The Western Mail was an Australian passenger train that ran from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

and

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

from 1973 until November 1988.

Service history

The service commenced when the ''Dubbo Mail'' and ''Forbes Mail'' were combined. The service ran overnight from Sydney via the Main Western line to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

where the train divided with separate portions for Dubbo and Parkes. At Dubbo it connected with the '' Far West Express'' to Bourke,

Cobar Cobar is a town in Outback New South Wales, Australia, whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Highwa ...

and

Coonamble Coonamble is a town on the central-western plains of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the Castlereagh Highway north-west of Gilgandra. At the 2016 census, Coonamble had a population of 2,750. It is the regional hub for wheat growing and ...

. From 1957, the Sydney to Lithgow portion of the journey was hauled by 46 and later 86 class electric locomotives following the electrification of the Blue Mountains line. Until November 1983, the Parkes service was extended to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

on certain nights. From June 1985, most Dubbo based

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities A ...

road coach services that connected with the ''Western Mail'' were retimed to meet with the '' Central West XPT''. The Orange to Parkes portion was withdrawn in May 1986"Melbourne-Sydney Standard Gauge Relief Trains" ''Australian Railway History'' April 2012 with the remainder of the service ceasing in November 1988."The Last Post for the Last Mail" ''Railway Digest'' February 1989 page 53

References

{{Named trains of New South Wales, state=collapsed Discontinued railway services in Australia Named passenger trains of New South Wales Night trains of Australia Railway services introduced in 1973 Railway services discontinued in 1988 1973 establishments in Australia 1988 disestablishments in Australia