With the longest stretch of straight railway line in the world, railways hold a special place in Australia. The coin is representative of the race to be first in the country to operate a steam railway. The Sydney Railway Company was the first to be established and begin work on railway construction. Melbourne was able to open their line first with a small locally-built locomotive as deliveries of their Robert Stephenson & Co. engines were late. The depiction of a steam train emerging from the Australian landscape also recognises the significance of this event in the development of the country. The construction and development of railways in Australian from the mid 1850s completed what the inland pioneering transport system began - opening up Australian and linking the colonies. Considering the vast distances to be travelled, the railways spread remarkably rapidly. Wherever the railways went, towns prospered. They were the lifeblood linking the country and the cities fostering the development of primary industries by quickly and efficiently transporting products to markets that were never possible before.