New South Wales Rail Transport Museum

The New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM) located in Thirlmere, New South Wales

Thirlmere, New South Wales

Thirlmere is a small semi-rural town in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Wollondilly Shire. Popularly known for its railway origins, the town is located 89 km south west of Sydney , one third of the distance from Sydney to Canberra...

south-west of Sydney, is a museum dedicated to displaying former locomotives, carriages and goods wagons from the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

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

Valley Heights Locomotive Depot Heritage Museum

The Valley Heights Locomotive Depot Heritage Museum is a railway museum located in Valley Heights, New South Wales, Australia. It is operated by the Blue Mountains Division of the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum....

.
The museum operates steam heritage trains on the Picton Loop railway line between Thirlmere, Picton

Picton, New South Wales

Picton is a small town in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly Shire. The town is located 80 kilometres South-west of Sydney, close to Camden and Campbelltown. It is also the administrative centre of Wollondilly Shire....

and Buxton

Buxton, New South Wales

Buxton is a small village in Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Wollondilly Shire. In 2006, Buxton had a population of 1,699 people. Its name comes from the town of Buxton, Derbyshire.- Geography :...

. 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.

History

Established at the Sydney suburb of Enfield

Enfield, New South Wales

Enfield is a suburb, in the Inner-West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Enfield is located 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Burwood Council.-History:...

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

LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman

The LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley...

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

3801 Limited

3801 Limited is a not for profit company limited by guarantee. It was incorporated on 5 June 1985; A.C.N. 002 951 671. The registered office of the company is at Australian Technology Park.- Establishment :...

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

Hunter Valley Steamfest

The Hunter Valley Steamfest is one of the major events in the New South Wales steam locomotive season and also one of the major events held in Maitland, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia...

, 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)
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

Powerhouse Museum

The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, the other being the historic Sydney Observatory...

'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. 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.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.