Steamtown Peterborough Museum

Steamtown Peterborough Museum is a railway museum located in Peterborough, South Australia.

It is centred around a collection of railway rollingstock housed in a roundhouse and workshops previously used by the now-defunct Steamtown, Peterborough Railway Preservation Society Inc.

Foundation

"Steamtown" was founded in 1977 to run a steam hauled tourist service on the narrow gauge railway between Peterborough and Eurelia using South Australian Railways T class 199.

The organisation was said to have arisen from the successful return to steam of sister T class 186, and the highly regarded Peterborough Centenary Celebrations of 1976.

Rollingstock

All of the organisations' (revenue) passenger stock was formerly Commonwealth Railways. All had seen service on the old Ghan Line between Marree and Alice Springs. Its steam power was all formerly of Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR/Westrail), including Pmr720, and W's 901 and 907 - 907 was never steamed.

Diesel power was also West Australian, including Lakewood Firewood Co (later CR NC class) "1" and WAGR Z 1151. The society obtained two Commonwealth Railways [http://www.derbysulzers.com/australiabrcw.html NSU class] locomotives (55 and 62), from those remaining in Marree, during 1993. These were delivered in January 1994.

Early trains were run with Pmr720. However, tubes in this locomotive failed in the late 1980's, leaving W901 as the only operational steam locomotive [ [http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p723276+pmr+720.htm#723276 Comment on Railpage Forum - Author unknown] ] . Plans were made to recommission 720, but this never eventuated.

Tender first operations, minimalist maintenance and limited expertise, led to problems with 901 in later years, with a number of trains being diesel hauled, or supported by small diesel power. Following the last train, 901 was left full of water, causing concern regarding the condition of her boiler. Former Steamtown members, including those involved with the recommissioning, undertook minor works in 2006 to minimise further deterioration [Harris, G 2007: "PRR assist Steamtown to store W901", "Pichi Richi Patter" Autumn 2007 - Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society Incorporated] .

NSU55 was eventually recommissioned during 1998 after a considerable effort by a very small band of volunteers. Major problems were encountered replacing failed cylinder liner seals. Track conditions throughout the Roundhouse and on the "mainline" created significant problems for its operation. It is understood that it never worked more than a few kilometers out of Peterborough.

Whilst T199 was the first locomotive to be obtained, it was never steamed. This was, in part, because of the availability of roadworthy locomotives in WA, including the V, S, W and Pmr Class locomotives. Serious consideration was given to the heavy V and S classes, however track conditions and the operational pressures they would have created ruled them out.

Y82, which also was in Peterborough, was never transferred to the Society. It was given a cosmetic restoration in 2000.

The Move

In the early 1980s, a group of members, centred around the Society committee, realised that the future of the organisation was limited in Peterborough, and investigated options for relocating the Society elsewhere.

Options considered were the Gladstone-Willmington line, also of 3'6" gauge, and at the time still carrying large quantities of grain, the Clare Valley Line (which required re-gauging from 5'3" gauge), in order to take advantage of the tourism potential of the Clare Valley, and the Victor Harbor Line, with the main consideration being a base at Goolwa. This line was later transferred to the management of the Australian Railway Historical Society, Inc.

It is understood that the committee believed that limited tourist traffic in Peterborough was a primary issue, along with apparently limited support from the local community.

An Act of Parliament

A number of issues within the organisation and the town eventually led to the operational equipment being transferred, via an Act of Parliament, to the Corporation of Peterborough (the Corporation), with management of the rollingstock being vested in the "Steamtown Peterborough Railway Preservation Society Inc" [ [http://legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/C/A/STEAMTOWN%20PETERBOROUGH%20(VESTING%20OF%20PROPERTY)%20ACT%201986.aspx Steamtown Peterborough (Vesting of Property) Act 1986] ] .

The operations of Steamtown never recovered from this. There were significant problems attracting people who had the skills and abilities needed to realise the potential of its operations. In its later years, the organisation had little support from the local community, with many of its volunteers travelling regularly from Adelaide.

Operations

The first public train ran on 18 April 1981.

The organisation ran an average of 6 trips a year between Peterborough and Orroroo, and Peterborough and Eurelia.

Its peak years were the early 1990s, where it ran up to eleven trains a year. During the late 1980s and 1990s, operations were suspended for short periods on a number of occasions.

"Steamtown" ran one train to Quorn over the weekend of 17 and 18 of October 1981; the last steam hauled train to travel the line between Peterborough and Quorn, home of the Pichi Richi Railway. Pmr720 was the only Pacific locomotive to visit Quorn. The Society ran a number of other trains to Bruce, Hammond and Carrieton, using available "NT" class locomotives, to recover track and civil infrastructure. Much of this was used within the "Depot" at Peterborough West.

