Titled TAA Map of the Commonwealth of Australia Showing Air Routes, Railways, Towns, Primary Industries and Routes of Explorers, this May 1958 production captures a continent in motion at the height of mid-century modernity. Issued by Trans Australia Airlines—founded in 1946 to knit distant communities into a single, navigable whole—the map uses a crisp, color-coded scheme to clarify a vast, interlocking web of movement. Red lines radiate across the land to denote air services, while distinct line styles mark the nation’s major railways; neat labels pick out capitals and key regional centers from Sydney and Melbourne to Darwin, Hobart, and the Gold Coast. Insets extend the frame to neighboring regions, inviting the viewer to consider Australia’s evolving place within a widening world of travel and trade.

The aviation story dominates. Approximately 50 domestic routes stitch together Australia’s long coastline and formidable interior—Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Darwin, Newcastle, and beyond—while some 30 overseas connections arc outward to Johannesburg, Colombo, Rome, London, New York, and San Francisco. These international lines, presented alongside TAA’s network and connecting services, chart the pathways by which Australians were increasingly linked to Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The red-laced skyways track logical corridors: Darwin as a northern gateway, Perth as a bridge to the Indian Ocean world, Sydney and Melbourne as bustling hubs, and Hobart joined over Bass Strait. Each route suggests not merely distance conquered, but markets, families, and ideas newly within reach.

Rail’s presence is equally assured, and the cartography makes their complementarity unmistakable. The Trans-Australian line across the Nullarbor, the east-coast trunk binding Brisbane–Sydney–Melbourne–Adelaide, and Queensland’s coastal rails threading northward are all delineated with confident, contrasting strokes. Inland spurs reach pastoral towns and mineral districts, expressing how goods and people once moved before turboprops quickened the tempo. Geography is never far from view: the Great Dividing Range shadows the eastern arteries; the Murray–Darling basin shapes settlement and freight; Bass and Torres Straits highlight the thresholds between island and continent, tropics and temperate zones. Together, steel track and red airways form a modern palimpsest over an ancient landscape.

In a deft historical flourish, the map overlays routes of explorers on the contemporary transport grid, reminding viewers that today’s schedules trace yesterday’s audacity. The legendary north–south traverse of John McDouall Stuart, the tragic ambition of Burke and Wills from Melbourne to the Gulf, Leichhardt’s forays in Queensland’s tropics, and Eyre’s endurance along the Great Australian Bight appear as purposeful threads across deserts and ranges. Primary industries are annotated across the states: wool and wheat belts fanning through New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia; beef country stretching across Queensland and the Northern Territory; sugar on the humid Queensland coast; timber in Tasmania; and mineral fields punctuating Western and South Australia. Industry, exploration, and transport converse here, each explaining the other.

As publisher, TAA stands at the center of this national narrative. Founded in 1946, the airline championed accessibility and regularity in domestic air travel, pioneering modern fleets and practices that shortened the “tyranny of distance.” Fact boxes enumerate TAA’s aircraft and Australia’s key statistics, situating the network within the hard numbers of capacity, range, and national growth. In 1958 the carrier’s sleek turboprops, like the Vickers Viscount, flew alongside stalwart workhorses that connected remote towns as surely as they linked capital cities. Clear symbology, disciplined color coding, and informative insets grant this map a persuasive authority: it is at once a guide, an argument, and an emblem of postwar optimism—Australia poised between its vast interior and a wider world newly one flight away.

Cities and towns on this map

• Sydney
• Melbourne
• Brisbane
• Perth
• Adelaide
• Canberra
• Hobart
• Darwin
• Newcastle
• Gold Coast

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Air routes indicated with red lines.
• Major railways depicted with distinct line styles.
• Significant towns and cities labeled throughout the map.
• Insets showing neighboring regions and air routes to international destinations.
• Fact boxes detailing TAA fleets and statistical information related to Australia.

Historical and design context

• Date of creation: May 1958.
• Mapmaker/publisher: Trans Australia Airlines (founded 1946).
• Scarce TAA map highlighting approximately 50 domestic and 30 overseas air routes, including Johannesburg, Colombo, London, New York, Rome, and San Francisco.
• Topics depicted: air routes (domestic and international), major railway lines, primary industries, and routes of explorers.
• Regions shown: the entire continent of Australia along with parts of neighboring countries.
• Design/style: clear color-coding for air and rail routes with a straightforward layout emphasizing connectivity.
• Historical significance: reflects mid-20th-century expansion of air travel and its impact on regional development.
• Context about TAA: played a significant role in Australia’s aviation history, enhancing connectivity and promoting travel within Australia and beyond.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This is a very large map that must be ordered at a large size, so that you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 90in (230cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.