Without wishing to detract in any way from the many informative posts here on RP on the former Commonwealth Railways, the correct names of CR's former routes are:

• Trans-Australian Railway (Note the hyphen and the 'n' in Australian)
• Central Australia Railway (No hyphen and no 'n')
• North Australia Railway  (No hyphen and no 'n')
• Australian Capital Territory Railway which was generally a pain in the behind and always more nuisance that it was worth.

Just for information but there is nothing so good as getting something correct.

Yes you are correct. There was no official opening although one was planned but cancelled. I guess it would not have been a good look having politicians and special guests having a celebration in the middle of such a bloody and deadly world war.

As for GM 1 I have no idea. It is supposed to be heading back to WA before that. We will hopefully have a GM, CL and AL on display on the day plus CB2. There could be a surprise or two yet.

There was an opening ceremony. It took place in Perth on 16 November 1917. The Governor-General arrived in Perth by train and officially opened the line, although the first train had run on the line several weeks beforehand. Some articles can be downloaded from Trove:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/27460682?searchTerm=railway%20open&searchLimits=dateFrom=1917-11-15 dateTo=1917-11-18 l-advstate=Western+Australia
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37442177?searchTerm=railway%20open&searchLimits=dateFrom=1917-11-15 dateTo=1917-11-18 l-advstate=Western+Australia
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/27460682?searchTerm=railway%20kalgoorlie&searchLimits=exactPhrase anyWords notWords requestHandler dateFrom=1917-11-15 dateTo=1917-11-18 l-advstate=Western+Australia sortby
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92173518?searchTerm=railway%20open&searchLimits=dateFrom=1917-11-15 dateTo=1917-11-18 l-advstate=Western+Australia
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/27460746?searchTerm=railway%20open&searchLimits=dateFrom=1917-11-15 dateTo=1917-11-18 l-advstate=Western+Australia

Without wishing to detract in any way from the many informative posts here on RP on the former Commonwealth Railways, the correct names of CR's former routes are:

• Trans-Australian Railway (Note the hyphen and the 'n' in Australian)
• Central Australia Railway (No hyphen and no 'n')
• North Australia Railway  (No hyphen and no 'n')
• Australian Capital Territory Railway which was generally a pain in the behind and always more nuisance that it was worth.

Just for information but there is nothing so good as getting something correct.

My 1966 WTTs are headed Trans-Australian Line and Central Australia Line.

Without wishing to detract in any way from the many informative posts here on RP on the former Commonwealth Railways, the correct names of CR's former routes are:

• Trans-Australian Railway (Note the hyphen and the 'n' in Australian)
• Central Australia Railway (No hyphen and no 'n')
• North Australia Railway  (No hyphen and no 'n')
• Australian Capital Territory Railway which was generally a pain in the behind and always more nuisance that it was worth.

Just for information but there is nothing so good as getting something correct.

My 1966 WTTs are headed Trans-Australian Line and Central Australia Line.

I have no doubt Duttonbay that what you say is accurate.
One could argue that the WTTs are at least correct with the terms 'Trans-Australian' and 'Central Australia'.
The point that I was trying to make was to highlight the inaccuracy of terms such as Trans Australia, Central Australian etc.

By the way, congratulations with your plural of WTT being WTTs (without an apostrophe). A lot on here should learn the difference between plural and possessive.

Without wishing to detract in any way from the many informative posts here on RP on the former Commonwealth Railways, the correct names of CR's former routes are:

• Trans-Australian Railway (Note the hyphen and the 'n' in Australian)
• Central Australia Railway (No hyphen and no 'n')
• North Australia Railway  (No hyphen and no 'n')
• Australian Capital Territory Railway which was generally a pain in the behind and always more nuisance that it was worth.

A similar bug bear; try getting people to correctly refer to one of our earlier airlines correctly as Trans Australia Airlines (T.A.A.) which has no **n** on the end of Australia. Proof below of which is correct via the writing on one of their early aircraft and timetable    http://www.aussieairliners.org/convair/vh-tas/1029.024.html

Without wishing to detract in any way from the many informative posts here on RP on the former Commonwealth Railways, the correct names of CR's former routes are:

• Trans-Australian Railway (Note the hyphen and the 'n' in Australian)
• Central Australia Railway (No hyphen and no 'n')
• North Australia Railway  (No hyphen and no 'n')
• Australian Capital Territory Railway which was generally a pain in the behind and always more nuisance that it was worth.

