The Rail Way 

God I miss those red rattlers. This documentary is a National Treasure. Thank you for the sweet memories.

Patsy Adam Smith RIP, wouldn’t rest sound in her grave if she knew that all successive government are doing all they can to close much of the country railway lines. Great to see the film again. She was one of a kind.

Excellent documentary on Australia’s rail network, I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Gosh I hope this gets a 4K scan soon, such a great snapshot of that era in Australia

I love the symbolism of the final shot. the past and the present alongside one another, and the way the music swells just completes it.

Sixty two years old, but the sight, sound or smell of a steam train still gives me a thrill. Patsy says 'you can't go back', but for those who remember them, they can take you back for a few moments at least.

I got the chance to ride on the little Normanton - Croydon train a few years ago.....it was an experience I will never forget....loved it.. I think it's still operational.

THANK YOU FOR VIDEO

Cool documentary, watching in the USA

As a former network controller - it's interesting to see the old control boards. We've come a long way now - but still depend upon the same methods of control and graphing - damn that paper graph lol

You can tell Patsy is giddy giddy when she explains the "one mand band" from Normantown to Croydon

I had this on VHS when I was a little kid, I was obsessed with trains and still interested. I watched this doco till the VHS tape wore out and thought I'd never see it again so I was very happy to see I can now share it with my lil boy who now loves trains as much as I did :-D

Great video. This shows the real working men and women. Boy those were the days.

what a gem,saw this years ago, if anyone gets the chance ti read patsy Adam-Smiths's "When We Rode the Rails" do it great reading that comes with a tear and a good old belly laugh.

What a fantastic little film. I remember watching this plus a number of similar railway films when I was young which helped foster my interest in railway transportation. It's fascinating to watch this and realise how much has changed since 1979. You see the City Loop and the Eastern Suburbs line under construction, you see the old Specer Street station before it was completely rebuilt and renamed Southern Cross, and you see the Hitachi EMU which was only officially withdrawn from service earlier this year. At the same time it's also facinating to watch this and realise what hasn't changed. The S & V set EMU's are still running, the train between Normanton and Croydon still runs on a weekly basis as the 'Gulflander' and K153 still operates various heritage trains throughout Victoria. I love the last clips with her powering out of Spencer Street and through Jolimont Yards paralelling the Hitachi, gives me goosebumps just watching it.

The Hoga-phone even made it in at 22:10 . Thanks for posting.

Just watched this for the first time in what feels like 13-15 years. Owned a copy on VHS. What a nostalgia trip and a half. Was crying pretty much the whole time. Thank you so much for uploading.

Brilliant film I was on the Indian Pacific 1978 Perth-Melbourne

Great stuff, love this film. Nice to see that the railways still play a major part in keeping passengers and freight always on the move.

Brilliant film as always thanks so much for sharing.

Concrete sleepers way back then.. wow 👌

loved every minute...thank you

Just watched this at the QVMAG Museum in Launceston and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for posting it!

Since the 1980's so much has changed in the industry.

9:40 possibly the only film of a MK1 DDIU train prototype to the V sets

Ah, the nostalgia. Nice video, but sadly does not show any video interviews of the workers themselves particularly the drivers. As a retired driver myself, I can attest it's not all nostalgia. For example, drivers rarely worked normal hours. We worked when people were asleep in their beds, then tried to sleep in the day, which was bloody difficult. Anti social too, cause we couldn't simply drop everything and go to a relatives party or christening, stuff like that. Difficult too, to arrange holidays with friends. Definately required a special breed. Today, with privatisation it's become far far worse with 12 hour shifts being the norm.

LOL the middle-aged guy at 19:30 is reading "Fear of Flying" by Erica de Jong - what a subversive little touch that was!

No reflective clothing, no hard hats, Ah, the old days.

In case you dident notice there is the original blue goose v set in this video

Back then i bet they couldn't imagine Trains topping the speeds they do today specially the ones in Europe and Asia

Der Schienenbus ist einfach herrlich! Gibt es wohl nicht mehr?

The film was released in 1979.

a my childhood

@cheers369 that's funny i didnt even recognize it or the trains, obviously it has changed a lot but those old Sydney trains are still around

Der Schienenbus fährt weiter jede Woche, am Mittwoch nach Croydon und Donnerstags zurück nach Normanton. Seit Mitte der 80er Jahre wird ein etwas modernerer Schienbus eingesetzt.

my great great aunt is Patsy Adam-Smith thats not even a lie lol

09:23 - 10:53 Those trains still operating around Sydney.

What's the name of that song at 12:48 Please! I love it. Would like to find more of this type of Australian music.

11:55 a young Charley Honey!

What is the name of the music right at the start?

When was this released?

Funny how the rail track workers in the 70s didn’t wear a uniform or safety gear.

21:40

Adelaide 9:08- 9:22 man things have changed lol not really