21st Birthday Celebrations

John Lacey organised a weekend excursion for members of the NSW Rail Transport Museum to celebrate the Southern Aurora's 21st Birthday in April 1983. The group of 21 traveled on the Friday before the actual inaugural date. Most of the group dressed for dinner in the Diner.

On arrival in Melbourne ( unfortunately, 1 hour late) the party travelled to the magnificent Windsor Hotel, built in 1889, which had been recently taken over by the Oberoi Group. Some of the party transferred by taxi, some by green and cream Melbourne tram, while others were in a white Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.

Saturday night dinner was a tram trip away in St Kilda, while Sunday saw a visit to Puffing Billy, with travel in one of the clerestory roofed Mt Lyell cars.

Sunday night saw a return to the Southern Aurora with another splendid dinner in the Diner, followed by night caps in the lounge or the Deluxe Suite.

Monday morning was a return to reality, with a punctual arrival in Sydney at 9 am and a return to work.

But it was only temporary: for the Australian Railway Historical Society had secured permission for a group to travel as far as the first pick-up stop at Campbelltown on the 16 April, as a celebration of the first public train ( normally, passengers were not allowed to alight before Albury). An anniversary dinner was held for the formally-dressed passengers in the Dining Car, and Tony McIlwain again supplied a suitably decorated cake.

This forty-five minute journey was all too short, and the party returned in a non air conditioned 1927 vintage SBX carriage, which was one of only three First Class sitting cars of its type, as part of a train from Moss Vale.

Journeys begin with the departure board on Sydney station concourse. Note that the departure time is listed as 9, rather than 8. The reason is that this was a Saturday night at the introduction of Daylight Saving. Departure was put back an hour, but arrival in Melbourne was scheduled for the correct hour.
Inside the Deluxe compartment of the DAM-type car: Tony McIlwain and Robert Lee
John Lacey and Ceridwen Lee also in the sitting area of the DAM-type car.
Ceridwen Lee cutting the cake in the Dining Car.
After dinner drinks in the Lounge Car.
Inside the De Luxe suite in the DAM. The door behind John Lacey leads into the en suite bathroom.
Festive dinner was enjoyed in the Dining Car.
A Naval Officer passenger changed into his Dress Uniform to join the Birthday Party.
A cheese course was normally the end to a fine meal in the Dining Car, but it was one of Tony McIlwain’s Special Cakes on this occasion.

Southern Aurora Business Traveller

Between 1979 and 1983 I travelled regularly on business between Sydney and Melbourne.

The First Class rail fare with sleeper supplement was equivalent to Economy Class air travel, so my employer allowed either mode.

Whenever possible I used Southern Aurora, still a fine train, though now in its late ‘teens.

However, ticketing arrangements were inconvenient and the 1962 timetable was unsuited to business life in the eighties.

Whenever I flew, the administration officer would simply phone the local travel agent with my flight requirements; the agent had access to the airlines’ reservation systems and could make immediate confirmation. The ticket would be delivered in a few hours, and the cost would be debited to the company account.

Organising a rail journey was not so easy. Very few travel agencies sold rail tickets, and there wasn’t a computerised reservation system for them to access.

I had to make the arrangements, not the administration clerk. I could make a phone booking easily enough, but I either paid for the ticket myself at the nearest station and claimed reimbursement, or I obtained a company purchase order which I could exchange for a ticket only at the Interstate Booking Office at Sydney Terminal Station.

The timetable was another problem for business travellers.

The 8 p.m. departure was too late. It meant a long day working back at the office before I made my way up to Sydney Terminal.

Similarly, arrival in Melbourne at 8.55 a.m. was also later than I would have preferred. Meetings usually started at 9.00 a.m., as travel on the 7.00 a.m. flights from Sydney would comfortably allow this. The best I could manage was a 9.15 a.m. arrival.

Coming home, it was the opposite. Meetings would wind up by 4.45 p.m. so my colleagues could make the 6.00 p.m. flights. I would have to wait until 8.00 p.m. to be on my way. Melbourne has its attractions, including trams, but these are less of a pleasure when laden with a briefcase and overnight bag. Next morning, I would not reach work until 9.25 a.m., a little late in the day by my company’s standards.

The journey was always a pleasure, even in these later years. The service was always good, and the cars well maintained. Sadly, Southern Aurora died of irrelevance, because the operators did not address the schedules, ticketing systems and the add-on service needs of a new generation of travellers at the upper end of the market.

-Tony McIlwain