Australia's Newest Train Journey "The Great Southern"

Journey Beyond Rail Expedition's newest train journey, "The Great Southern" has been running from Adelaide to Brisbane since the 6th of December 2019. The new service runs weekly across the months of December & January through the spectacular landscapes of Australia.
This video features the new service preparing to depart Adelaide for the Inaugural run and footage of it running in the Adelaide Hills/Murray River region. Locomotives NR30 & NR31 feature hauling the service.
#Greatsouthern #Journeybeyondrail #luxurytravel
#Timestamp
00:00 - Train Information
03:05 - Through the Adelaide Suburbs
04:35 - Adelaide Hills - Nairne
05:55 - Across the Murray River
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[@IronHorsefan1869]

Huge fan of Australian Trains and trains in general, Australia is on my list of places to go for both rail fanning and exploring the desert, Ive pretty much worn out BNSF, Amtrak, and other railroads I'm used to here in America and definitely hope to visit Australia one day

[@lcstrainspotter3888]

You her the bells and horn more there

[@IronHorsefan1869]

@@lcstrainspotter3888 Maybe, but I love the design and looks of Australian Trains

[@malcolmmartin576]

The reason we love those beautiful Australian streamlines (not the locomotives-ugly) is that they’re still built under license to the Budd Co Philadelphia PA which doesn’t exist anymore but the patents are owned by a European company .. this means that all these beautiful Australian coaches are essentially carbon copies of American trains from the 1940s/1950s .. I rode the stunning Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth about 15 years ago and each coach had a plaque near the door a few feet above the rails stating, and I quote “Built Under License to the Budd Co Philadelphia PA” .. I think the older ones going back to the magnificent Southern Aurora of 1962 which was the nightly express from Sydney to Melbourne were built by COMENG (Commonwealth Engineering) which also built stunning Australian examples of GM streamlined diesels .. they even built 5 very broad gauge examples (5’7” gauge) for Ceylon now Sri Lanka under contributions to the Colombo Plan .. so if you want to ride a stunning American streamlined with some of the best service in the world and you’ve already ridden “The Canadian” .. just go to Australia …

[@crosstiespike]

Been watching Yank ry vids for nearly a year, this is my first Australian vid the "Great Southern". I am hooked, a whole new world, I love it and you folks do a fantastic job.. Thank You. If I ever hit a large lotto here I'm coming to kangaroo land and live on the trains.

[@zaco21_]

I’d Like To See The Great Southern, The Ghan, The Overland and the Indian Pacific Trains Lined Up together!

[@mr.engineear0987]

The overland isn’t much its just a pacific national but still would be awesome with the others

[@philipper68]

Bring back the Southern Aurora please please.loved that great aussie train.

[@timvandiepen8373]

Awesome videos

[@kings7man]

bucket list the round trip from Adelaide on this service as it takes a different route each way

[@jslasher1]

Today's 'Great Southern' has been routed via Parkes and Orange, so that passengers may choose the Elvis Festival or a visit to a winery in the vicinity of Orange before heading up to Gulgong.

[@billrichardson6389]

Another great video Matt, thanks for sharing, regards Bill in very wet Dromana Vic.

[@mohammedsalim5586]

BRILLIANT WORK

[@jimcrawford5039]

Very nice indeed. I hope it is a great success!

[@flybyairplane3528]

Nice 2 locos& 28 cars , inaugarul run great

[@toshtownslate8407]

Great Content, Thanks For Uploading!!!

[@trainco1643]

Nairne station looks very nice, good to see that the building is accessible to go and look at the trains going past

[@andrewthacker114]

Good clip

[@j.m.youngquist419]

Superb job, most enjoyable !

[@JuhaVnt]

Great video! Liked, subscribed and greetings from Finland, Juha :)

[@markeaston7353]

Nice video thanks. We have just booked this train for next February doing the Brisbane to Adelaide run. We did the Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide last week and it was fabulous.

[@daciatravel.647]

Great video!!!!

[@dannyholt105]

Wow, that is really cool! Looks my buddy Gregg from Fishplate Films will have something new to catch at Mt. Lofty! Great video! Just subbed and liked too. Cheers from the US! Danny

[@KIDS-TOY-TRAIN]

Nice train video!!!Like & sub👍👍

[@helmutsandner2640]

Thank you for that Video. Great idea from the Australian Railway to travel a different route, this time to Brisbane. Would be nice to se more videos about this great trip. Thank you, Greetings from the Newcastle area.