A similar bug bear; try getting people to correctly refer to one of our earlier airlines correctly as Trans Australia Airlines (T.A.A.) which has no **n** on the end of Australia. Proof below of which is correct via the writing on one of their early aircraft and timetable    http://www.aussieairliners.org/convair/vh-tas/1029.024.html

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/tn/tn5911/tn5911-1.jpg

Thanks Petan.
A lot of people at this distance in time do not know the detail but we can still try to highlight the correct terminology to anyone who is interested. There will always be those who not only don't know but who don't care either.
Perhaps I am overly pedantic but I try (not always successfully, no doubt) to get things right as best as I can.
Looking at the T.A.A. timetable in your post reminds me of one of my favourite aircraft the Lockheed Electra - an era when air travel was far more comfortable than it is today. Except that smoking on the plane was still allowed.

Just had a brain storm...............

In addition to the criteria listed below I forgot slides! I guess there are plenty out there with slides of their time on the TAR

You are more than welcome to contribute as we can digitally scan slides and repair any damage at the same time.



"Living and Working on the Trans Australian Railway" exhibition

October at the Platform Gallery - Port Augusta Railway Station



We are looking for photographs from anyone who lived and worked on the TAR.

Photo Criteria:

Must not be copyright of anyone else
Preferably taken by yourself or a family member
Be of reasonably good quality (not out of focus, not too dark or overexposed etc)
Colour or black and white
Size to be at least 4' x 6"

Photo Theme:

Main theme is from an employee's or family's perspective
Everyday working duties on the railway
Recreation, social activities, sport
Living on the Trans - everyday household activities (cooking, cleaning etc)
Schooling

Just had a brain storm...............

Train1959, very curious why you used the "disagree" button on my TAA airline post just above, remembering I posted two references to show my material is accurate. Do you have a reference to say my TAA data is wrong?

Not at all Petan..........

Just find it frustrating that the anniversary of the TAR got to the point of TAA and whether you could smoke on fights! (the post after yours).

It makes if difficult to keep forums on topic when all I am trying to do is inform the readers about the anniversary. Someone new to the topic has to wade back through the irrelevant posts to get to the actual subject of the title.

Pardon my impatience, as I get older it seems to disappear!

Not at all Petan..........  Just find it frustrating that the anniversary of the TAR got to the point of TAA and whether you could smoke on fights! (the post after yours).It makes if difficult to keep forums on topic when all I am trying to do is inform the readers about the anniversary. Someone new to the topic has to wade back through the irrelevant posts to get to the actual subject of the title.Pardon my impatience, as I get older it seems to disappear!

So no disagreement with (edit) the factual accuracy of my TAA research. If you have checked my Railpage posts, you may have spotted the following one, which, if you follow the (National Library of Australia) Trove link supplied on my Railpage post on that thread, will result in pages upon pages of official government material for your Commonwealth Railway topic. Trove has it on the internet just waiting for you! My post on that thread will also lead to the other URLs below.

https://www.railpage.com.au/f-t11386072.htm  

https://www.nla.gov.au/blogs/trove/2017/03/02/commonwealth-gazette-1901-to-1957

Use the Government Gazette option along the top menu at https://trove.nla.gov.au/login

Cheers
Peter

A few people locally have asked me the following question in relation to the TAR anniversary and I thought I would share it with you.

They wanted to know if the Indian Pacific would be at the event on the Sunday.

We had lengthy discussions with Great Southern Rail in relation to changing their Indian Pacific timetable as a ounce off rescheduling.

The Indian Pacific currently travels through Port Augusta in the early hours of Thursday morning heading west (at least I think that is the case as I am not willing to get out of bed to verify it !).  

