Australian Railway History

31/10/2025

🚂 THE NOVEMBER ARH ISSUE OUT NOW IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂
One of Australia’s historic rail achievements, the extension of the Main South Railway Line from Goulburn to Gunning, officially opened on 2 November 1875. Gunning is a small village of around 820 people located in the Southern Tablelands of NSW at an altitude of 578 metres. The town is noteworthy for being close to the starting point for Hume and Hovell’s 1824 overland expedition to Port Phillip Bay. The Main South Line reaching from Goulburn to Gunning was beyond doubt a major political, engineering and operational achievement so this month’s issue is fully dedicated to Gunning and what the arrival of the railways meant for the further development of the colony and the Southern Tablelands region with passengers, traffic and operations!
We also review riding in the cab of the Tinplate Express in the early 1960s and review the changes of Gunning and the region as a District Engineer in the late 1960s to 1970s (100 years since the opening) and the changes since!
All this and more in our November issue!
Grab your copy now!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/

29/10/2025

Gunning Railway Station is turning 150 & YOU’RE INVITED TO THE PARTY this weekend on Sunday 2nd November: https://www.southerntablelandsarts.com.au/connect150/
🚂 Also make sure you get your copy of THE NOVEMBER ARH ISSUE OUT on Saturday IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂
One of Australia’s historic rail achievements, the extension of the Main South Railway Line from Goulburn to Gunning, officially opened on 2 November 1875. Gunning is a small village of around 820 people located in the Southern Tablelands of NSW at an altitude of 578 metres. The town is noteworthy for being close to the starting point for Hume and Hovell’s 1824 overland expedition to Port Phillip Bay. The Main South Line reaching from Goulburn to Gunning was beyond doubt a major political, engineering and operational achievement so this month’s issue is fully dedicated to Gunning and what the arrival of the railways meant for the further development of the colony and the Southern Tablelands region with passengers, traffic and operations!
We also review riding in the cab of the Tinplate Express in the early 1960s and review the changes of Gunning and the region as a District Engineer in the late 1960s to 1970s (100 years since the opening) and the changes since!

All this and more in our November issue!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/

28/10/2025

Great to see Frank Johnson, author of one of our GUNNING 150 articles for the forthcoming November issue is featured in recognition of another one of Australia’s historic rail achievements – the extension of the Main South Railway Line from Goulburn to Gunning, officially opened in 1875.
Celebrations is about to kick off both this weekend at Gunning NSW on Sunday the 2nd of November and next week on Wednesday, 5 November in Sydney.

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Early next month, Engineers Australia will mark one of the nation’s historic rail achievements: the 150th anniversary of the extension…

03/10/2025

🚂 THE OCTOBER ARH ISSUE OUT NOW IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂
In Part 2 of Demise of the Australian Standard Garratts in Queensland we start in 1939, immediately after the declaration of war, there was an emphasis on increasing the support of Queensland’s manufacturing of material for the war effort. Both the Ipswich and Rockhampton railway workshops had a focus on production of vital components for the armed forces. Railway maintenance and construction were curtailed. On 31 July 1942, the CLTB recommended to the War Cabinet that 30 Garratt locomotives be built for the 1067 mm gauge railways of Australia and thus the ASG were coming to Queensland.
The Mighty 60 Class Garratts on the North are well shown in fine form this month with plenty of double working before NSWs Short North was electrified, a time now lost and changed.
Col Gammidge worked for the New South Wales Railways for 13 years from 1952 to July 1965. His article relates some of his experiences working as a fitter and machinist, then later as an electrical equipment examiner in various locations around Sydney. This is an interesting article where the author starts with the author saying ‘There were no ‘clean’ jobs around a steam locomotive’ to ‘the dress code changed from really greasy running shed overalls to casual clothes and a dust coat as we were now mixing with day-to-day suburban train passengers.’
All this and more in our OCTOBER issue!
Grab your copy now!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/

30/09/2025

🚂 THE OCTOBER ARH ISSUE OUT NOW IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂
In Part 2 of Demise of the Australian Standard Garratts in Queensland we start in 1939, immediately after the declaration of war, there was an emphasis on increasing the support of Queensland’s manufacturing of material for the war effort. Both the Ipswich and Rockhampton railway workshops had a focus on production of vital components for the armed forces. Railway maintenance and construction were curtailed. On 31 July 1942, the CLTB recommended to the War Cabinet that 30 Garratt locomotives be built for the 1067 mm gauge railways of Australia and thus the ASG were coming to Queensland.
The Mighty 60 Class Garratts on the North are well shown in fine form this month with plenty of double working before NSWs Short North was electrified, a time now lost and changed.
Col Gammidge worked for the New South Wales Railways for 13 years from 1952 to July 1965. His article relates some of his experiences working as a fitter and machinist, then later as an electrical equipment examiner in various locations around Sydney. This is an interesting article where the author starts with the author saying ‘There were no ‘clean’ jobs around a steam locomotive’ to ‘the dress code changed from really greasy running shed overalls to casual clothes and a dust coat as we were now mixing with day-to-day suburban train passengers.’
All this and more in our OCTOBER issue!
Grab your copy now!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/

