Australian Railway Heritage Guide

Guide to Australian Heritage and railway Museums forms the most concise and up to date guide to Australias heritage railways, museums, displays and attractions. It covers tourist train operations which are open to the public and includes state by state and region coverage, display listings and contact information.

Describes the Diesel and Electric locomotives used on the main line and export mineral railways in Australia and the operating preserved steam locomotives used both on preserved lines and on main lines. Diesel locomotives are listed according to the type of Diesel engine and arranged to show the development of a particular type of locomotive.

The twelve-hundred kilometre narrow gauge railway from Port Augusta to Alice Springs served the Outback of Australia for 100 years. Starting in 1878 as the Port Augusta and Government Gums Railway, it became the Great Northern Railway and then the Central Australian Railway. The once or twice a week passenger train became known as the 'Ghan'.Partially by-passed in the 1950s, the old narrow gauge line was closed in 1980 and the rails pulled up. Two sections have survived - the first 40 kms through Pichi Richi Pass which operates as a Heritage Railway and the final 23 kms into Alice Springs, which currently no longer operates.Although the rails have gone, there is still much to see along the route. The author has compiled this Guide to the old railway - what is there and what was there and how to find locations, mostly through his own travels and with his photographs taken over more than fifty years.

Since the publication of the first edition, a number of changes have taken place in the Australian locomotive fleet. Four completely new designs of locomotive have entered service, and new examples of existing types have appeared under new ownership, as well as to existing operators, and some locomotives have changed hands. Aurizon, in particular, have taken a large number of older locomotives out of service, and many of their narrow gauge locomotives have been sold for further operation in Africa. The Second Edition reflects these changes, with new entries for the new types and updated information in the entries for those types affected by new deliveries, sale or transfer overseas. A number of new photographs are included to illustrate the new types and new operators. The high standard of photography that made the first edition so popular has been maintained. The same quality of technical data has been provided in the new entries and these have been included in the correct sequence to maintain the book's emphasis on technical development. The text entries have been revised to reflect the changes and the indexes have been completely revised to take account of the changes.