Trains to transport the royal family in Australia
The Victorian Railways' (VR) Royal Trains operated to transport members of the royal family on their numerous tours of Australia on the Victorian rail network. The same carriages were also used for a number of vice-regal trains for the governor-general of Australia and the governor of Victoria. The last Royal Train ran in 1988.
Operation.
Royal trains usually operated with special carriage stock set aside for the purpose. Most trains operated with double headed locomotives to reduce the chance of the train being stranded due to locomotive failure, with a third locomotive running in front of the train to ensure the track was clear. A special headboard with the royal coat of arms was usually affixed to the front of the leading locomotive.
Carriages.
In the history of the Victorian Railways there were five special carriages designated for royal train and other special services, designated State Car 1 through to State Car 5.
From 1954, the carriages were painted in the standard royal blue with gold (chrome yellow) trim of the Victorian Railways, created for Spirit of Progress in 1937, with the exception of the 1988 Royal Tour. Operated by its successor V/Line, this trip was operated by two freshly cleaned, partially repainted (below footplate) and polished locomotives in the standard V/Line orange and grey livery, with the carriages painted in a one off 'executive' livery of grey and white, with orange and green trim.
Trains.
1954 Royal Tour.
For the tour of Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Royal Train ran over a period of six days in early March in two separate divisions. The first conveyed the couple, ladies-in-waiting and other dignitaries, and consisted of a combination of six steel and two wooden carriages, all in blue and gold livery, hauled by state-of-the-art diesel-electric locomotives B60 and B85. The second division consisted of Tait-era red sleeping, dining and ancillary carriages, conveying the media and other support staff behind the first division.
From the official operating circular, supported by photographs, the make-up of the 1954 Royal Train was:
The locomotives were crewed by:
The itinerary.
On 2 March, a shortened train (single B with four carriages, including state car 4 trailing) conveyed the Duke from Melbourne to Flinders Naval Depot. It was turned via the Crib Point triangle – a rare piece of track infrastructure on Victorian Railways – and returned to Melbourne. The Duke, a former navy officer, presented new colours to one of the units. Returning, he alighted at South Yarra, then by car to Government House. Next day, 3 March, the couple flew to Sale, Gippsland. The train ran empty to Sale to pick up the Queen and the Duke and return them to Melbourne, with a side trip to Yallourn. The following evening, at 5 pm on 4 March, the train took the royal couple to Goorambat, 132 miles from Melbourne on the Yarrawonga line, north of Benalla. The train was stabled there overnight.
The following day, the train returned to Benalla, where the royal couple left the train and travelled to Tatura with a road-motor convoy. The train then ran empty to Seymour, reversed, proceeded along the Goulburn Valley main line and diverged at Toolamba along the Toolamba–Echuca railway line, bound for Tatura. Here, the couple were picked up, and the train continued to Echuca, reversing there and heading south to Bendigo via the main line. After Bendigo, the train continued south to Castlemaine, then west via the cross-country line to Maryborough. The train then ran south to Waubra Junction, short of Ballarat, reversed and ran the short journey down the Waubra branch line to the Ballarat Racecourse Platform at approximately 81 miles (locally known as Dowling's Forest Racecourse). The train was again stabled overnight.
The following day, the train departed the racecourse and ran into Ballarat. The train then ran to Melbourne via Geelong, pausing at Aircraft station (adjacent to RAAF Laverton) before continuing though Melbourne to Warburton, where the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh exited the Royal Train for the last time. The two divisions then returned empty to Spencer Street and stabled.
References.
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