Vintage Australian railway film - All manner of trains - 1962

An overview of Australia's railways in the early 1960s, before gauges across the country were standardised. From Cairns to Brisbane on the Sunlander, to Sydney on the Brisbane Limited then the Daylight Express to the border and the Spirit of Progress we make our way to Melbourne. We then board the Overland to Adelaide, followed by the Port Pirie Express and the Transcontinental to Kalgoorlie, before boarding the Westland for Perth. The second section looks at other significant lines and services whilst stressing the importance of the rail network to Australia's rural areas and to the nation's progress. Made by The Commonwealth Film Unit, 1962.
No claim of ownership is made of this footage. This footage is posted here for archival and educational purposes. This video is not monetised.

Пікірлер: 41

  • @NL-001
    @NL-0019 ай бұрын

    In 1961 and 1962 I have traveled with the nighttrain from Sydney to Adelaide and back. It made such a big impression on my, being about 11 years old, I still remembered the view from the window and details of the interior. Would really love to see a train like that again.

  • @mickcarson8504
    @mickcarson85042 жыл бұрын

    1962, sigh! My beautiful Australia. How I miss those days. Best times of my life.

  • @simonf8902
    @simonf89022 жыл бұрын

    This guy makes a marvellous trip. Not possible today.

  • @ianomeara3963
    @ianomeara39632 жыл бұрын

    We have lost most of those trains. And a way of life.

  • @jamesgovett2501
    @jamesgovett25012 жыл бұрын

    Great shot of Antill Rangers Commer knocker semi at 27.09 and TNT’s R190 petrol powered or R200 diesel powered inter coming off the train and love the shot of the Wig Wag level crossing warning signals when the SA’s red hen goes thru

  • @captaincool3329
    @captaincool33292 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for uploading this video. I may have been born after the turn of the millennium, but I'm nostalgic for these good times- Australia's greatest era- one which my ancestors witnessed. Things were simpler, speech more eloquent, and hard work was all one needed to be employed in a good paying job for life.

  • @ThePaulv12

    @ThePaulv12

    Жыл бұрын

    What a load of crap. It was horrible then. This cheesy vid paints a picture of complete fantasy. Still it is an interesting vid but as for the other stuff the reality of life now compared to then, is far in favour of now, but perhaps less so for the gunzel I admit.

  • @scotttimpson7269

    @scotttimpson7269

    5 ай бұрын

    @ThePaulv12 Other than better medical services, safer work practices and a bit less racism (maybe), international cuisine and good coffee. What is is that is better now ? Loss of more native vegetation and native animals, poor quality expensive and energy hungry houses creating ugly urban sprawl, bitumen roads crisscrossing the landscape, or is it the convenient access to fast unhealthy food, bottle water, takeaway coffee and other crap easily accessible in a modern society ? I was born in 1967 and wish I was born 10 - 20 years earlier.

  • @Parlophonic
    @Parlophonic2 жыл бұрын

    What a splendid film. Thank you so much for posting.

  • @dieseldavetrains8988
    @dieseldavetrains89883 жыл бұрын

    Brilliant video, those were the days when we actually had a railway when pride and public service mattered and a job for life and not dollar profits. Thanks for resurrecting this classic. Gauges across the country have yet to be standardised (mentioned in the intro) as QLD and Tasmania still out of the sphere of progress. Then again, as Sir Joh would say..."Don't you worry about that!".

  • @darylcheshire1618
    @darylcheshire16183 жыл бұрын

    Sad to note the Far West Express to Bourke became a bus in 1974 twelve years later.

  • @nathansmith2062
    @nathansmith20623 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for that. I used to have that footage on VCR which i wore out by watching it over and over again as a child. Was great to watch it again

  • @johngrae2946
    @johngrae2946 Жыл бұрын

    What a great vid, brought back many wonderful memories.

  • @gregbowen617
    @gregbowen6172 жыл бұрын

    I traveled from Cairns to Melbourne and back by train many, many times when I was young… on the Sunlander, Brisbane Limited, IntercapitalDaylight, Southern Aurora and Spirit of Progress

  • @ulrikezachmann7596
    @ulrikezachmann7596 Жыл бұрын

    This is a great piece of history and it is a shame many railway lines have been shut and left to rot with little vision of a rail future. It will cost twice as much to open them again. If we want a greener planet we need railways more than ever. Very sad we don’t have the older style trains anymore either. Now we have these commuter coffins where you cannot open a single window and suffocate when the air con isn’t working in summer and made in Korea.

