The Southern Aurora: Story Of Australia's Greatest Express Train
Transportation History Australian History Local History True Stories Railway History Vintage Collectible Technology History
First-edition paperback from 1989, Mark Tronson’s The Southern Aurora is the only full-length chronicle devoted to Australia’s most prestigious overnight express – the 1962–1986 stainless-steel icon that linked Melbourne and Sydney in 11½ glamorous hours. At 160 pages the book is compact yet encyclopaedic, covering motive-power changes, the Bevan’s 120 mph test runs, buffet-car menus, sleeper layouts and the 1969 Violet Town collision that changed Australian rail safety. Collectors prize this title because it was printed once and never re-issued; copies in any readable condition now change hands for many times the original news-stand price.
Inside you’ll find first-hand interviews with drivers, conductors and buffet stewards, plus 80-plus rare photographs and diagrams not available in government archives: the original buffet menu, sleeper berths folded down, a double-headed 44-class on the steep grades out of Broadmeadows, and the last stainless-steel consist at its 1986 farewell. Tronson balances technical detail – axle loads, braking percentages, timetables – with human stories of train-host romances, lost luggage and the famous passengers who rode the “Aurora” for its speed, comfort and Art-Deco glamour. The result is a transport book that reads like social history, perfect for modellers, historians and anyone who ever waved at the big white express in the night.
This copy is a clean 1989 first printing: no ex-library stamps, no inscriptions, no page tears, binding still square and tight. The only wear is light scuffing to the glossy cover and a faint corner crease to the first dozen pages – typical shelf evidence that keeps the price sensible while still giving you a genuine ’80s piece of Australiana. For collectors of Australian railways, vintage passenger stock, or transport technology of the stainless-steel era, The Southern Aurora is the cornerstone volume that every other reference cites; secure it now while first editions remain available.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
Buy Now