Unfortunately GSR felt that it would impact their current service. It would mean cancelling a service and replacing it with one that could stop in Port Augusta on a Sunday. We started discussions about a year ago but were eventually told that it would impact other tourism operators that relied on the service. I guess GSR has a business to run and as such I understand their dilemma.

They generously agreed to donate a trip for two Gold Class Sydney to Perth (or vice versa) on the IP. Entry is open to anyone at the event on the 22nd of October. The draw will be on the day.

They have also donated the same prize to the Royal Australian Mint for those buying the special anniversary coin set.

They are also giving certificates and the special Australian Mint Coin Set to anyone travelling on the IP in October. There will also be a new onboard Centenary commentary during that time. GSR are also looking at a number of media opportunities during the second half of the year to promote the event both locally and on the international stage.

Of all the groups and companies we have approached with regard to the anniversary GSR, although unable to alter their IP schedule, have been the most generous which is greatly appreciated.

We had lengthy discussions with Great Southern Rail in relation to changing their Indian Pacific timetable as a ounce off rescheduling.

The Indian Pacific currently travels through Port Augusta in the early hours of Thursday morning heading west (at least I think that is the case as I am not willing to get out of bed to verify it !).  

West bound IP (5AP8 ) departs Port Augusta Station at approx. 02:24am on Fridays
East Bound IP (1PA8 ) departs Port Augusta Station at approx. 03:15 am Tuesdays

The IP "round trip" is a seven day cycle with only six hour layover in Adelaide West bound and 3 hours East bound (and this time is used for servicing and exchanging rolling stock) so there is very little 'fat' in the timetable for alterations.

The Ghan arrives at Port Augusta Station at approx. 16:28pm Sundays, with a 26 minutes stopover, departing at approx.  16:54pm

Yes you are right. Departs Adelaide at 9.40pm Thursday.

Not sure if it even spends any time at all in Port Augusta. Hard to see anyone getting on or off at that time of night but you never know!

Easier to travel to Adelaide and get on there. Gone are the days of the hustle and bustle of the Port Augusta Railway Station on passenger train days. The clientele using the trains are different these days. I guess it is marketed to the international traveller as well. Would be interesting to see the passenger breakdown.    

We could hold a candlelight vigil on the night the IP comes through I guess to celebrate the occasion.

However there will be more than enough activities on the Sunday to make the day worthwhile.

Yes you are right. Departs Adelaide at 9.40pm Thursday.

Not sure if it even spends any time at all in Port Augusta. Hard to see anyone getting on or off at that time of night but you never know!

Easier to travel to Adelaide and get on there. Gone are the days of the hustle and bustle of the Port Augusta Railway Station on passenger train days. The clientele using the trains are different these days. I guess it is marketed to the international traveller as well. Would be interesting to see the passenger breakdown.    

We could hold a candlelight vigil on the night the IP comes through I guess to celebrate the occasion.

However there will be more than enough activities on the Sunday to make the day worthwhile.

ARTC Timetables show that 5AP8 spends 24 mins at Spencer Junction, and 1PA8 sends 10 mins at Spencer Junction with no stop for either at Port Augusta. The stop at Spencer Junction is for a crew change.

Can the Pichi Richi railway be of any assistance?

Can the Pichi Richi railway be of any assistance?

As stated in the Original post on page one ..............
"Some of the activities planned include:
The Pichi Richi Railway Historical Society will run a special train from Quorn for the day. They will also run a morning and afternoon shuttle to Stirling North and return before returning to Quorn later in the day;"

A little note on a question I'm getting locally regarding the TAR Centenary.

People have asked "will there be a special train similar to the 2012 Turning of the First Sod special?".

Unfortunately the answer is no.

We had discussions with GSR regarding a special train when the negotiations fell through for the IP to stop in Port Augusta on the Sunday.

Our thought was to make the train available to the general public (last time is was for the executives only). It would travel Adelaide to Port Augusta and return on the day. There could be a sit up section and a lounge section, there was even talk of meals served on board.

We thought it would be a marvellous opportunity for the public to partake in the event and travel on a line that the we rarely get the chance to experience these days except for those using the IP or Ghan services.