Steamtown also hosted what were believed to be amongst the first organised motor section car (or Speeder) runs in the country. These ran between 1994 and 1998, in association with a live band at Eurelia [ Various editions "The Partyline"] .

In its last years of operation, a restored South Australian Railways Motor Inspection Car was available for hire.

The organisation had considerable problems attracting the patronage necessary to support its operations.

A Last Fling

The Corporation supported a manager for the organisation in its later years, who made a significant contribution to turning around the organisations fortune. However, the underlying problems, and rapidly deteriorating assets, particularly civil, mean that the work done was too late to be of benefit.

This was practically the only support the Corporation provided, despite its "commitment" to the organisation during the Asset Crisis.

The End

By 2002, insurance costs skyrocketed for most heritage railways, leading to a number ceasing operations. This affected Steamtown, which stopped the operation of its trains when its public liability cover expired in June 2002. By the time the insurance crisis had resolved the following year, the civil infrastructure had deteriorated markedly.

The rollingstock and civil assets that the society managed suffered from limited maintenance, mainly through lack of resources. This was compounded by the overall age of the track, as it was last resleepered by the SAR in the late 1960's and early 1970's. A report of the condition of the track was commissioned in order to establish the feasibility of resuming operations. Although disputed by a number of qualified civil personnel, the report suggested that the railway needed almost complete refurbishment with an estimated cost of $2.4 million, including new, heavier rail (60lb/yd over the 42lb/yd currently in place). This is despite similar railways running on the same railway structure elsewhere.

The proposal for disbandment was made at a public meeting in September 2003 [Mills S "Rail Preservation Society disbands" [http://flindersranges.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/rail-preservation-society-disbands/451337.aspx Flinders News October 31, 2003] retrieved October 10 2008 ] . "Steamtown, Peterborough Railway Preservation Society Incorporated" as a legal entity, was dissolved 13 January 2005.

Today

The Museum is managed as a "Committee of Council", and is expected by the Corporation to be self-funding. It is open to the public most days. A small fee is charged.

Considerable effort has been put into presenting the displays, including some basic interpretive signage and consideration is being given to streamlining the collection so as to ensure it is representative of Peterborough's railway history. During late 2007, the Corporation of Peterborough employed a Manager to oversee its development

Work to remove the railway commenced in September 2008. It is understood that track will be left over Pekina Creek, Black Rock Bridge, Walloway Yard to Walloway Creek and in the yard of Ororroo. The funds resulting from track removal are apparently to be used to enhance the Roundhouse Complex [Various posts to the Railpage and Railsa forums] [Mills S "Harvest time for the Eurelia rail line" [http://flindersranges.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/harvest-time-for-eurelia-rail-line/1276346.aspx Flinders News - September 19, 2008] October 10 2008] .

Consideration has been given to refining the collection to reflect the types of rollingstock that ran in the area. This includes the possibility of a Garratt (402, currently in New South Wales), returning to Peterborough [Milne, Ian, "Big Redevelopments at Steamtown" Catchpoint Magazine. March 2008 pp30-31. National Railway Museum Port Adelaide] .

See also

* List of Australian heritage railways

References

* "Steamtown Newsletter" - Various Editions and editors
* "The Partyline" Internal magazine of Steamtown Peterborough Railway Preservation Society Inc, Various editions and editors
* Evans, J 2006: "Steamtown Peterborough and the future of the Eurelia Line", "Catchpoint" September 2006 - National Railway Museum
* McNicol, S, (Mannion, J) 2006: "Peterborough 125 - Celebrating 125 years of Railways in Peterborough" Railmac Publications, Elizabeth SA ISBN 978-1-86477-054-6
* Evans J 2006: "Proceed to Quorn" Procedings of Modelling the Railways of South Australia 2006

External links

* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/South-Australia/Peterborough/2005/02/17/1108500204567.html Sydney Morning Herald - Steamtown Peterborough]
* [http://www.peterboroughsa.com.au/steamtown.php Steamtown - Peterborough and District website]
* [http://www.jaunay.com/folk.html Museums in South Australia]
* [http://legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/V/P/2003/ADMINISTRATIVE%20ARRANGEMENTS%20(ADMINISTRATION%20OF%20STEAMTOWN%20PETERBOROUGH%20(VESTING%20OF%20PROPERTY)%20ACT)%20PROCLAMATION%202003_29.5.2003%20P%202105/29.5.2003%20P%202105.UN.RTF Administrative Arrangements (Administration of Steamtown Peterborough (Vesting of Property) Act) Proclamation 2003]