  • @theoztreecrasher2647
    @theoztreecrasher26474 ай бұрын

    Intriguing look at history. Also interesting to see how the auto-generated Captions have a serious problem interpreting English as she was spoken by folks not named Thethil Gupta Louise Gilligumbari. The times they are a' changin'! 😵‍💫

  • @johnhermann8121
    @johnhermann81213 жыл бұрын

    I have watched this film a number of times; and I never get sick of it!

  • @TheDaf95xf
    @TheDaf95xf2 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely fantastic video 👍🏻 Hopefully the railways will have its day again 😀😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

  • @pixelwash9707
    @pixelwash970711 ай бұрын

    Interesting to see the automation of laying the tracks, but the big problem in my experience of long haul Aussie railways was how bumpy they were when I travelled on them in the eighties. The roads improved a lot with time, so I found the buses actually more comfortable than the trains for overnight trips.

  • @jimstrainsandstuff9539
    @jimstrainsandstuff95393 жыл бұрын

    Love the footage! Brings back memories from my early childhood. ( I think I came out of the womb loving trains! )

  • @antoniocareddu4094
    @antoniocareddu40943 жыл бұрын

    bellissimo video.

  • @studebaker4217
    @studebaker42172 жыл бұрын

    Fascinating in so many ways, thank you.

  • @ianomeara3963
    @ianomeara39633 жыл бұрын

    Just about all those trains have disappeared how 😞

  • @Tom-Lahaye
    @Tom-Lahaye3 жыл бұрын

    What a different time, lots of the work was still very physical despite some level of mechanisation, those sacks with copper ore must have weighed a lot. Some of the locomotive classes shown have still examples soldiering on almost 60 years later, the standardisation of track gauges has not yet been completed, and in the end long distance trains have lost against the plane. Many promises in this film have not been turned to reality, however freight traffic has seen a lot of improvements in much larger train loads, modern rolling stock with mechanical methods of loading and unloading, and using containerised transport which has eliminated a lot of that back breaking transshipment work.

  • @Sam_Green____4114

    @Sam_Green____4114

    2 жыл бұрын

    Which promises weren't turned to reality ?

  • @johnclayden1670
    @johnclayden16703 жыл бұрын

    Fascinating! My rail experience is thus far limited to Canberra to Sydney vv.

  • @simonf8902
    @simonf89022 жыл бұрын

    It took till 1970 till you get from one side to the other.

  • @chieffirefigherplays
    @chieffirefigherplays3 жыл бұрын

    Ah, trains, I love how you guys post these Archive footage! Just astounding how you guys get your hands onto this.

  • @michaelwatson5976
    @michaelwatson59763 жыл бұрын

    At approximately 33:00 there’s a Ballast Regulator similar to one you might recognise.

  • @imacgra1
    @imacgra13 жыл бұрын

    love the footage - must say, though, that I'm glad they don't do soundtracks like that anymore, what with diagetic sound being so much easier to record than it was then.

  • @Sam_Green____4114
    @Sam_Green____41142 жыл бұрын

    Did George get his travel free ? l bet he did, working for the railways himself !! l got free travel in the UK and Europe as l worked for British Railways for 25 years. l Travelled all round Europe for free three times in 25 years and got a 50% discount crossing the USA coast to coast !!

  • @Sam_Green____4114
    @Sam_Green____41142 жыл бұрын

    Not the case now l'll bet !! Trucks took over !! l bet a lot of these lines are closed !!!

  • @FoelyZ89
    @FoelyZ89 Жыл бұрын

    A nice job by the railways for Australian notorious mad tennisser Kyrigos and a therapy to act normal in life and learn to behave himself. 😌

  • @HenryOrsm
    @HenryOrsm3 жыл бұрын

    2:14 is that electrified?

  • @BennettBrookRailway

    @BennettBrookRailway

    3 жыл бұрын

    It is.

  • @zanelindsay1267
    @zanelindsay126722 күн бұрын

    At 23:27 "... Latrobe Valley Victoria is the site of Australia's largest known brown coal deposit" with "enough coal here to supply the State Electricity Commission ... with fuel for the next 4,000 years." Isn't that reassuring.