Australian Steam
Although many individual aspects of the Australian steam locomotive story have been covered in book and article form, this is the first work to set out all the major facts and details between one set of covers. It is a fascinating story of motive power of several gauges, for the lack of an early gauge standardisation policy means that today 3ft 6in, 4ft 8½in, and 5ft 3in gauges exist in the various states, sometimes side by side where later unification has brought standard-gauge track alongside or mixed with other gauges. Indeed not until 1970 was a uniform gauge available right across Australia, an event marked by the running in August 1970 of the first and last through steam-hauled train from Sydney to Perth on the 4ft 8½in gauge. Alas three years later the last steam locomotive in regular service on an Australian state railway, NSW Garratt No 6042, was withdrawn for scrap in March 1973.
The author has taken a broad approach, rather than try to compete with local Australian writers and historians in compiling highly detailed minutiae of each individual locomotive, for such work is best left to the men on the spot. Australian Steam covers all the major Australian steam locomotive types; it is not only an account of what, when, how and why, backed up with tabular dimensional matter, but also places Australian steam in perspective, viewed from two angles, the narrower one comparing Australian locomotives with each other on a state by state basis so far as disparity of gauge permits and a broader angle based on world wide terms of reference. Inevitably such a view may cause some heartache among certain Australians, who will see that their locomotives are not the biggest and best in the world, but readers outside Australia will see that steam 'down under' was more interesting and varied than is often supposed, and that the 'best' engines were comparable with the best in most parts of the world.
Hardback with dust jacket, 17x25cm, 128 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Good/Very Good
ISBN: 9780715376058
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