I nodded off a few times as I watched , I`m getting on in years too like the GM class . I rode the freight Ghan from Pt Augusta to Alice in 1970 . Trip cost $14 and took 2 weeks .My father had done it on an AIF troop train in the 1940`s having been sent to Darwin . He said the train was so slow you could get out and walk ahead of it .I also saw one of the GM`s laying on it`s side somewhere near Fink river . The fettling gang stood around it with those heavy crow bars . That image has stayed in the library of my memories as a definition of hopeless tasks . Thanks for your effort in putting this historical film together .
I have a Lima Model engine model GM32 still in the box for Australian National Railways in the maroon and Silver colour scheme. It was my childhood model train engine when the Silver Streak locomotive ran off the rails on a corner and broke on the concrete garage floor below. Different couplings but my dad I made it work 😁. Thanks so much for the memories and such a wonderfully detailed documentary. Australia has such a proud history of manufacture that has been criminally eroded by various governments to a point of non existence. This should be classed as treason. Other than the Super Chief it is my favourite looking Engine and colour design.
Thank you once again for your contributions to help get this project to the finish line. I couldn’t have done it without it. I think further collabs are on the cards in the future ;) Keep up the great work in Alice Springs and with all your projects on Kane’s Trains!
@@KanesTrains there's a few of them rotting away at marree but flatter at the front, I'm sure nobody would mind you going to see them and go in them to get photos.
This is a beautifully produced documentary about an epic railway and how it's motive power evolved. For a train fanatic such as myself, it was 90 minutes that felt like 15. Thanks to William Adams for making the effort to post this incredible story.
The GM 2 stroke diesel loco is still used by Aurizon across the Nullarbor, they make a much louder noise than other locos, I live in Port Germein right next to the Trans line you can clearly distinguish between them and other locos
This was a fantastic documentary, well done. The editing, original footage, finding all that archive footage, and the story overall, fantastic. How cool do the GM Class trains look as well lol
@@colinfeilen988 - I think it is safe to say that many, many people are going to be watching with keen interest the progress on GM1. I wish you and everyone else at RHWA all the very best with this important project.
I’m really glad that you enjoyed this film Martin! Keep up the fantastic work on your channel as well, it’s always a treat to see quality Australian content from you.
This is an amazing doco and well worth watching. It's shame that it didn't ( or maybe it did ) make it television as it is well researched and put together. Nice job.
Bravo. This is excellent. I'm watching only at 40:00 and the rest tomorrow. You have done an amazing amount of research. I am surprised at the number of photographs and videos you have found and used. The narration is top-rate.
As a modern history teacher I'd give you an "A" ... Excellent production William. Having done this trip many times from 1967 to the present day and now with my next one planned for 2025 I'll watch this again during the trip.
Thank you. I watched the first half you made and now this. I didn't know anything about the national rail side of the gm locos, only vr s and b/a classes.
Well made! Some of the trains pictured are in Quorn and Peterborough. The rail crane pictured is in max cranes yard at port Augusta, and Aurizon still runs their GMs weekly, i see them coupled up to newer engines, hauling freight oast my house once ir twice every week without fail.
- Aurizons GM went past today ironically, strapped behind a newer engine. The 2 hauling their long range diesel tanks and crew quarters carriage, and a heap of freight cars.
The video showed CR crane #1, it's crane #3, a larger unit requiring a match truck, that is at Max Cranes in Port Augusta. Crane #3 wasn't in the video.
I see some All Manner of Trains footage, nice, still looks good after all this time, my personal all time favorite video of classic australian trains, this video being my favorite documentary of australian trains
@@dionchandler2658- Once again, thank you for the clarification on the present status of the active SA units. I deliberately kept the wording in the video a bit flexible when talking about the presently used GM class in Aurizon service to allow for changes in their current status.
I’m really glad you enjoyed it! Part of the fun of making this was when I was diving through various documents to put some parts of the history together, especially with the formation of National Rail and the eventual sale of Australian National. The reasons behind both of those events I didn’t feel had been explained too much previously or had all the context provided. Hopefully this film helps fill that void.
Great video. Small question re the comment @23:40. What were you counting as 'in service'? GM1 did testing before it, however SAR's 900 (built in Adelaide at Islington) entered official running service mere weeks before GM1 did - Comrails stating 10/9/51 for 900 v.s. 20/9/51 for GM1 (other sources give an ever later date in October for GM1).