[@elijahthombro8868]

Haha I’m from the Newcastle area too!

[@johndelaney2957]

Good stuff..

[@andypratt7348]

I would love to go on this gr8 journey one day

[@scottwait3701]

Seen it a few times going through coffs harbour

[@TrainzSpotter]

Beautiful Video👌 Greetings from Pakistan

[@maxxfx4767]

Saw this train in Newcastle just after New Years, I was wondering where it ran from!

[@iBackshift]

Pukka Pukka sounding GE engines. Be more exciting if they were EMD 710's. Great video in spite of GE, haha. Super good corner shots. Nice looking livery.

[@jimstrainsandstuff9539]

There used to be rail yards under that bridge in Murray Bridge where that girl is walking. Just a remnant left now with the old guards van

[@MarkHenstridge]

and the bridge that the cars use was the original bridge the train used.

[@jimstrainsandstuff9539]

@@MarkHenstridge Whoa! Now you're getting back a bit. Its been cars as far back as I can remember

[@florencegomer7937]

"I can remember when all this was trees."

[@gheffz]

Love it! Do you know the approx. distance one way and return (your mention two different routes it can take.)

[@indianpacific_gamer2636]

There’s train bells in austraila they sound like from America

[@therailrangervmtg8658]

The moment I have enough money I’m going to ride on this, the Ghan and the Indian Pacific ;)

[@therailrangervmtg8658]

Emiliya Kazantseva Haha, then I’ll just have to become rich and get old then. No, the Indian Pacific is for anyone ;)

[@brianfindsall]

Thats my dream to, but might be to costly, we live in uk. but yes me n me wife would love to do all three train journeys THE GHAN, INDIAN PACIFIC, AND THE GREAT WESTERN. What would that cosy hey? for two of us Gold Standard. £10,000 I Bet.

[@downunderrob]

And once Covid is over!😆

[@turnbs]

Holiday Packages which are available through travel agents often bring the cost of the "train leg" down quite significantly.

[@paulabrickell6267]

Me too ♎💕

[@railfanbryan7225]

Nice! That is one long passenger train!

[@aussiejohn5835]

It is not the longest. The Ghan has had a consist of 44 cars.

[@railfanbryan7225]

@@aussiejohn5835 cool! The longest Amtrak train I have seen here in the States was like 11 or 12 cars, and that was a double consist (2 trains in 1)

[@aussiejohn5835]

@@railfanbryan7225 The average length of the Ghan and Indian Pacific is 16 cars but in peak season they often exceed this. The passenger cars are interchangeable and can be utilised on either train by simply changing the badge on the sides of the cars. Some of the cars date back to 1966 and still in service today. The fares on both trains range from $1800 for a single roomette one way to as much as $7000 per person one way in a 2berth cabin with ensuite. The fare includes all meals and drinks as well as off train excursions. There are no seating cars ( coach ) on these trains so it is quite expensive. I have not experienced Amtrak but I hope to when the world returns to normality.

[@railfanbryan7225]

@@aussiejohn5835 i have only ridden Amtrak's San Joaquins trains, which are a short distance route (about 300 miles or 500 km in total length) they run from Bakersfield CA (where i live) to Oakland or Sacramento CA. But the Bakersfield-Sacramento ones are suspended temporarily due to COVID-19. They only have coach seating but its pretty inexpensive (less than US$150 one way from end to end) but pretty comfortable.

[@aussiejohn5835]

@@railfanbryan7225 Covid has seen the suspension of trains here as well. I will be happy when it is just a chapter in a history book. We both live in a beautiful country and both our countries are vast. We have similar landscapes especially California. You can travel from coast to coast ( Pacific to Atlantic) and I coast to coast ( Pacific to Indian oceans) both a similar distance of 4,700klms. Our seasons are opposite with you entering winter months and I am entering summer. Here it is 4pm Saturday and you are approximately 19 hrs behind me. We are both communicating but on different days, which always astounds me. Sorry if my comment was a little too long and off topic.

[@michaelsmodelrailroading7665]

I counted 28 coaches -- quite a train! It would be interesting to know a little more about the specifics of the consist, though.

