Above: Among the design proposals for the Victorian Railways (VR) in the 1920s were locomotives based on American practice. One design would have been similar to the South Australian Railways (SAR) 600 Class 4-6-2 Pacifics. The Victorian example had identical cylinder dimensions and boiler pressure as that originally proposed for the 600 Class. Here, SAR locomotive 603 is passing the Adelaide suburb of Islington with a Down goods on 20 August 1938. Ian Jenkin looks at the designs and blueprints of the proposed Victorian Railways locomotives in a multi-part article beginning on page 58 in this issue. R McMillan, Murray collection, ARHSnsw Railway Resource Centre 11087

Front Cover (Click for a larger view)
New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) Standard Goods locomotive 5031 is about to depart Aberdare Colliery on the South Maitland Railways during the 1949 coal strike. Most news photographs of the coal lift were taken on the first day, so this is probably the first train to leave Aberdare on 15 July 1949. The movie cameraman on the extreme right of the photograph is probably working for one of the newsreel companies (Cinesound or Movietone). Movie footage of the coal lift was later shown in newsreels in cinemas prior to the feature film. The figure in the middle distance on the line to the right of the train is probably a policeman protecting the yard against interference from the striking miners. The two tracks to the right of the locomotive are separating to pass the island platform of Caledonia Station. Trevor Edmonds’ study of the coal lift during the crippling 1949 strike begins on page 44.
Ed Tonks collection