19/09/2025

🚂 THE SEPTEMBER ARH ISSUE OUT NOW IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂

Much has been written previously regarding the deviations between the base of Lapstone Hill, west of Emu Plains, and Blaxland, bypassing the Little, or Lapstone Zig Zag, and the subsequent single-line first Glenbrook Tunnel. The current double-track alignment opened in full to Blaxland on 25 September 1913, although separately located Up and Down tracks had been available following the opening of the Down line through Glenbrook Gorge on 11 May 1913. This provided great relief from the first Glenbrook Tunnel on the Down and alleviated the bottleneck for Up movements. A Blue Mountains read is always fascinating.

All this and more in our SEPTEMBER issue!
Grab your copy now!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/

05/09/2025

🚂 THE SEPTEMBER ARH ISSUE OUT NOW IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂

They are utilitarian, unglamorous and now 40! Many would pick a B or an A Class before an N but V/Line’s N Class diesel-electric locomotives came about as a ‘new build’ adoption of the specifications drawn up for the B-to-A Class rebuilds being undertaken by Clyde Engineering. September is a great time to look back at the V/Line years and yes, the freight working before the freight working that we are now getting comfortably with seeing as the locos create new lives at SSR!
Its also 80 years since the Australian Standard Garratts were banned in Queensland. For readers that enjoyed the special January 2023 issue (80 years since the arrival of the ASG’s) the locos use in Queensland is controversial, so any new research is always extremely appetizing to read!
Much has been written previously regarding the deviations between the base of Lapstone Hill, west
of Emu Plains, and Blaxland, bypassing the Little, or Lapstone Zig Zag, and the subsequent single-line first Glenbrook Tunnel. The current double-track alignment opened in full to Blaxland on 25 September 1913, although separately located Up and Down tracks had been available following the opening of the Down line through Glenbrook Gorge on 11 May 1913. This provided great relief from the first Glenbrook Tunnel on the Down and alleviated the bottleneck for Up movements. A Blue Mountains read is always fascinating.

All this and more in our SEPTEMBER issue!
Grab your copy now!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/

30/08/2025

🚂 THE SEPTEMBER ARH ISSUE OUT NOW IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂

They are utilitarian, unglamorous and now 40! Many would pick a B or an A Class before an N but V/Line’s N Class diesel-electric locomotives came about as a ‘new build’ adoption of the specifications drawn up for the B-to-A Class rebuilds being undertaken by Clyde Engineering. September is a great time to look back at the V/Line years and yes, the freight working before the freight working that we are now getting comfortably with seeing as the locos create new lives at SSR!
Its also 80 years since the Australian Standard Garratts were banned in Queensland. For readers that enjoyed the special January 2023 issue (80 years since the arrival of the ASG’s) the locos use in Queensland is controversial, so any new research is always extremely appetizing to read!
Much has been written previously regarding the deviations between the base of Lapstone Hill, west
of Emu Plains, and Blaxland, bypassing the Little, or Lapstone Zig Zag, and the subsequent single-line first Glenbrook Tunnel. The current double-track alignment opened in full to Blaxland on 25 September 1913, although separately located Up and Down tracks had been available following the opening of the Down line through Glenbrook Gorge on 11 May 1913. This provided great relief from the first Glenbrook Tunnel on the Down and alleviated the bottleneck for Up movements. A Blue Mountains read is always fascinating.

All this and more in our SEPTEMBER issue!
Grab your copy now!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/

08/08/2025

🚂 THE AUGUST ARH ISSUE OUT NOW IN DIGITAL AND PRINT🚂

The Melbourne Underground Rail Loop (MURL) took almost 60 years to come to fruition and has now been in service for over 40 years. Its eventual construction followed the works that had been laid out in the Ashworth plan at the beginning of the Second World War but were not completed until the MURL’s construction was actually underway. Several maps and photos help to show the evolution of what would become the Melboune City Loop. We finish the Circus Trains of Australia this month but there are possibly more insights to come with Wirths Circus being left for another day. Still hard to believe that there were so many circuses shows traveling across the country at a time! It’s been 50 years since Electrification to Riverstone, With those wooden supports for the overheads was it done on the cheap and was the new timetable really that great when it was replaced several months later? Look back at when you used to have to change trains to get to Richmond on the Richmond Line.
All this and more in our AUGUST issue!
Grab your copy now!
Print and digital formats available. Order at:
arhsnsw.com.au/australian-railway-history/