Britannia steam truck on world tour in Newcastle NSW 1971
A tale of two world tours: the MGM trackless train and the steam truck Britannia
A "trackless train" and a steam lorry made compelling subjects for Australian photographers when they visited the country during world tours at opposite ends of last century. MGM trackless train outside Auburn Garage, Sydney, c1928 . Among a number of interesting photographs in one collection of glass negatives we were privileged to borrow was this oddity: a strange train-shaped truck outside J.A. Goldthorpe's garage in Auburn, Sydney. A little research discovered that this was the famous "trackless train" owned by MGM film studios, which came to Australia in 1928 as part of a world tour promoting…