomette in the carriages, toilets were at the end of each carriage. I tried to break it to him gently that he had been sort of conned at auction. Nothing to do with the Aurora at all.
The semantics are what is a "train" and what is a "railmotor". There was a substantial difference between the scale of the Spirit and the scale of the Comet.
They had some of the carriages at the railway museum in Canberra. I wanted to go inside but they weren't open. They were more interested in steam trains than 60/70's. I think the museum is now closed?
Australia's version of the HST should simply be called the T (as there is no HS in the running of it). Rather than be a train that runs @ 130-160 km/h most of the time, the track slows it down so that in NSW it spends most of its time below 130. A considerable amount of time on the interstate routes, is below 90, or even 80.
No. It was 70 mph in Victoria. As for all our principle main lines. It did one specially authorized trip to Geelong at a higher speed. What the railways were proud of is the average speed. 52 mph start to stop including the climb over the great divide. No stops for fuel, water or other engine requirements.
70 MPH or 115 km/h. The XPT does 130 in Victoria & it feels faster, especially when compared to the traffic on the Hume Highway. With steam, if the drivers are 6 foot or bigger & you can keep the steam up, this speed & faster is easy "yeah, right!" says the fireman looking back as he shovels coal. Weather the S class, or the SAR 600 or NSW 38 class sped or not, is the stuff of legend. They had speed recorders but with big driving wheels, all were capable theoretically of 130-140 km/h, just as early diesels, if high geared. EMD Fs were used at 160 km/h on the Santa Fe Super Chief train, rather that passenger E type locos (for better traction on the grades) VR early diesels & GM class are mechanially much the same.
The SOP often got up to 80mph actually, between Albury and Culcairn. I was a conductor on the SOP back in the 70's and the culcairn to Albury section was great for making up time if a clear run was available, Not supposed to be done, but the track was safe and in proper alignment, and with 2 locos got up to 80mph very quickly, then coasted down hill. On downhill grades in Victoria the SOP also travelled at around 75mph. It was permitted but not official, if you get my drift. And you should have seen what the Daylight did in Victoria with a certain Wodonga driver on board. If it wasn't for the fact that they had to cross the Aurora in the tunnel prior to Spencer Street, it would have been early on most days it ran"on time". I have seen the old Daylight even get to Spencer Street platform at 12 minutes past 8. Eight minutes early. And an 8.15 arrival was not uncommon.
@@johnsergei But the XPT is far from a reliable train. The sets used on Sydney to Melbourne and vice versa have had more issues than the old Daylight, SOP, and Aurora combined. Which is interesting because the HST's in the UK, that the XPT is modeled on, are way more reliable, old ones through to newer modified units. Something is seriously wrong with the way XPT's are looked after in NSW.
@@125sloth You are on to something there. Though I have been on the XPT hundreds of times I have heard of many failures, especially in recent years. Over 30 years ago. I was on one when the real power car failed before Leaving Albury for Sydney. We took off, acceleration was slowish & the speed was up and down a lot. Sometimes at least 100, but every slight grade slowed us back down to 70 or less. I bailed out @ Wagga, so I don't know how it went on the steep grades & curve friction, ahead? & I think it was a full 7 car set? I don't think they'd started to run shorter set @ that stage. Somethings wrong with the entire real system in Australia. The government sold off the freight services & passengers? can just simply piss off. You know, drive cars & pay 50% fuel tax 24/7. Taxes don't fund government. What's on the Debt Clock does. The interest bill on that is multi billion of $ annually (from taxes).
The narrator is a real clot. Not only should the dialogue be flushed down the toilet (mixed feelings, UGH! " yeah, we love to see train services to be reduced" the best of that was still to come?) but the only wooden cars V/Line had by this time was 6 or so retro aircon fitted cars, in very nice condition. NSW had a few dozen shabby, non aircon wooden cars on country trains & a few hundred suburban EMUs of a 1920s design in mid 1986.
I was at the lineside in Broadford to watch the brand new Southern Aurora go past complete with the neon sign on the rear of the last carriage. It only lasted 24 years in service and it has been more than 30 years since the service ended. Such is progress.
Progress? The governmnt are so in debt even 35-50% income tax is not enough. You drive & pay 50% fuel tax on our ever crowded highways thanks.
& despite the huge poulation growth of Sydney & Melbourne (3 million tether when the Spirit was new, 5 million Whan The Aurora was new & over 11 million today) You get a train with far reduced accomadation that still takes longer than British mainline expresses did, in the steam era.
No wonder few people use it (& I'm sure that makes th pollies look @ each other & smile)
The Aurora is still about but has been sold to another so called private heritage rail company, (well sold to 2 private mobs actually, as there were two sets of the Aurora for each direction at night when it was running as a real train), so they can rip people off on so called nostalgia trips.
@@125sloth You're dead right about ripping the people off. @ least when you take the Ghan Or Indian Pacific, you get a higher quality train (disregarding the service for a sec).
