The Brisbane Limited was an Australian passenger train operated by the

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differe ...

between

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

from 1888 until February 1990.

History

The Brisbane Limited originally operated from

via the Main Northern line to

Wallangarra Wallangarra is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia on the border with New South Wales. In the , the locality of Wallangarra had a population of 468 people. It is the third-most southerly town in Queens ...

. A change of gauge required passengers to change here for a narrow gauge

Queensland Railways Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

train on its Southern line to complete the journey to Brisbane. The Limited service was also known as a 'limited express'; its daily service ran in parallel with a 'mail train', open to passengers, which featured more stops and took several hours longer. Following the extension of the North Coast line to

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people. Geography The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisba ...

, in September 1930 it was rerouted shaving six hours off the journey time, even allowing for the need for the train to be taken over the Clarence River by barge pending the completion of the

Grafton Bridge Grafton Bridge is a road bridge spanning Grafton Gully in Auckland, New Zealand. Built of reinforced concrete in 1910, it connects the Auckland CBD and Karangahape Road with Grafton. It spans about 97.6 metres (320 feet), rises 25.6 metr ...

. This occurred in May 1932. Its

headcode A train reporting number in Great Britain identifies a particular train service. It consists of: * A single-digit number, indicating the class (type) of train, followed by * A letter, indicating the destination area, followed by * A two-digi ...

was NL1/NL2. In the early 1950s, it began to be worked by diesel locomotives and from January 1960 was hauled by 46 class electric locomotives south of

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...

. Also in 1960 stainless steel sleeping carriages were introduced. From June 1984, it was hauled by electric locomotives to

Broadmeadow Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Merivale Bridge The Merivale Bridge is a double track railway bridge crossing the Brisbane River. It crosses the Milton Reach of the river, slightly to the west of the William Jolly Bridge. Exclusively a railway crossing, it is located between the stations of ...

to Roma Street. It was withdrawn in February 1990 to be replaced by an unnamed XPT service."The New Timetable" ''Railway Digest'' March 1990 page 94

References

{{Reflist Interstate rail in Australia Named passenger trains of Australia Night trains of Australia Passenger rail transport in New South Wales Passenger rail transport in Queensland Railway services introduced in 1888 Railway services discontinued in 1990 1888 establishments in Australia 1990 disestablishments in Australia Discontinued railway services in Australia