The Tea and Sugar was the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

for one of two dedicated

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975. O ...

trains that were the sole source of provisions for the isolated settlements of the

Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the east ...

between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie.

History

The Tea and Sugar began in 1915 as a provision train for workers constructing the Trans-Australian Railway. They and their families depended on the train for every necessity since the rail link was the only form of transport into the region. When the railway was completed in 1917, settlements had been established along the route at which many railway operational, locomotive maintenance and track repair employees lived with their families, and there was a need to transport food, water and goods to them. This was achieved by two single-purpose weekly trains, the eastbound counterpart being known as "The Bomber". Sheep were brought on the train, which had its own butcher. There was a car that allowed railway families to view the latest films (or at least, at the smaller stations, part of them) while the train was in the siding, and a welfare car staffed by a nurse. Each time the train crossed the Nullarbor Plain, it included carriages to suit the different needs of residents throughout the year. On some trains there was a bank car, which allowed residents to make financial transactions, and a post office car; and in December there was a Christmas car, with a much-anticipated Santa who brought presents. Former railways commissioner Dr Ron Fitch, who was the engineer for the Trans-Australian Railway early in his career, observed that the Tea and Sugar was the "most over-glamorised train in Australia ... whose real claim to fame was that its start-to-stop average speed must have made it the slowest train in the world". The train originally operated on a journey from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie. A 1985 timetable showed the westbound service leaving Port Augusta at 12:00 on Wednesday and arriving at Kalgoorlie at 14:15 on Saturday, with the eastbound service departing at 15:00 on Wednesday arriving at 18:55 on Friday. The schedule was later cut back to an journey from Port Augusta to

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

. The Tea and Sugar was withdrawn in August 1996. Some carriages have been preserved at the

National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide Australia's National Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in Australia. More than 100 major exhibits, mainly from the South Australian Railways (SAR) and Commonwealth Railways and their successor, Australian National, are on display a ...

.Tea & Sugar Pay Car PA281
National Railway Museum

References

{{Reflist *Zwingle, Erla "The Tea & Sugar Train: Lifeline in Australia's Outback." ''National Geographic'', June 1986, pp. 737 – 757 * Chambers, T.F. "The Tea and Sugar" ''

Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin ''Australian Railway History'' is a monthly magazine covering railway history in Australia, published by the New South Wales Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society on behalf of its state and territory Divisions.Film Australia: 1954 documentary on the Tea & Sugar
Named passenger trains of Australia Nullarbor Plain Railway services introduced in 1917 Trans-Australian Railway 1917 establishments in Australia 1996 disestablishments in Australia Railway services discontinued in 1996 Discontinued railway services in Australia