Today’s historic pic: carriages from The Overland after their overnight journey from Melbourne sit at Adelaide Keswick Terminal, April 9 1985. The Overland has connected Melbourne and Adelaide since 1887, making it one of the world’s longest established trains.
#SaveTheOverland
#SaveTheOverland
The Overland has connected Melbourne and Adelaide since 1887. Initially named The Intercolonial Express it was renamed The Overland in 1926. It's not clear why that name was adopted, but it first appeared under SAR Commissioner Webb formerly of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad.
The MKT ('Katy') was part of the Union Pacific Railroad one of whose trans-continental Chicago to San Francisco trains was named The Overland Limited. That name had been applied to the train in the US in 1887, the same year the Intercolonial Express first ran here in Australia.
The Overland carriages were 'joint stock' jointly owned by the Victorian & Australian National Railways (ANR being the successor to the South Australian Railways), and they were dedicated to this train. They are decked out in SAR maroon and silver livery and lettered ANR & VR.
Overland sleeping cars were named with an indigenous language word conveying a message of sleep and every one of the names ended in the letter "i". The nearest car is twinnette sleeping car 'Nomuldi', the second is roomette sleeping car 'Tantini' and the third is a club car.
The words 'Nomuldi' and 'Tantitni' are both from the language of the Ngarrindjeri people of the lower Murray region (through which the Overland travels) and I understand that nomuldi means 'gently' and tantini translates to 'sleeping'.
These names have been used for Overland carriages since the early 1950s (maybe even since 1949) and the application of indigenous language words to high profile public services would have been an unusual thing to do in those days.
Nomuldi is today preserved at the Overland museum in Kaniva - near the half way point of the Overland's route where, on many occasions, the two overnight trains crossed each other in the middle of the night and where her passengers would have been sleeping soundly.
Reports suggest The Overland is unlikely to resume after Covid. If so, not only would the world lose one of its longest established named trains, but Australia would be turning its back on rail as a tourism and travel enabler at a time we need it more than ever
#SaveTheOverland
#SaveTheOverland
