The real Sunburnt Santa: Father Christmas on the Tea and Sugar train

The real "Sunburnt Santa" was Alf Harris, a Commonwealth Railways engine driver who dressed as Father Christmas and rode the Tea and Sugar train to the remote railway settlements of the Nullarbor Plain. The National Archives of Australia says he started in 1959 and visited the communities along the line each year for 36 years, and that he was known as the "Sunburnt Santa" or the "Santa of the Nullarbor" [1].

Our game borrows his nickname and, we hope, a bit of his spirit. It isn't a retelling of his story. That story belongs to Alf and to the railway families who waited for him, and it's worth telling properly.

What was the Tea and Sugar train?

The Trans-Australian Railway, finished by the Commonwealth Railways in 1917, runs 1,693 km across the south of the continent between Port Augusta in South Australia and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia [2]. Keeping that track running needed workers, and the workers and their families lived in small settlements strung along the line, many of them out on the Nullarbor [2].

Their supplies came once a week on a train everyone called the Tea and Sugar [2]. It had begun as a service for railway workers during and after construction, and a railway history of its rolling stock says that "certainly by 1915" it was formally recognised, with dedicated supply, butcher and fruit-and-vegetable vans [4]. Over the decades it grew into a shop, butcher and bank on wheels. Flinders University Library, which holds an archive on the train, says it carried groceries and fresh meat (with butchering facilities on board) and also provided banking [3]. From the late 1970s it carried medical staff from Flinders Medical Centre, with help from the Royal Flying Doctor Service, every six weeks [3].

As track and trains improved, the settlements shrank. In 1981 the train was limited to stops at railway camps, the butcher's van came off in 1982, the route was cut back to end at Cook, and the Tea and Sugar made its last run in 1996 [3].

Christmas on the line, before Santa

Railway Christmas presents for the line's children started long before there was a Santa on board. In 1928 the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner, Norris Bell, sent each child a board game called East West Railway; at the time there were around 85 children aged 9 to 15 living on the Trans-Australian and Central Australia lines [1]. A 1928 letter in the National Archives from Mary Hill of the 946 Mile camp thanks the Welfare Officer for her book and updates him on her piano playing [1].

In 1934, as in most years, Christmas cake went out to families in places where no other celebrations had been organised, and to the committees running parties at Kingoonya, Ooldea and Cook [1]. In 1942, with wartime rationing and a shortage of sweets, no Christmas gifts were sent at all [1].

The first Father Christmas on the train

Father Christmas first rode the train in 1957, when the Welfare Officer arranged for a railway employee, W. J. Crowe, to play him [2]. Crowe travelled "in full regalia" from Port Augusta to Cook in December 1957, and his report survives in the National Archives [1]. He and his helpers served sweets and cake to 310 children and visited the hostel at Tarcoola and the hospital at Cook. At Ooldea and Immarna the train didn't arrive until after 3 am, so a note and the gifts were left with the ganger [1].

His verdict on the heat was memorable: the trip was "an endurance test due to the heatwave and slow running of the train", which was "as near to an inferno as I ever care to be" [1]. He added that the trip "would not have been possible without the able assistance of my wife" [1].

The timing problem stuck around. When train driver W. McConnal volunteered for the role in 1960, he reported that Father Christmas "was met with loud cheers and to the singing of Carols", but asked for the trip to run a week earlier or to a timetable so Santa could reach the children in daylight, rather than handing the gifts to their parents in the early hours [1].

Alf Harris, the Sunburnt Santa

Alf Harris grew up in Lyons, Western Australia. Like his father, he worked for the Commonwealth Railways all his life and became an engine driver [1]. He took on Father Christmas in 1959 [1] [2], and kept at it for more than 30 years, into his retirement [2]. The National Archives puts it at 36 years of visiting the communities along the line [1].

His Santa didn't make do with a corner of a goods van for long. By 1972 Alf had his own carriage on the Tea and Sugar, decked out as Santa's cave [1]. In 1990 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to children in remote and isolated areas [1].

It's easy to see why the visits mattered. In 1961 R. A. Hewson, the head teacher at Reid, wrote to the Railways on behalf of the settlement to thank them for "the wonderful Christmas surprise, in the way of a 'Father Christmas'", mentioning the sweets and balloons and adding that "the children in a camp of this nature, do not receive much of anything most of the time" [1]. The National Archives sums up the Christmas visits simply: for many families on the line, "it was the highlight of the year" [1].

The facts at a glance

Where to see the records

The best place to start is the National Archives blog post "Santa in the Spinifex", which reproduces Crowe's report, the children's letters and a photograph of Alf as Father Christmas in the 1960s [1]. Flinders University Library holds a separate archive on the train's medical service [3].

Why our game carries the name

Sunburnt Santa is a game about Christmas in the Australian heat: a Santa in a ute instead of a sleigh, delivering to a country where December means 40 degrees, flies and a long drive. Alf Harris did the real version of that, for decades, in a hot railway carriage, for kids who lived a very long way from anywhere. We're not recreating his story, and we don't speak for his family or the railway communities. We just think he's the best possible reason to call a Santa sunburnt.

If you want a taste of the long haul, the final door, Christmas Eve Run, sends Santa across the country delivering to a capital city every 300 metres, and Ute Run on Day 1 is the same road at an easier pace. You can read more about the person who made the game on our about page, or see how Christmas works in Australia more broadly.

Keep reading

• Christmas in Australia: the complete guide
• Why is Christmas in summer in Australia?
• 50 Aussie Christmas trivia questions (with answers)

Sources

1. Santa in the Spinifex, National Archives of Australia (Nick Gleghorn, 16 December 2024)
2. When Santa rode the railway, Australian Geographic (Esme Mathis, December 2024)
3. Tea and Sugar Train Archive, Flinders University Library
4. A short history of the Tea and Sugar cars, Comrails (Commonwealth Railways history site)