I'm looking for a source for an Australian road atlas that also shows the railroads. It would be even better if that also included the 2' ga. cane railroads of Queensland. PM me if you know of a source in USA, or if necessary, elsewhere.

Thanks!

Try here:
https://ara.net.au/policy-media/network-maps

The NatMap "Railways of Australia" map only shows the rail lines (colour coded by gauge) with selected enlargements for metropolitan areas. Whilst showing rivers and terrain, it certainly doesn't show any of the national road network or "industrial" operations like the Queensland cane lines.

I have just checked my 2004 version which I bought when I was on vacation in Australia that year.

However, I also bought a map called "Rail Journeys of Australia", published by Hema Maps Pty - http://www.hemamaps.com - which does show the national road network, though its all at a scale of 1:5500000 (Australia is a big place!) The map folds out to 28" x 39".
In addition, it includes the locations of all preserved lines and museums on it, whilst the reverse of the map has diagramatic enlargements of main centers, including the tram network in Melbourne, together with a rough frequency guide for suburban rail services.
Quite a useful publication.

Rail travel in Australia is kind of like Amtrak. Not very often and not to many places. To go from Sydney on the East coast to Perth on the West coast is pretty difficult with three changes of gauge. That train takes four days and runs three times per week.
The train from Adelaide on the south coast to Darwin on the north coast is another three day journey and only ran twice a week when we were there a few years ago. You must remember that ALL travel in Australia is pretty much continental distances, 1500 miles or more.

Australia is a HUGE place with a relatively minuscule population (about 55 million) for its size.

Australia is a huge place (think continental USA) but the population is nowhere near 55 million yet, more like 26 mil.

An updated Google Earth kml file has just been released for Australian rail: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qgWfJ_ov9-Kqvq6tLdrpErDQafMcrJpI/view

All capital cities are connected by standard gauge now, the gauge changes are a thing of the past. Except for Queensland, who love to be different.

More about Australian roads than you want to know: http://ozroads.com.au/

The hospitality of the Australians is beyond what we're accustomed to here. One of the most enjoyable months of my life as spent there - I wish you a similar experience. Apart from the railway stuff you already have researched, please check out the sidewheel paddle steamers on the Murray River - a floating time machine.

If you do the long distance travel by rail, and leave off the driving apart from exploring the areas around your destination centers, you will find yourself with a variety of everything a traveler might want. Endless survival trips between destination cities are less fun there than here - there's a lot less to break the monotony.

David,

I've emailed the Royal Automobile Association to see if they know of/sell one. I'll also checked with a mate there to see whether he knows of one. Will let you know.

Jim Tatum