[@daviddowling9830]

25 carriages

[@IconOTS]

Count the Indian Pacific and The Ghan too if you haven’t already

[@IconOTS]

There is 28

[@rhys3089]

I’ve seen NR 30 on a freight but I had no idea there was a new train journey

[@2001cavador]

I traveled on the overland about 8 year ago and it's a beautiful train, but this one is for the High Rollers only. I am wishing for them to bring back the Red Service on the Indian Pacific so I can go directly to Adelaide from Sydney.

[@anthony851]

Great locations chosen for your video. Anthony

[@paulmorgan4369]

Not so many years ago it was possible to catch the train from Adelaide to Melbourne which took an awful long time because the trains are so slow, out-of-date and subject to excessive speed restrictions - but the trains ran every day and were reasonably cheap, cheaper than flying or catching the bus. Since the incredibly inept private operator took over, the services have been cut back to once or twice a week and the prices have sky-rocketed. The staff are rude and become extremely agitated to the point of abstraction if anyone is stupid enough to try and get out for a cigarette when the train gets to Horsham, despite the fact the train stops there for at least ten minutes. Last time I was stupid enough to catch the train, the rude staff locked all the doors from the outside when we got to Horsham so nobody could get off to go and have a cigarette. Australia is the nanny state where groups of men parade around in cheap, tacky uniforms telling people what they can or cannot do. They locked all the smoking compartments even though they still run as part of the train. By the way, if anyone is reading, you can take your own cans of VB on board but if you take any other brand, the cheap, tacky guys in uniform get agitated and upset because they realise you haven't bought them from the over-priced official buffet.

[@125sloth]

Paul, I worked on the Overland back in the days you mention, when jointly owned by the S.A and Victorian governments, and in reality it was not that slow, given the terrain it had to cover, especially in S.A. Climbing over the Adelaide hills in any train takes time. In Victoria though, the Overland ran mainly at or near 70 mph in the old scale, and to be fair, it rarely ran excessively late either. Good days indeed. And what you say about today is spot on. could not agree more.The word "service" has long gone. But you are lucky in one aspect. back in the day you could not even take your own alcohol on board and if you did it was confiscated, and if you were caught drinking on the Overland, or any train, other than in a buffet or dining car, you could be fined. The Overland from Melbourne was usually met at Ballarat on a nightly basis to remove passengers from sitting cars who had been drinking. No mobile phones in those days, police just turned up in anticipation.

[@paulmorgan4369]

@@125sloth Yes, thanks for replying. Another great benefit of using the Overland was that on one particular occasion when I first came to live in Melbourne, I brought two wooden tea-chests with me with two short lengths of rope as handles. I didn't have to pay any excess. When you describe 70 mph as the "old scale," I suppose you're right in one sense - but I'll never stop using miles per hour because I'm not European.

[@noway5347]

So right Paul......caught the Overland back to Nhill from Addy.....had tk provide photo i.d....at check in counter...and then at the door of the carriage...when i questioned the guy in the tacky uniform....he said it is policy across all our trains....upstart....funny when you catch a Shinkansen....or any train in most smart parts of the world....this crap doesnt happen....and he got shirty...as a 15 year old boy...who had no i.d....was getting grilled.....bloody idiots got control...

[@josephkarl2061]

Is there dual gauge track in Adelaide? At the start of the video, it looks like it.

[@mickboakes7023]

Great video. Like the look of the loco,s, really individual style. Only one moan, film wasn’t long enough. With that quality would like to have seen at least half an hour. All the best. Mick🇬🇧

[@mickboakes7023]

Sorry about that. Didn’t realise, you’re doing pretty well if that’s the case. All the best Mick🇬🇧

[@TheManunderwater]

Is it feasible to travel during a 3-4 week vacation on both the Ghan and the Great Southern? I rode the "The Canadian" and "San Francisco Zephyr" a good few years ago and the Indian Pacific before it was "gentrified" so have an real appetite for long distance trains. As I'd be flying in from the UK for 3-4 weeks I'd like to ride both the Ghan and the Great Southern in one trip but It looks like there are not enough coaches to run them both at the same "time"?

[@nevillebrianmcginty8078]

I have been 3 trips on the Indian Pacific train and 2 trips on the Great Southern. I have been waiting for the Ghan because of all the COVID-19 Lockdowns

[@SuperScratch1]

Info please. Locos ( DE ) HP. Axles powered. Fuel consumption ( I know it varies ). Please. They look bloody great.

