South Maitland Railways is a 128 page, hard cover book whichchronicles the last decades of steam operations of the South Maitland RailwaysPty. Ltd., the operator of the last major privately run steam-hauled railway inAustralia.

This book is divided into three distinct sections. The firstacquaints the reader with the history of the development of the coal miningindustry in the vicinity of Maitland and the various railway companies thatwere established to haul their output to the wharves. The second sectiondetails the operations of the SMR from the mid-1960s through until June 1983when the State Rail Authority assumed control of train operations over theformer SMR network. The final section reviews SRA workings and the currentstatus of the fleet of SMR 10 class tank engines.

A wide variety of topics are covered from a detaileddescription of the types of locomotives employed by the SMR, the companyfacilities at East Greta Junction, train operations, passenger services,ticketing, rollingstock, safe working, together with a description of each ofthe remaining mines and much more.

Featuresinclude:

• A4 portrait format, 128 pages.

• Hard bound with colour cover

• Over 140 black and white photographs

• More than 50 colour photographs

• Line drawings of the 10 class 2-8-2 tanklocomotives

• Tabulated history of the mines of the South MaitlandCoal Fields

• Tabulated history of the locomotives of the SouthMaitland Railways

• Track Diagrams

• Map of the South Maitland Coal Fields showingrailway lines and locations of mines

An essential reference for railway historians, modellers and those who were fortunate enough to witness the SMR in action during the period from the 1960s to the mid-1980s.