Australian Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip from a narrated, black-and-white 1946 documentary shows Harold Clapp (1875–1952), chairman of the Victorian Railway Commissioners, and Albert Dunstan (1882–1950), Premier of Victoria, launching the Spirit of Progress, Australia’s first modern passenger train, in front of a large crowd at Spencer Street Station in Melbourne. The train steams out of the station and into the Victorian countryside, where people line up to watch it pass and to inspect it at country railway stations. The train then leaves on its inaugural trip to Albury, and footage of passengers and train staff is shown.

Educational value points

• The Spirit of Progress, the passenger train that ran between Melbourne in Victoria and Albury in New South Wales, was launched in 1937. The Great Depression of 1929–33 had halted railway development; during that period no new locomotives or carriages were constructed. Recovery from the effects of the Great Depression was slow and the Spirit of Progress was the only new passenger train to be constructed in Australia during the 1930s. The train became a symbol of Australia’s modernism and technological achievement, and represented Victoria’s state pride and industrial development. Around 56,000 people enthusiastically greeted the train when it made its 38-hour journey around country Victorian towns for public inspection.

• The Spirit of Progress was Australia’s first modern passenger train and had many innovative features. These included lightweight alloy steel carriages, shatterproof glass, air-conditioning, comfortable chairs, stylish fittings and a modern galley kitchen. The exterior of the Spirit of Progress was the epitome of streamlined 1930s design, a style that grew from Art Deco and Functionalist Modernism. Its clean, aerodynamic lines were futuristic and gave the impression of speed, while also reducing wind resistance.

• As no new locomotives had been built since the Great Depression, the four 3-cylinder S-class steam locomotives that powered the Spirit of Progress, and that had been in service since 1928, had to be given a makeover. The locomotives’ appearance was altered by giving them a new streamlined exterior shroud and by painting on the new livery of royal blue and gold, so that they appeared as modern as the carriages.

• In the 20th century, railways provided the infrastructure that linked rural communities economically and socially, both to each other and to capital cities. The rail network made a significant contribution to Australia’s economic and social development, providing hitherto isolated communities with a means, other than ship or inland river ferry, to deliver their produce. Trains also made many communities more accessible and therefore more desirable destinations, either to visit or in which to settle.

• In the clip Sir Harold Winthrop Clapp, chairman of the Victorian Railway Commissioners from 1920 to 1939, launches the Spirit of Progress, a train that he had commissioned. A visionary entrepreneur, Clapp was involved in every technical and aesthetic detail of the Spirit of Progress. His innovations included the extension of the electrical suburban rail network and the introduction of better customer service with improved timetables and amenities, particularly with regards to passenger comfort. He expanded the use of freight and passenger rail services to help primary producers and also promoted tourism.

• At the time the clip was filmed the dominance of railways was increasingly being challenged by road transport. Rail tracks were expensive to upgrade and state governments often neglected to maintain them. Great advances had been made in road construction, using bitumen and local gravels bound with tar and bitumen. In addition, there was increasing money for road development due to taxes on petrol from the Australian Government, and motor registration fees raised by the state governments. Increasing car ownership and expansion of bus routes gave passengers the freedom to choose when and where they would travel.

• The Spirit of Progress's locomotives were powered by coal. Steam trains had been introduced from 1854 in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, and the burning of coal to produce steam was a costly process that created environmentally unsustainable by-products. In the 1950s steam trains were replaced by cleaner and more efficient diesel locomotives. Electric trains followed, and continue to be used in urban environments, while diesel trains are used for country routes. Some heritage steam trains still operate as tourist attractions.

• This documentary was produced by Herschell Films, a company run by Charles Herschell, who had been cinematographer on the silent black-and-white Australian film The Kelly Gang (1920). In 1931 Herschell Films joined with the Australian Herald newspaper to form Australian Sound Films, which produced The Herald Newsreel until the company was absorbed by Cinesound in 1932.