The reasoning from GSR was that "the full fleet of our carriages are now utilised on track at any one time, it is difficult for us to offer carriages for a special service outside of our regular trains". They also went on to say that October was a busy time for GSR, hence the full use of carriages and that a few others were in the process of being refurbished.

It seemed like a great idea at the time.............

The Overland cars are not in use on a Sunday.

GSR were just fobbing you off. They simply weren't interested in it.

Hi justapassenger, I hear what you are saying.

There are a couple of points to make.

Had the train come to Port Augusta on the Sunday and left at say 4pm you would assume a 8.30 - 9.00pm arrival back into Adelaide.
The Overland departs Adelaide for Melbourne at 7.45 am Monday so it does not leave much turnaround time to get it ready.
I guess it is doable but not on this occasion.

Also GSR had wanted to keep it as an "IP" consist with spare cars from the IP and/or Platinum class. However, as stated previously, they found the logistics and availability too much of an obstacle.

I guess "if you don't ask, you don't get" so we gave it a try. Negotiations started about 12 months ago so plenty of time to get things organised.

You never know they may change their minds although I am not holding my breathe. A special standard gauge train of some kind would have provided more of a spectacle on the day to compliment the narrow gauge Pichi Richi workings but it is not to be.

Genesee & Wyoming have agreed to have some locos on display on the day with limited access for the public so that is a bonus. The locos were the backbone of the Trans for many years so it fitting to have them on display.

Hope this helps.

That's not a narrow turnaround by any standard. It's only about an hour less than they get to turn it around in Melbourne on every single trip.

They simply weren't interested, but didn't have the balls to come out and tell you straight.

Just

Our discussion never included getting the Overland consist to Port Augusta, rather spare IP cars.

We move on.............!

Just

Our discussion never included getting the Overland consist to Port Augusta, rather spare IP cars.

We move on.............!

If a special train is needed, what about Rail Heritage NSW's "Southern Aurora"?

It would have to come from further away but it could be run from Adelaide to Port Augusta and back.

I would suggest that nine out of ten people watching wouldn't know the difference between that train and an IP set.

To haul it, you could, owners being willing of course, use SSR's GM27 and S317 which would do a good imitation of CLP class.

A little closer to home is Steamrail's standard gauge set of ex SAR cars now painted blue with gold lines as ran on the C Class tour from Melbourne to Albury. These spent many years running Adelaide to Port Pirie on the broad gauge connecting with most CR passenger trains. I don't think any matching S or B class are currently on SG (they are all working BG grain services).

Peter

Hi Peter

I think from memory we contacted Transport Heritage NSW about the Southern Aurora just after we contacted GSR last year.

The Southern Aurora has been to Port Augusta previously so it certainly is achievable. However............

It seems a well known railway tour identity had tentatively booked the train for the very same reason only to recently pull out again!
The train was to have gone to Ooldea back to Adelaide then back to Port Augusta before heading home. I have no written proof of this but I believe it to be true. Logistically taking the train out to Ooldea and return may have proved "a bridge too far".  

However after further discussions I found that there would be problems associated with such a trip this time around (even just to Pt Augusta):

• Transport Heritage NSW has undergone a change of board and are reviewing all services including the Southern Aurora. The costings have been a worry apparently but I know nothing more than that;
• The carriages are not fitted with proper effluent disposal facilities and this irks ARTC over which tracks the train would have to run;
• Many of the cars are undergoing refurbishment as we speak and may not be ready in time for such a trip.

Regarding the locomotive power I think Transport Heritage NSW would have that base covered. In the past they have used a heritage diesel of some sort coupled with a more modern mainline loco.  

You may be right about the 9/10 people not knowing the difference between the trains, but then again you may be wrong! Either way we tried all options that were open to us but were unsuccessful. As I have said previously, you can only try.

As for Steamrail I honestly have no idea. Someone would have to enlighten me on that one. I thought they were Victoria only.

I'm not a member of Steamrail, but I reckon it would be a huge ask for them to get a train there. My thought is that they should stick to what they're very good at, which is tour trains around Victoria.

All hope of doing anything beyond what Train1959 and the people of Port Augusta can put together died with the demise of CR/AN.