From their very earliest days in the 1850s railways provided a much safer, more comfortable and efficient form of transport. They swiftly captured the imagination of the public, the planners and the politicians who would expand them across the six colonies bringing a speed of communication unheard of in Australia previously. This is the story of how railway tracks rapidly expanded to all but the most remote parts of the continent. It shows how railway lines linked many places where they made no economic sense, but also forged connections that improved life for everyone in city or town.