Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms - SComrails Logo

Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms

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S.A.R.
See South Australian Railways.
Semi Permanent Coupling
Coupling between vehicles provided for normally fixed formation consists. This form of coupling is usually only disconnected in a workshop.
Shunt
To marshal vehicles in a given order to form a train consist.
Spirit of Progress
Victorian Railways train that ran between Melbourne and Albury to connect with the New South Wales train for Sydney. It commenced operation in November 1937. After the completion of the standard gauge line from Albury to Melbourne, in 1962, it ran nightly between Melbourne and Sydney.

In the 1986, the train was combined with Southern Aurora to become the north bound Sydney Express and the southbound Melbourne Express. The service was withdrawn in the 1990s.


Standard Gauge
A standard gauge railway has track with 4 foot 8½ inches (1435mm) between rails.
SteamRanger
See Australian Railway Historical Society.
South Australian Railways.
The railways in the state of South Australia were operated by the state government. In 1975 the "South Australian Railways" were sold the Commonwealth of Australia, who combined them with the Commonwealth Railways to form Australian National.
SAR&CR Joint Stock
South Australian and Commonwealth Railways Joint Stock operated on the East-West service between Port Augusta and Terowie via Quorn between 1917 and 1936. All the vehicles were owned by the South Australian Railways with only the costs being shared. Following cessation of this service, many of the cars were rebuilt.
Southern Aurora
The Southern Aurora operated nightly between Sydney and Melbourne in both directions and commenced running on 16th April 1962 shortly after the new standard gauge connection opened between Melbourne and Sydney. It was jointly owned by the New South Wales and Victorian railways and used cars similar in design to stainless steel cars built by Comeng for the Commonwealth Railways.

In 1986 the train was combined with Spirit of Progress to become the north bound Sydney Express; and the southbound Melbourne Express. The service was withdrawn in November 1993 when it was replaced by an XPT railcar service.


Southern Spirit
The Southern Spirit is a special passenger train operated by Great Southern Railway. Each journey incorporates a series of wayside stops and off train excursions to various tourist destinations.

It first run was called The Grand Tour and ran from Uluru (Ayers Rock) to Brisbane, via Alice Springs, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney over 14 days from 9 January 2010 to 22 January 2010. The train was hauled by NR84 and NR85 (at separate times) and included carriages FAM2389, HGM296, ER909, BRG974, BRG168, BRG175, AFC307, DF934, BRG972, BRG171, ARM990, HM957 and HGM903.


South Spur Rail Services
South Spur Rail Services are a Western Australia based private operator who have a number of contracts for hauling ballast, rail and sleeper trains. They operated a Restaurant Train service called Spirit of the West, using Australian Railway Historical Society coaches and a specially painted K class diesel locomotive, as an offshoot company called the Midland Railway Company.
Spirit of the West
see South Spur Rail Services.
State Rail Authority of New South Wales (SRA)
The State Rail Authority was the government authority responsible for the operation and maintenance of railways in the Australian state of New South Wales between 1980 and 2003. The State Rail Authority (SRA) was established in 1980 after the separation of the Public Transport Commission into the SRA, responsible for trains, and the Urban Transport Authority (UTA), responsible for buses and ferries.
State Transport Authority of South Australia.
The State Transport Authority of South Australia was formed as a result of the sale of the South Australian Railways to the Commonwealth in 1975. It took over the operation of the suburban rail system in Adelaide. It changed its name to Trans-Adelaide in July 1994.

It is a Government organisation answerable to the South Australian Minister of Transport.


Steamtown Peterbourough Railway Preservation Society Inc.
Steamtown was based at Peterborough in the mid-north of South Australia. The society was formed in 1977 and ran its first public train in 1981. Steamtown had a number of working locomotives (both setam and diesel) obtained from Western Australia and several former Commonwealth Railways diesel locomotives. Most of the passenger rollingstock they operated was originally used on the Commonwealth Railways Trans-Australian Railway.

The train operated on the narrow gauge line between Peterborough and Eurelia. In October 2003 the society was disbanded and all assets passed to the local council who intended using the core part of the collection as a static museum based in the Peterbourgh Roundhouse precinct.


Sydney/Melbourne Express
The Sydney/Melbourne Express was an intercapital passenger train service that operated between the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney between 1986 and 1993. It was operated jointly by V/Line and the State Rail Authority of New South Wales the name depended on the direction of travel.

The Sydney/Melbourne Express was formed from the merger of the Spirit of Progress and Southern Aurora to cut operating costs of the intercapital rail service with the first train operating on September 2, 1986. The last Melbourne Express ran on the night of Saturday November 20, 1993 ex Sydney, with the last Sydney Express running ex Melbourne on Sunday 21 November, 1993.



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