Going back over the video and script again, I was referring to the launch of GM1 from Clyde Engineering on the 28th of August, 1951. If it wasn’t for the time taken to deliver the locomotives from Sydney to Port Pirie on two gauges via Melbourne, instead of via Broken Hill on one gauge now, who knows? In an alternate reality where we actually had a unified track gauge across the country, GM1 may have entered revenue traffic first? The head to head challenge between GM1 and 900 as to which one would be first to enter traffic would be an interesting tale to cover.
This was a great video about Aussie railroads with lots of great vintage pics & film, however one thing would have made this more educational for an outsider like me (USA) and that would have been more usage of maps & diagrams so a person could better follow along as to where all of the different actions were taking place. Maybe someone could update this historical video and splice those in.👍👍
AMAZING how incompetence, such as the railroads gauge conflicts, can hold a nation back so significantly.. Early resolution of these types of issues in the USA (in the late 1800s-predominantly) is one of the major factors that allow the national economy to grow faster than many others-whereas Australia just limped along with limited economic progress and innovation
There at 36:23, what are those automobiles which are so short they can be transported transversely on the railroad car/wagon? Although I'm an American and our country has a reputation with automobiles/cars I am not a 'car guy' and beyond the cars I've had, or obvious ones such as VW Beetle and their however many windows van, or a Corvette Stingray, or a DeLoren, or a Cybertruck, I have no talent for looking at a car and knowing what it is.
The slow pace of standard guage bring implemented is confusing to me. In the US, southern railroads differed from northern standard guage. In one day, having been carefully organized, all of the odd guaged railes were converted to standard. Why did Australia go so long, without standard guage as the national standard? Is it true that there are still multi guage railroads? Why? Illogical.
@@soco13466 - Although the main interstate/national routes are all standard gauge now, with the Adelaide-Melbourne line being the last converted in 1995, we still run a three gauge system away from the interstate network. - Victoria and part of South Australia, use some broad gauge. - New South Wales and some lines within Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, along with the main network are standard gauge. - Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and part of South Australia use narrow gauge.
Just imagine if the government had continued with investment and expansion of Australian rail. Standard gauge the whole country, separate freight and high speed passenger lines intersecting the whole country... *Sigh* We can dream.
Why are earth are you crediting Kane's Trains for when it's your own footage? You don't need to do that if it's yours man! Other than that, good work on a well researched project, you did miss some minor stuff relating to the GM's revival in 2016 and didn't cover the class' work in NSW during the 2000's onwards which is a shame, but that's always opening the door for a future video.
What can I say. The best history lesson I have ever had on Australia. Other than @Kanes Trains and @VT29steamtrain all of the other original suppliers of video should have had a mention in the text. There must have been so many. What is next on your plate?
I nodded off a few times as I watched , I`m getting on in years too like the GM class . I rode the freight Ghan from Pt Augusta to Alice in 1970 . Trip cost $14 and took 2 weeks .My father had done it on an AIF troop train in the 1940`s having been sent to Darwin . He said the train was so slow you could get out and walk ahead of it .I also saw one of the GM`s laying on it`s side somewhere near Fink river . The fettling gang stood around it with those heavy crow bars . That image has stayed in the library of my memories as a definition of hopeless tasks . Thanks for your effort in putting this historical film together .
I have a Lima Model engine model GM32 still in the box for Australian National Railways in the maroon and Silver colour scheme.
It was my childhood model train engine when the Silver Streak locomotive ran off the rails on a corner and broke on the concrete garage floor below.
Different couplings but my dad I made it work 😁.
Thanks so much for the memories and such a wonderfully detailed documentary.
Australia has such a proud history of manufacture that has been criminally eroded by various governments to a point of non existence.
This should be classed as treason.
Other than the Super Chief it is my favourite looking Engine and colour design.
The story of the GM class, is the story of opening up Australia. So proud of your work mate, and happy I was able to help make it happen. 😊
Thank you once again for your contributions to help get this project to the finish line. I couldn’t have done it without it. I think further collabs are on the cards in the future ;)
Keep up the great work in Alice Springs and with all your projects on Kane’s Trains!