[@struck2soon]

That train is moving unbelievably slowly, how long does it take to do the trip? "The passengers joined as teenagers, but left as pensioners."

[@jimcrawford5039]

struck2soon it’s a tourist train and makes stops along the way. No one is in a hurry.

[@jessiematthews2432]

The trip takes 3 weeks and travels 87 kilometers. Reelaaaaaaaax. It goes from southern cross station to chadstone and back.

[@struck2soon]

Jessie Matthews when you say "relax" I was thinking more along the lines of "sleep"! A train trip for the true insomniac...

[@henryjames5663]

It is what you would call a Rail cruise, which we shall be doing, Brisbane to Adelaide with three nights onboard the train

[@robman2095]

Let me put it this way, if you are in a hurry take a plane. These train journeys are for people who are in no hurry at all.

[@AnonyDave]

I wish I could be more excited for this train, but it's unaffordably expensive to travel. I know they're targetting a certain clientele. I don't really care how long it takes to get there as the journey is the best part, but I'd prefer something other than a car or plane while also being affordable on a low budget :(

[@hugomikaelsson4055]

So how much does the ticket cost?

[@suej9329]

David Richmond Agreed. While it is in Southern Rail’s best interest to appeal to the cashed-up market, it is sad that people on budgets have to miss out. The Overland between Adelaide and Melbourne was once affordable, especially when it had an overnight service, but this new train journey is out of my reach. I hope V Line keeps their country train services affordable.

[@hugomikaelsson4055]

@LW F Wow, that is expensive. Thanks.

[@aussiejohn5835]

@LW F The red class should never have been removed. The only way to cross the Nullabor is by THE IP. You can't travel by Greyhound coach as the coach service was discontinued. When the coach service ceased the red class was withdrawn. The only option left is to fly. If you can't fly or drive and can't afford the train then you simply don't travel.

[@aussiejohn5835]

@LW F I was told by a Greyhound driver that the government made a deal with the railway when it was sold to private enterprise to stop coach travel in order to force people to use the train. When the railway became the only alternative to flying they withdrew red class. The government refuses to allow the reinstatement of coach travel. I think red class should be reinstated or the rail contract terminated until it is.

[@trevormaxwell3480]

the. locos have warning bells as qwell

[@andrewpage3221]

how long is the journey

[@NSWSteamFan]

They should do a train connecting Brisbane with Perth via Darwin.

[@allangibson8494]

The Cloncurry and Mt Isa line was supposed to be part of that link. A gas pipeline currently runs from Darwin via Mt Isa to the east coast gas grid.

[@robman2095]

There is no railway line from Queensland into Northern Territory. And there is no railway line that goes VIA Darwin, Only the one line that comes up from South Australia and terminates in Darwin. So to visit Darwin you would have to go up the central australian (ghan) line and back down again.

[@florencegomer7937]

0:56 "the same ones" - so they moved them from NT to here for this?

[@vincentweatherly9991]

I believe that all the carriages are stored in Adelaide so they didn’t move them from Darwin

[@florencegomer7937]

M&S Trains ... Didn't realise the commonality of Adelaide to the two routes. I had imagined the trains being moved thousands of miles, perhaps by road, from north Australia to south Australia to be used on this service.

[@ajayl9437]

Interesting how Australian railways “sound” more like American ones than British/European ones - the crossing sounds, the locomotive bell, etc!

[@becconvideo]

this is American equipment ;-) Who in Europe can deliver large Diesel electrics? Probably the Russians with their "Taiga Drums"- they do not need horns :-)

[@donretsas1791]

STUFF the POMS.

[@allangibson8494]

@LW F The Irish engineer who defined the original Australian railways as 5'3" and was then replaced by an English engineer in NSW who immediately changed the specification to 4'8" caused confusion we are still living with. (Victoria had already had 5'3" Irish Gauge locos delivered).

[@allangibson8494]

@LW F The really weird thing is that most the Melbourne trams are standard 4'8" gauge - including the tram lines built by Victorian Railways.

[@keithjenkinson7825]

@@allangibson8494 no the VR trams needed to be re-gauged from 5'3" when they were taken over.

