novelist research - Sydney/Melbourne travel in 1939

["Frederick Compton" <frederick@keyworld.co.uk>]

Hi all,

I will try and be brief.  I am an Austr. currently living and working in the
UK.  I am doing some research for a novel, and I need a little information
about rail transport to Melbourne from Sydney in mid 1939, i.e. just a
couple of months before the war broke out.  Basically, my questions are
threefold:

1) what was the name of the service - I had always thought the Indian
Pacific went via Melbourne, which shows my ignorance.  Did (does) the
Syd-Mel service have a special name?  Similarly, what sort of train /
carriage combo would have run the route?
2) Did the service terminate at Spencer Street as now, or did Flinders
Street cater for interstate as well then - I would prefer to terminate at
Flinders, but accuracy matters to me.
3) Time issues - were there any particular days the service would not have
run?  How long did it take?  What time of day was arrival in Melbourne?

I would be very grateful for any info that anyone in the group can provide.

Thanks,
Frederick Compton,
Northampton, UK.
(formally of Frankston)