With many suggesting railways of international origin, I’d say another interesting line would be the one from Southern Cross station in Melbourne, up to Kyneton station in the Victorian hinterlands. This line is owned by VicTrack, a state-owned rail owner, with passenger operations by Metro Trains Melbourne and V/Line, both also state enterprises. Various operators run freight on the line, but mainly Southern Shorthaul Railroad, who transport grain behind their classic bulldog noses. The 94 km route is electrified until Sunbury, which is also the extent of the metro that operates using 1500 V DC overhead wires. The track gauge is not standard gauge, instead utilising a 1,600 mm gauge, only used outside of Victoria in Ireland and Brazil. Comeng The first train I will list here will be the most common train on the metro, the Comeng. Built between 1981 and 1988 by Commonwealth Engineering of Dandenong as a replacement for the ancient Tait sets, as well as the slightly newer Harris sets, have since been refurbished twice and can still be found all over Melbourne. VLocity Next is the modern workhorse of Victorian railways, the VLocity. These sleek trains have been built by Bombardier in their Dandenong works (again?) since 2001 to replace the aging intercity fleet, they can be seen on regional services everywhere in Victoria. S Class Finally, what would probably be DLC for this route, is the grain-hauling, smoke-sputtering S Class! The old-fashioned-but-stylish bulldog noses are based upon the eponymous American F7 units, although built by General Motors’ subcontractor Clyde Engineering of Granville between 1957 and 1961. Hopefully this suggestion is used because, even if not France or Ireland, Australia is a cool country with epic trains. So like the post if you agree!