[@blancomputers1]

Nice to see the train back on the tour again with it name change from the "The Southern Spirit" to "The Great Southern". see the following links to the original train service: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3zco3qebKyrba8 and kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6vQZ5uHf5ySiZo . NR85 and NR 84 painted in the The Southern Spirit logo

[@idxluaviation]

Isn’t there two other trains like this one, the Indian pacific & the ghan, from what I’ve learned there all Australias biggest long distance trains, is there any more? Someone explain, I’m not Australian

[@MS_Trains]

Yes! The Ghan is the most famous one running from Adelaide to Darwin and the Indian Pacific runs from Sydney to Perth via Adelaide. The Great Southern (Featured in the video) is a new service running from Adelaide to Brisbane via Melbourne. We've also got a bunch of long-distance passenger trains on the east coast but I can't list them all so I've linked a website below which shows all the routes and services. Thanks! Australian Rail Map: www.railmaps.com.au/ Matt - M&S Trains

[@idxluaviation]

@@MS_Trains Thank You!

[@starsonraaz]

Good. But Aus:💲2000 to 8000 very costly. It depends how it is from inside & the facilities you provide in train. You could have taken your camera team inside too.

[@bobdeverell]

Shocked at the many bends. Looks very 19 century. Permanent way needs upgrading.

[@cats0182]

Those cars look like Budd-built cars.

[@warrenknight9276]

I am presuming they are American general electric, sadly here in New Zealand we have Chinese engine now, and definitely don't sound right.

[@Tony1955NZ]

KiwiRail DL class locomotive have MTU prime mover made in Germany

[@warrenknight9276]

@@Tony1955NZ yes I am aware, just a old GME fan from old, as a kid I grew up on the railway's from the steam into the diesel, I was working in the railway's workshops Otahuhu until I join the army to serve overseas, but sadly settled in Taupo in 78 so didn't have any trains here, even though I was wishing, sadly fletchers wanted to connect with murapara railway to Taupo but transrail wouldn't go for it, strangely enough still huge amount of logs could still be off the road. The Dx was brand new as they arrive in the diesel shop espresso as the they were completely swamped in salt water, and they had to be stripped down for checking out before running. I also used to go to work with my father since 7 year's old, and travelling on every train in the 60s and 70s ,

[@florencegomer7937]

The loco looks like many of those seen in Wide World of Trains videos.

[@claytonjackson8610]

FresH looking train

[@bentravis21]

Kinda sucks that other countries have more passenger trains when in my Country USA has only amtrack the rest are fright

[@blokeabouttown2490]

@LW F Surely TGV would still make sense on the densely populated east coast of Australia. Sydney and Melbourne are two major centres of commerce and their air corridor is one of the busiest in the world. A high speed train service in this area could also connect to cities like Newcastle and Canberra and the distances are not dissimilar to those served by high speed rail in other countries.

[@bentravis21]

But still be nice to have the railway passenger trains that we had in the past like the steam train passenger trains like the ones that past through my town here that could take you to San Francisco

[@bushyconn]

This train was advertised as being a NEW TRAIN. It is nothing of the sort; just a new route for the Ghan rebadged with those death trap connecting between the carriages. I was on the Ghan just over a year ago and there is no fixed safety bars between the cars as there is on the XPT.

[@j777barbasiewicz]

Voyage info missing.

[@brianfindsall]

This would be our dream to, but might be to costly, we live in uk. but yes me n me wife would love to do all three train journeys THE GHAN, INDIAN PACIFIC, AND THE GREAT SOUTHERN. What would that cosy hey? for two of us Gold Standard. £10,000 I Bet.

[@joliettraveler]

These Australian trains need dome cars like VIA rail in Canada.

[@WelshGuitarDude]

Could that train be any less aerodynamic

[@mickcarson8504]

Ah, here is someone who has my thought exactly. Here is the probable reason why it is flat faced

[@mickcarson8504]

Ah, here is someone with exact thoughts like mine. The probable reason why they chose flat face design is shown here at 2:30, so, when connected with a carriage it has less aerodynamically drag between the gap. But, still it doesn't match in shape and style.That why the old S303 locomotive was the best with an aerodynamically efficient nose.

[@WelshGuitarDude]

@@mickcarson8504 Hmm, i'm not convinced. If you look at trains in the UK for their high speed lines, they have curves and connect together, some times nose to nose between two engines. Since they are high performance rail cares on high speed lines, i would imagine they have calculated drag factors into their decision to do that. You can see some examples of it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5vPZo17iMeZh8k

[@legass420]

Aerodynamics don't matter. It's not going to go faster than 100 km/h probably.

