Albion Park Rail is a suburb of

Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellha ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

situated in the

Macquarie Valley (Shellharbour) The Macquarie Valley, also known as Albion Park, Rural West or Western Valley, is an area located in the Shellharbour local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Au ...

. The South Coast railway line was opened to the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and Bombo in 1887. At the time the nearest town was Albion Park, several kilometres away. Over time, houses were built around the railway station, and Albion Park Rail developed into a town in its own right, and with its own name. Albion Park Rail has a community area set up with a community centre, playing fields and a recently built skatepark. It only has one school but it accommodates many students from Pre-School to Year 6. Albion Park Rail is located along the shores of

Lake Illawarra Lake Illawarra (Australian Aboriginal languages, Aboriginal Tharawal language: various adaptions of ''Elouera'', ''Eloura'', or ''Allowrie''; ''Illa'', ''Wurra'', or ''Warra'' meaning pleasant place near the sea, or, high place near the sea, or, ...

, near Koona Bay. It is a fifteen-minute drive on the

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

to Wollongong. Albion Park Rail is the site of the

Illawarra Regional Airport Shellharbour Airport, formerly Illawarra Regional Airport, also referred as Albion Park Aerodrome or Wollongong Airport, is an airport located in Albion Park Rail, New South Wales, Australia. The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society is lo ...

which is the location of the

Historical Aircraft Restoration Society The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, often referred to by its acronym, HARS, is an Australian based aircraft restoration group. The group has two museums, at Shellharbour Airport in New South Wales, Australia, and Parkes, New South Wale ...

Heritage listings

Albion Park Rail has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Princes Highway:

Albion Park railway station Albion Park railway station is a Heritage register, heritage-listed railway station located on the South Coast railway line, New South Wales, South Coast railway line on the Princes Highway in , New South Wales, Australia. The station was desig ...

Museum

The

Illawarra Light Railway Museum The Illawarra Light Railway Museum operates a mainline narrow gauge light railway, a miniature gauge railway, and a museum located in Albion Park Rail, New South Wales, Australia. History The Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society was founded ...

located just south of the airport is dedicated to the preservation and display of historic light railway locomotives and rolling stock. It holds regular open days featuring light and miniature train rides.

References

External links

Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society Homepage
{{Wollongong suburbs City of Shellharbour Suburbs of Wollongong