@@KanesTrains there's a few of them rotting away at marree but flatter at the front, I'm sure nobody would mind you going to see them and go in them to get photos.
@@jamesaustralian9829 those are the narrow gauge NSU class, I hope to see them one day 😊
This is a beautifully produced documentary about an epic railway and how it's motive power evolved. For a train fanatic such as myself, it was 90 minutes that felt like 15. Thanks to William Adams for making the effort to post this incredible story.
The GM 2 stroke diesel loco is still used by Aurizon across the Nullarbor, they make a much louder noise than other locos, I live in Port Germein right next to the Trans line you can clearly distinguish between them and other locos
This was a fantastic documentary, well done. The editing, original footage, finding all that archive footage, and the story overall, fantastic.
How cool do the GM Class trains look as well lol
Great information about EMD early diesels , we are proud to be renovating GM 1 at Rail Heritage Museum in Bassendean WA ! 🚂
@@colinfeilen988 - I think it is safe to say that many, many people are going to be watching with keen interest the progress on GM1. I wish you and everyone else at RHWA all the very best with this important project.
👍
Great to see
Preserving Australian history
This is an amazing documentary and I have learned heaps that I've always wanted to know. Well done and thank you!
Incredible job Will, well done!
I’m really glad that you enjoyed this film Martin! Keep up the fantastic work on your channel as well, it’s always a treat to see quality Australian content from you.
This is a brilliant, well researched, compiled and narrated documentary. Liked and subscribed! You deserve a LOT more views than you have.
This is an amazing doco and well worth watching. It's shame that it didn't ( or maybe it did ) make it television as it is well researched and put together.
Nice job.
Two trips across Australia in trains hauled by maroon and silver GM class locomotives in 1973 and 1979. Great days.
Very informative. I hope current owners think twice before scrapping any more of them.
Bravo. This is excellent. I'm watching only at 40:00 and the rest tomorrow. You have done an amazing amount of research. I am surprised at the number of photographs and videos you have found and used. The narration is top-rate.
Absolutely fantastic! My father in law is going to love this!
As a modern history teacher I'd give you an "A" ... Excellent production William. Having done this trip many times from 1967 to the present day and now with my next one planned for 2025 I'll watch this again during the trip.
Really enjoyed this. Thanks for making it.
Bloody brilliant.
Thank you. I watched the first half you made and now this. I didn't know anything about the national rail side of the gm locos, only vr s and b/a classes.
Great Video 😊 Thanks for Sharing 😊
That was a great video , thanks so much
Railfans around the world need to watch this documentary.
Very, very nice. Informative from beginning to end.
I’m glad that you enjoyed the film!
@@williamadams7865 that I did thank you and I shared this with my brother, he lives in Wales.
Great video and documentary. Some great stories in there.
Awesome video!
Thanks for your time and effort on this.
Awesome video, thoroughly enjoyed watching it and learned more about Australian rail
Well made! Some of the trains pictured are in Quorn and Peterborough. The rail crane pictured is in max cranes yard at port Augusta, and Aurizon still runs their GMs weekly, i see them coupled up to newer engines, hauling freight oast my house once ir twice every week without fail.
- Aurizons GM went past today ironically, strapped behind a newer engine. The 2 hauling their long range diesel tanks and crew quarters carriage, and a heap of freight cars.
The video showed CR crane #1, it's crane #3, a larger unit requiring a match truck, that is at Max Cranes in Port Augusta. Crane #3 wasn't in the video.
I see some All Manner of Trains footage, nice, still looks good after all this time, my personal all time favorite video of classic australian trains, this video being my favorite documentary of australian trains
Excellent! Fine documentary making.
William, excellently put together.
3 GM's are still earning a crust in the Iron Triangle, GM43, GM46, GM47.
@@dionchandler2658 - Thank you for the clarification Dion. I imagine GM37 has dropped out fairly recently then?
@@williamadams7865 I'm guessing GM37 must be back at Dry Creek.
@@dionchandler2658- Once again, thank you for the clarification on the present status of the active SA units. I deliberately kept the wording in the video a bit flexible when talking about the presently used GM class in Aurizon service to allow for changes in their current status.
very well researched! cheers mate
I’m really glad you enjoyed it!
