A u s t r a l i a

Ship "Barcoo" of the A.U.S.N. and the Gladstone Boat Mail with PB15 class at Gladstone Wharf between 1898 and 1903 (coll. Queensland Rys., via Ray Ellis)


Chronology
1854: Railway Port Melbourne - Melbourne (5ft 3in broad gauge).
1876: Tasmanian Government Railways (Cape gauge) Launceston - Hobart.
1883: Railway Melbourne - Sydney completed (VR broad gauge/NSWGR standard gauge) change of gauge at Albury,
1884: English mail train.
1887: International Express Melbourne - Adelaide, from 1926 Overland Express (VR/SAR broad gauge).
1889: Railway Sydney - Brisbane completed NSWGR/QR Cape gauge), change of gauge until 1930.
1897: Gladstone Boat Mail Brisbane - Gladstone (QR, until 1923).
1917: Trans Australian Kalgoorlie - Port Augusta (CR standard gauge).
1929: The Ghan Adelaide - Alice Springs (Cape gauge).
1937: Spirit of Progress, a steam-hauled streamliner Melbourne - Albury (connection to Sydney).
1952: Trans Australian, de-Luxe streamliner, from 1969 Perth - Port Pirie on standard gauge.
1962: All sleeper Southern Aurora Melbourne - Sydney on standard gauge.
1970: Indian Pacific East Perth - Broken Hill - Sydney, from 1987 via Adelaide (by Australian National).
1980: The Ghan Adelaide - Alice Springs now a standard gauge streamliner.
1982: XPT introduced
1995: The Overland Melbourne - Adelaide now on standard gauge.
1997: Indian Pacific, the Ghan and Overland taken over by the new enterprise Great Southern Railway (GSR) with the intention to change them into tourist specials.
1998: The Ghan Sydney - Adelaide - Alice Springs, from 1999 also Melbourne - Alice Springs.
1999: Great South Pacific Express, a de-Luxe tourist special, initiated by James Sherwood, did run on QR/NSWGR until 2003.
2003: Tilt Train Brisbane - Cairns (QR)
2004: The Ghan Adelaide - Darwin.
2004: Ozback Explorer tourist special Sydney - Alice Springs by George Milaras.
2011: High speed study Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne


Gauge:
On most long distance lines standard gauge replaced the variety of gauges. QR Cape gauge.

The Boat Train Port Melbourne - Melbourne Flinders Street between 1936 and 1939 (Victorian Railways)


Sydney Mail of Queensland Railway, meter gauge section, with C19 class engine 698 at Toowoomba, an arranged photograph (QR/ coll. Ray Ellis)



"Indian Pacific" on NSW with class 44 Goodwin-Alco in the 70s (Public Transport Commission of N.S.W.)