Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms

S

S.A.R.: See South Australian Railways.
Semi Permanent Coupling: Coupling between vehicles provided for normally fixed formation consists. This form of coupling is usually only disconnected in a workshop.
Shunt: To marshal vehicles in a given order to form a train consist.
Spirit of Progress: Victorian Railways train that ran between Melbourne and Albury to connect with the New South Wales train for Sydney. After the completion of the standard gauge line from Albury to Melbourne it ran nightly between Melbourne and Sydney.
In the mid 1980's, the train was combined with Southern Aurora to become the north bound Sydney Express and the southbound Melbourne Express. The service was withdrawn in the 1990s.
Standard Gauge: A standard gauge railway has track with 4 foot 8½ inches (1435mm) between rails.
SteamRanger: See Australian Railway Historical Society.
South Australian Railways.: The railways in the state of South Australia were operated by the state government. In 1975 the "South Australian Railways" were sold the Commonwealth of Australia, who combined them with the Commonwealth Railways to form Australian National.
SAR&CR Joint Stock: South Australian and Commonwealth Railways Joint Stock operated on the East-West service between Port Augusta and Terowie via Quorn between 1917 and 1936. All the vehicles were owned by the South Australian Railways with only the costs being shared. Following cessation of this service, many of the cars were rebuilt.
Southern Aurora: The Southern Aurora operated nightly between Sydney and Melbourne in both directions and commenced running on 16^th April 1962 shortly after the new standard gauge connection opened between Melbourne and Sydney. It was jointly owned by the New South Wales and Victorian railways and used cars similar in design to stainless steel cars built by Comeng for the Commonwealth Railways.
In 1986 the train was combined with Spirit of Progress to become the north bound Sydney Express; and the southbound Melbourne Express. The service was withdrawn in November 1993 when it was replaced by an XPT railcar service.
South Spur Rail Services: South Spur Rail Services are a Western Australia based private operator who have a number of contracts for hauling ballast, rail and sleeper trains. They operate a Restaurant Train service called Spirit of the West, using Australian Railway Historical Society coaches and a specially painted K class diesel locomotive, as an offshoot company called the Midland Railway Company.
Spirit of the West: see South Spur Rail Services.
State Transport Authority of South Australia.: The State Transport Authority of South Australia was formed as a result of the sale of the South Australian Railways to the Commonwealth in 1975. It took over the operation of the suburban rail system in Adelaide. It eventually changed its name to Trans-Adelaide.
It was a Government organisation answerable to the South Australian Minister of Transport.
Steamtown Peterbourough Railway Preservation Society Inc.: Steamtown was based at Peterborough in the mid-north of South Australia. The society was formed in 1977 and ran its first public train in 1981. Steamtown had a number of working locomotives (both setam and diesel) obtained from Western Australia and several former Commonwealth Railways diesel locomotives. Most of the passenger rollingstock they operated was originally used on the Commonwealth Railways Trans-Australian Railway.
The train operated on the narrow gauge line between Peterborough and Eurelia. In October 2003 the society was disbanded and all assets passed to the local council who intended using the core part of the collection as a static museum based in the Peterbourgh Roundhouse precinct.