 VR's three-cylinder S class 4-6-2 steam locomotives were assigned to haul the train, which typically had an eleven-car trailing load of , over the 1 in 50 gradients between Melbourne and Albury.Although the locomotives had been in service since 1928, their appearance was dramatically altered with the addition of streamlining, along with royal blue and gold livery designed to seamlessly match the carriages of the train.The locomotives were also equipped with long range tenders, with enough water and coal capacity to enable the train to travel the entire journey between Albury and Melbourne non-stop, at an average speed of , a schedule that was the longest non-stop train journey in Australia, and held the record as the fastest for the next twenty years.