On the 23rd of November 1937 the Victorian Government introduced the Spirit of Progress; an express train running from
Melbourne to Albury on the NSW/Victorian border.
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In 1962 the train also ran to
Sydney on standard gauge line. It ran for the last time on August 3rd, 1986.
After many decades of service the name was consigned to history in August 1986, taking its rightful place as an innovative concept many years advanced on its contemporaries in Australia. While many people still remember the blue train with its distinctive gold lines, there are many people that have yet to discover the majestic concept of the Spirit.
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On November 25th 2007, the
Seymour Railway
Heritage Centre in conjunction with V/Line celebrated the 70th birthday of the Spirit of Progress with a special anniversary run of the Spirit of Progress from
Melbourne to Albury. A special SRHC Blue Train comprising eight of the original Spirit of Progress carriages will depart
Melbourne Southern Cross Station bound for Albury.
The tour aimed to revisit the 1937 concept of comfort and high speed by putting together a line up of original vehicles from 1937. Whilst the SRHC has operated other blue trains using vehicles from the Spirit, that was the first time that the SRHC Blue Train included the Parlour Car (later known as Norman),
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the Dining Car (later known as Murray) and the original Guards Van (CS 1), three vehicles that have just been returned to service by the
Seymour Railway
Heritage Centre. The locomotive power was the
heritage diesel locomotives S 303 and B 74.
Murray was the original dining car for the Spirit of Progress passenger train that ran between
Melbourne and Albury, however it was simply known as "dining car" until 1963 at which time it was named "Murray" It did not follow many of the Spirit of Progress cars onto the Standard Gauge.
"The very famous S class steam locomotives were all turned into scrap metal in the mid 1950's when they were replaced by the more modern diesels, but the carriages themselves all survived."
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The
Seymour Railway
Heritage Centre has seven of the original carriages. "There were 11 in the train when it was built and they have seven.
"That was the first time since 1950's when all these carriages have been back together and presented in their original royal blue with gold trim style.
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