These Comral cars, on The Ghan & IP, built from 1966-75, had intiriors that were more upmarket & modern, than the Aurora or latter Overland sleepers (very similar inside to Aurora), when new & have been upgraded considerably, since then.
@@johnsergei Excatly right. And there was a guy in NSW who recently bought an 'Aurora' set from the Canberra museum that basically went broke, to start another tourist type service. Except they were not genuine Aurora cars, but stainless steel sleepers that looked similar, but earlier than the Aurora from NSW. This train did not have individual toilets in each single roomette in the carriages, toilets were at the end of each carriage. I tried to break it to him gently that he had been sort of conned at auction. Nothing to do with the Aurora at all.
My late great uncle was the driver of the freight train that was involved in the head on collision on Feb 1969 🙁
thanks man!
Actually, as for the first air conditioned train in Australia, didn't the Silver City Comet beat the Spirit of Progress by one year?
+JBofBrisbane ; Comet was first by only a few months.
The semantics are what is a "train" and what is a "railmotor". There was a substantial difference between the scale of the Spirit and the scale of the Comet.
I was there on the platform when the train was at Spencer St.
Wow.
They had some of the carriages at the railway museum in Canberra. I wanted to go inside but they weren't open. They were more interested in steam trains than 60/70's. I think the museum is now closed?
"High speed XPT trains" - ye, high speed when compared to a horse and cart
The railway equivalent of a DC2 in 2002 = Railways in Australia
Australia's version of the HST should simply be called the T (as there is no HS in the running of it).
Rather than be a train that runs @ 130-160 km/h most of the time, the track slows it down so that in NSW it spends most of its time below 130. A considerable amount of time on the interstate routes, is below 90, or even 80.
XPT taking over in 3 years? Took until 1993 in reality
Wasn't the top speed for the spirit of progress 75mph?
No. It was 70 mph in Victoria. As for all our principle main lines. It did one specially authorized trip to Geelong at a higher speed. What the railways were proud of is the average speed. 52 mph start to stop including the climb over the great divide. No stops for fuel, water or other engine requirements.
70 MPH or 115 km/h. The XPT does 130 in Victoria & it feels faster, especially when compared to the traffic on the Hume Highway.
With steam, if the drivers are 6 foot or bigger & you can keep the steam up, this speed & faster is easy "yeah, right!" says the fireman looking back as he shovels coal.
Weather the S class, or the SAR 600 or NSW 38 class sped or not, is the stuff of legend. They had speed recorders but with big driving wheels, all were capable theoretically of 130-140 km/h, just as early diesels, if high geared.
EMD Fs were used at 160 km/h on the Santa Fe Super Chief train, rather that passenger E type locos (for better traction on the grades)
VR early diesels & GM class are mechanially much the same.
The SOP often got up to 80mph actually, between Albury and Culcairn. I was a conductor on the SOP back in the 70's and the culcairn to Albury section was great for making up time if a clear run was available, Not supposed to be done, but the track was safe and in proper alignment, and with 2 locos got up to 80mph very quickly, then coasted down hill. On downhill grades in Victoria the SOP also travelled at around 75mph. It was permitted but not official, if you get my drift. And you should have seen what the Daylight did in Victoria with a certain Wodonga driver on board. If it wasn't for the fact that they had to cross the Aurora in the tunnel prior to Spencer Street, it would have been early on most days it ran"on time". I have seen the old Daylight even get to Spencer Street platform at 12 minutes past 8. Eight minutes early. And an 8.15 arrival was not uncommon.
@@johnsergei But the XPT is far from a reliable train. The sets used on Sydney to Melbourne and vice versa have had more issues than the old Daylight, SOP, and Aurora combined. Which is interesting because the HST's in the UK, that the XPT is modeled on, are way more reliable, old ones through to newer modified units. Something is seriously wrong with the way XPT's are looked after in NSW.
@@125sloth You are on to something there. Though I have been on the XPT hundreds of times I have heard of many failures, especially in recent years.
Over 30 years ago. I was on one when the real power car failed before Leaving Albury for Sydney. We took off, acceleration was slowish & the speed was up and down a lot. Sometimes at least 100, but every slight grade slowed us back down to 70 or less.
I bailed out @ Wagga, so I don't know how it went on the steep grades & curve friction, ahead? & I think it was a full 7 car set? I don't think they'd started to run shorter set @ that stage.
Somethings wrong with the entire real system in Australia. The government sold off the freight services & passengers? can just simply piss off. You know, drive cars & pay 50% fuel tax 24/7.
Taxes don't fund government. What's on the Debt Clock does. The interest bill on that is multi billion of $ annually (from taxes).
The narrator is a real clot. Not only should the dialogue be flushed down the toilet (mixed feelings, UGH! " yeah, we love to see train services to be reduced" the best of that was still to come?) but the only wooden cars V/Line had by this time was 6 or so retro aircon fitted cars, in very nice condition.
NSW had a few dozen shabby, non aircon wooden cars on country trains & a few hundred suburban EMUs of a 1920s design in mid 1986.