- New South Wales Rail Transport Museum
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Official logo
The New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM) located in Thirlmere, New South Wales south-west of Sydney, is a museum dedicated to displaying former locomotives, carriages and goods wagons from the New South Wales Government Railways as well as private operations in NSW. The collection features steam, diesel and electric locomotives and other rolling stock. A large proportion of the collection is owned by RailCorp NSW.
The Blue Mountains division of the museum is located at the Valley Heights Locomotive Depot Heritage Museum.
2705 at Buxton working a loop line service.The museum operates steam heritage trains on the Picton Loop railway line between Thirlmere, Picton and Buxton. It also hosts the Thirlmere Festival of Steam, in March each year. In addition to this, the museum operates mainline tours under the name Heritage Express. These can consist of day or extended tours, usually over a weekend. NSWRTM/Heritage Express has an office on the Main Concourse at Sydney Central Station.
Contents
History
3801 in 2007
3820 as a static exhibit circa 1991
Preserved Silver City Comet
3642 in 2009Established at the Sydney suburb of Enfield in 1962, the museum was forced to move in the mid 1970s due to a proposed redevelopment of the Enfield site by the railways, who selected Thirlmere as an alternative due to the disused "loop line" which could be used for train rides. The new museum opened in 1975.
In 1984 the Museum became a foundation, management member of 3801 Limited - an organisation created to oversee the operation of the locomotive 3801.
The famous British railway locomotive 4472 Flying Scotsman visited Thirlmere in 1988 as part of its tour around Australia.
The museum played a major role in the 2005 celebrations marking 150 years of the NSW railways, restoring locomotive 3526 in 2004, for the occasion. They provided much of the rolling stock for a 150 years display at Sydney's Central Station in September 2005. 3526 joined other non-museum locomotives in shuttles to the suburb of Hurstville during the weekend.
The RTM was removed as a board member of 3801 Limited and the loco subsequently returned to the RTM in November 2006 after 3801 Limited's 20-year operating contract expired. Before 3801 Limited's lease expired there was an unsuccessful campaign to renew it, despite the fact that the organisation had funding and a long-term plan in place for the locomotive's overhaul and boiler replacement.
In 2008 steam locomotive 3642 was returned to service having been a static exhibit for 12 years, with the replacement of its previous boiler with an already steamable spare boiler and some minor mechanical work, not a full restoration as expressed by some.
The RTM is now a regular provider of services at the Hunter Valley Steamfest, however in the most recent years a staged reduction of services offered and a refusal to bring passengers from Sydney has put a cloud on said involvement.
Exhibits
The Museum's extensive collection of railway locomotives, carriages, wagons and other railway equipment includes:
- E17 Class Steam Locomotive no. 18 (built 1866)[1]
- M36 Class Steam Locomotive no. 78 (built 1877)
- Z17 Class Steam Locomotive no. 1709 (operational; built 1887)
- Z19 Class Steam Locomotive no. 1905 (built 1877)
- Z25 Class Steam Locomotive no. 2510 (built 1881)
- Z27 Class Steam Locomotive no. 2705 (operational; built 1913)
- C32 Class Steam Locomotive no. 3203 (built 1891)
- C35 Class Steam Locomotive no. 3526 (operational; built 1917)
- C36 Class Steam Locomotives nos. 3609 (built 1928), 3616 (built 1927) and 3642 (operational; built 1926)
- C38 Class Steam Locomotives nos. 3801 (built 1943) and 3820 (built 1947)
- D55 Class Steam Locomotive no. 5595 (built 1924)
- AD60 Class Steam Locomotive no. 6040 (Garratt type locomotive; built 1956)
- 40 Class Diesel Locomotive no. 4001 (operational)
- 86 Class Electric Locomotive
Current activities
The NSWRTM is now getting ready for a development to the museum with an interactive experiences and operational facility for the museum's and the state's railway heritage future. The museum will get help from Railcorp's Office Of Rail Heritage and the operational facility will be opened in 2009 and the museum's interactive experiences will be opened in 2010. The museum's new roundhouse was officially opened on November 9, 2009, for Railcorp employees. On display were 3642 on the turntable and 3526, 2705 and the Powerhouse Museum's 3265 sitting in the roundhouse. The opening to public will on Saturday, March 6, 2010 during its Steam Spectacular weekend marking the start of the Steam Season 2010.
Work on stage two of the museum upgrade began in November 2009, which included demolition of the existing locomotive maintenance building, construction of a new major exhibits building and other works. The New South Wales Rail Transport Museum was re-opened in April 2011, and is now known as TRAINWORKS.[2] Some of the exhibits have been moved to Broadmeadow and Goulburn depots' for storage. The rest has been move to the mainline that connects the museum to the NSW railway.
Organisation
The museum has over 2000 members, including an active volunteer workforce of over 300 and a small number of full time staff. It is administered by a voluntary Board and a Management Committee.
The museum is accredited as a rail operator under the NSW Rail Safety Act 2002 meaning it has network access rights on the NSW main line rail network.
Publications
See also
References
- NSWRTM About us page, accessed 27 November 2006.
- ^ "NSW Preserved Steam Locomotives". australiansteam.com. http://www.australiansteam.com/nswgrframe.htm. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
- ^ "Museum Development Upgrade Information". NSW Rail Transport Museum. http://www.nswrtm.org/news/museum_development.html. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
External links
- New South Wales Rail Transport Museum website
- List of Exhibits at Thirlmere
- Valley Heights Locomotive Depot Heritage Museum
- List of Exhibits at Valley Heights
- NSW Preserved Steam Locomotives
- 3801 Limited
- Heritage Express
- RailCorp 150 years of New South Wales Railways page
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Coordinates: 34°12′23″S 150°34′10″E / 34.2064°S 150.5695°E
Categories:- Railway museums in Australia
- Rail transport in New South Wales
- Visitor attractions in New South Wales
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