The Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society Co-op Ltd. (SLSLS) was formed in 1948 and built a miniature railway along a drainage channel behind houses on Anthony Road, West Ryde

West Ryde, New South Wales

West Ryde is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. West Ryde is located 16 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde and is part of the Northern Suburbs area....

, Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The site has been transformed by the addition of fill from excavation work during widening of the local railway line and the Society has grown and now operates a miniature railway on the site with a 400m long elevated track of 2 inch, 3 inch and 5 inch gauge, and two 300m long ground level 5 inch railways. The Society presents a monthly public exhibition

Exhibition

An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within museums, galleries and exhibition halls, and World's Fairs...

 with train rides each month.

The Society operates miniature steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s which represent prototype

Prototype

A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...

 engines of NSW

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and other states. One can also see a variety of other prototype locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

s. The locomotives work hard hauling 6 car trains with up to 30 persons. A 10 lever mechanical ex-New South Wales Railways ground frame operates elevated swing stub points and lower quadrant signals on the elevated railway and a 48 miniature (Westinghouse style) lever frame

Lever frame

Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the signals and points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control...

 operates the ground level railway's motor points and colour light signals. Members practice their model engineering

Model engineering

Model engineering is the hobby of constructing machines in miniature. The term was in use by 1888. There is some debate about the appropriateness of the term...

 in the creation of miniature steam locomotives, truly representative of the prototype.

A history of the Society was produced to celebrate the 50 years of their operation

The grounds are a local favourite for birthday parties on running days.

The operation is in accordance with the Codes of Practice for Operation, Training and Standards of the Australian Association of Live Steamers (AALS). This code is available on their web site at http://www.aals.asn.au. The boiler

Boiler

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...

s in the miniature locomotives are built, tested and operated in accordance with the Australian Miniature Boiler Safety Committee (AMBSC) codes.

The closest railway station is West Ryde.