Media Release

May 27 2009

Students bring historic Tea and Sugar Train to life

The Tea and Sugar Train at the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide Australia’s historic Tea and Sugar Train is being brought back to life by students from UniSA and Carnegie Mellon University in an interactive and educational display at the National Railway Museum.

The iconic train’s resident butcher, bank teller, shop keeper and crew are included in the display, in which visitors can call up stories and images, purchase goods in shillings and pounds, and view the vastness of the outback as it passes outside the car window.

Students from UniSA’s Media Arts degree have worked with students from Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Centre (ETC) on the exhibit, which will be opened to the public at the National Railway Museum’s 20th anniversary celebrations at Port Adelaide this weekend. The display, featuring the latest in digital sound and vision technologies, will be officially opened on Friday night (May 29) at 6pm.

Professor Kerry Green, head of UniSA’s School of Communication, International Studies and Languages, said the project brought real-world experience to university learning.

“Our students have learnt something valuable about the history of their State while honing their skills in the documentary and digital media fields,” he said. “Their work will now be seen and enjoyed by thousands of visitors to the museum.”

The Tea and Sugar Train began in 1917 and provided transport, food, entertainment, banking and medical services to workers constructing the Trans-Australian Railway. After the line was completed, settlements began to grow along the line route, and there became a growing need to transport city luxuries to these isolated areas. The train was taken out of service in 1996.

Professor Don Marinelli, Executive Producer of the Entertainment Technology Centre said the Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Centre was honoured to have worked with UniSA and the National Railway Museum on capturing the history of the Tea and Sugar Train.

“Through the use of technology we can achieve a level of immersion and vicarious experience that brings to life a certain time, an era, an epoch, what life was like during a certain period of history,” Prof Marinelli said.

The National Railway Museum, at Lipson Street, Port Adelaide, is open daily from 10am to 5pm.