Federation is a 1998 documentary film in three parts on the history behind the union of six colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia.
[1] Presentation largely consists of interleaving historical photographs and political cartoons, modern film clips and "talking heads", their faces rarely shown for more than five seconds, then talking over relevant graphics.
Dates and statistics are given second place to anecdotes and character assessments of the principle protagonists.
The locomotive with its passenger-less carriages, seen frequently in continuity shots, is an "F-class" F251 built by Perry Engineering, which entered service with the South Australian Railways in 1922 and is now operated by SteamRanger, maintenance schedule permitting.
[2] A DVD of the three-part series was released by Umbrella Entertainment in 2012.