Front Cover (Click for a larger view)
Train No. 4381 arrives at Ooldea on 12 November 1987 with Australian National, General Motors diesel locomotives BL28, CL17, GM35 and GM21 glinting in the sunset. Beyond Ooldea lies the Great Treeless Plain—the Nullarbor—where the train will spend the entire night-time hours on straight track. Max Michell’s recount of his trip on the ‘Trans’ begins on page 218.
Max Michell

Above: The G Class 4-6-0s were the backbone of the Commonwealth Railways before World War II. The first four locomotives were built by Clyde Engineering in 1914. G2, which entered service on 17 March 1914, was near the end of its running days when photographed taking water in Tassy Street Yard, Port Augusta on 30 December 1953. It became the last member of the class to be officially withdrawn in 1956. A total of 26 G Class locomotives were purchased, four supplied by Clyde, 12 by Baldwin, USA and ten from Toowoomba Foundry, Queensland. The latter firm had previously only manufactured farm machinery and to complete this order Queensland Railways came to their aid by supplying the boilers from their Ipswich Workshops. Doug Colquhoun