[@WelshGuitarDude]

@@legass420 saves fuel and money over its life time tho

[@warrenpamment]

good luck getting a seat its all sold out

[@krisnasip]

What i don't like from aus train the window is small different with Kiwi rail with big window

[@amfan_17presentations87]

28 Cars? That’s a long passenger train! Our longest in the USA is the Auto Train!

[@flybyairplane3528]

From what I’ve seen, those fears are ridiculous , that’s lots of money,,in ANY CURRENCY, I JUSE COMPARED, THERE IS A NICE APP, ‘XE’ FOR VIRTUALLY MOST CURRENCIES ., NOW YOU CAN EVEN SEND MONEY THROUGH IT .. , BUT THOSE FARES, THEY ARE NOT catering to the average bloke , Cheers From NJ, USA🇦🇺🇺🇸

[@samuelmaltry6727]

Only two months per year ?!?!?? Wtf

[@bargearse4141]

Pity that there is no car carrying facility on it. Would be a great way to see the country.

[@henryjames5663]

Check with GSR about car carrying facilities

[@jamesc2810]

I hate how this is called the great southern because that is a region of Western Australia. It should really be called the great south eastern

[@ronaldmitaxa5007]

Pity the the sub titles are so blurred unreadable

[@rsmith_aus1371]

Ronald Mitaxa Go to specsavers. I can read them fine 👍

[@Brian3989]

Captions are fine for me to read. Try backing up replay.

[@florencegomer7937]

Depends on screen size/resolution. Text may be too small for smallest devices.

[@blake9358]

The current route between Adelaide and Brisbane is an antiqued joke

[@davinagurl6032]

THERE IS A SET OF WOODEN, HAND MADE CARRIAGES IN BRISBANE DEPOT, , WHY NOT USE THEM, THEY ARE 1st class

[@NECATR4D]

Nice compilation. Wish you had provided further information such as 1 Combined locomotive power. 2 Route Map 3 Duration of Journey 4 Fare table . I could hear you biting the teeth.😏😏😏

[@milwil3147]

sexy

[@MarkHenstridge]

$2000 to $8000, it won't last long

[@divinuminfernum]

thats what i am wondering - but look at the number of cars it has - i dont think i have ever seen an aussie passenger train with some many - are there really so many people using the service?

[@johnnotownsend6958]

you'd be surprised, tourists lap up the IP and the Ghan, I'm not sure this will be much different, and honestly it does go through some great scenery, if I was rich and had nothing better to do I'd probably pick this over the other two. I'm sad they killed the overland for this though. One of the biggest losses for Australian rail transport - for now. I'm sure the interstate XPT trips don't have long to live.

[@johnnotownsend6958]

​@LW F I hope that NSW trainlink considers adding more interstate services, two trains a day at the most inconvenient times just doesn't compete with air travel's hundreds of flights. I'd love to see more affordable interstate trains like the XPT and the Overland. I'm sad to see the only successful interstate rail travel is a stupidly, absurdly expensive "rail cruise" that doesn't even operate as actual transport for the small communities between cities

[@divinuminfernum]

@LW F thats cool, - i guess for me i have only ever grown up seeing ther XPT sydney-melbourne train so that was about the longest passenger one that i had ever seen and wasnt aware that something like the Ghan is even longer - i just never thought in the age of air travel that they would take so many passengers

[@divinuminfernum]

@@johnnotownsend6958 i hope the XPT stays, its still vital i think and for folks in country nsw it is still often an easier and cheaper way to get to sydney or melbourne than by air

[@marleybutler4633]

Not much publicity

[@mickcarson8504]

Great Southern? Pfft. I was hoping the new locomotives would have been aerodynamically designed for better air breaking efficiency, not this old design flat front design that, given the large area, would act like a parachute. But, since it is designed to travel forward/reverse, it doesn't need to drive on the rotating platform as either end of the locomotive has to be as close to the carriage being towed for aerodynamic efficiency. But, what about the front? Why not design a locomotive with a sloping Concorde nose that retracts to a flat face when connected to carriages and popping out to a round nose at the forward-travelling end, like the great S303 locomotives which had an aerodynamically efficient front nose.