Part of the fun of making this was when I was diving through various documents to put some parts of the history together, especially with the formation of National Rail and the eventual sale of Australian National. The reasons behind both of those events I didn’t feel had been explained too much previously or had all the context provided. Hopefully this film helps fill that void.
Great video.
Small question re the comment @23:40. What were you counting as 'in service'? GM1 did testing before it, however SAR's 900 (built in Adelaide at Islington) entered official running service mere weeks before GM1 did - Comrails stating 10/9/51 for 900 v.s. 20/9/51 for GM1 (other sources give an ever later date in October for GM1).
Going back over the video and script again, I was referring to the launch of GM1 from Clyde Engineering on the 28th of August, 1951. If it wasn’t for the time taken to deliver the locomotives from Sydney to Port Pirie on two gauges via Melbourne, instead of via Broken Hill on one gauge now, who knows? In an alternate reality where we actually had a unified track gauge across the country, GM1 may have entered revenue traffic first?
The head to head challenge between GM1 and 900 as to which one would be first to enter traffic would be an interesting tale to cover.
THANK YOU FOR GREAT DETAIL OF HISTORY ON AUSTRALIA RAILWAY AS GREAT WATCHING IN VIDEO
THANK YOU FOR SHARE THIS VIDEO
This was a great video about Aussie railroads with lots of great vintage pics & film, however one thing would have made this more educational for an outsider like me (USA) and that would have been more usage of maps & diagrams so a person could better follow along as to where all of the different actions were taking place. Maybe someone could update this historical video and splice those in.👍👍
i was a fettler on the nullabor in 7ts8ts i well remember those things
Are you trying to say 70s and 80s?
AMAZING how incompetence, such as the railroads gauge conflicts, can hold a nation back so significantly.. Early resolution of these types of issues in the USA (in the late 1800s-predominantly) is one of the major factors that allow the national economy to grow faster than many others-whereas Australia just limped along with limited economic progress and innovation
There at 36:23, what are those automobiles which are so short they can be transported transversely on the railroad car/wagon?
Although I'm an American and our country has a reputation with automobiles/cars I am not a 'car guy' and beyond the cars I've had, or obvious ones such as VW Beetle and their however many windows van, or a Corvette Stingray, or a DeLoren, or a Cybertruck, I have no talent for looking at a car and knowing what it is.
They are your classic Mini, most likely built in Australia by British Leyland’s plant in Zetland in Sydney.
The slow pace of standard guage bring implemented is confusing to me. In the US, southern railroads differed from northern standard guage. In one day, having been carefully organized, all of the odd guaged railes were converted to standard. Why did Australia go so long, without standard guage as the national standard? Is it true that there are still multi guage railroads? Why? Illogical.
@@soco13466 - Although the main interstate/national routes are all standard gauge now, with the Adelaide-Melbourne line being the last converted in 1995, we still run a three gauge system away from the interstate network.
- Victoria and part of South Australia, use some broad gauge.
- New South Wales and some lines within Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, along with the main network are standard gauge.
- Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and part of South Australia use narrow gauge.
Just imagine if the government had continued with investment and expansion of Australian rail. Standard gauge the whole country, separate freight and high speed passenger lines intersecting the whole country... *Sigh* We can dream.
Why are earth are you crediting Kane's Trains for when it's your own footage? You don't need to do that if it's yours man! Other than that, good work on a well researched project, you did miss some minor stuff relating to the GM's revival in 2016 and didn't cover the class' work in NSW during the 2000's onwards which is a shame, but that's always opening the door for a future video.
British Settlement?
0:21 60.000 years? !?!?!?!? Wow... Something is very wrong in this narrative, but... Ok, i don't give a flying s***t, so let it go as you said it is
The Australian Aboriginal people are the oldest continuous culture on the planet! They have belonged to this land for over 60,000 years.
@Rob-fc9wg yeah, yeah, sure, culture, yeah, continuous, sure
@@timoteiafanasie4894
Yes it's a fact!
Educate yourself.
@@timoteiafanasie4894
How do you not know what everyone else learns in grade 5?
@@Rob-fc9wg ok
What can I say. The best history lesson I have ever had on Australia. Other than @Kanes Trains and @VT29steamtrain all of the other original suppliers of video should have had a mention in the text. There must have been so many. What is next on your plate?