The Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre is located at the heritage-listed former railway workshops in

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, on the

Main Southern railway line The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sydney to Albury, near the Victorian border. The line passes through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and Riverina regions. ...

. Now a museum, it is also known as the Goulburn Rail Workshop and Goulburn Roundhouse. The workshops were added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999. The workshops were saved from demolition by the Goulburn Locomotive Roundhouse Preservation Society and is now a museum open to the public with large collection of rolling stock and various exhibits, as well as privately owned locomotives and carriages with some commercial repair work happening on site.

History

Following the completion of the first railway from Sydney to Parramatta Junction in 1855, proposals for the first railways to the rest of NSW included a line to the inland centre of Goulburn. A single line from Marulan to Goulburn opened on 27 May 1869. A depot was built by the

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differe ...

on the southern outskirts of the town when the line from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

was opened to

in May 1869. In 1918, a 42 road roundhouse opened. Associated railway structures at Goulburn included the goods shed (1868), carriage shed (1869), engine shed (1869), a coal stage, water pump, turntable, and the station master’s residence (1870). The roundhouse was constructed of brick and corrugated iron in 1918 around a electric-powered turntable. The locomotive depot closed in July 1986 with its allocation of locomotives transferred to

Junee Locomotive Depot The Junee Roundhouse Railway Museum preserves the former Junee Locomotive Depot, a railway depot located on the Main Southern line in Junee, Australia. History The Junee Locomotive Depot was built by the New South Wales Government Railways when ...

, but remained as a stabling and refueling point for a few years. Goulburn City Council took out a lease on the roundhouse hoping to establish a national rail museum. The Goulburn Roundhouse Museum became home to several preserved locomotives with the

New South Wales Rail Transport Museum The NSW Rail Museum is the main railway museum in New South Wales, Australia. A division of Transport Heritage NSW, it was previously known as the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM), Rail Heritage Centre and Trainworks. Transport He ...

transferring 2419 from

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Allerdale, Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for inst ...

in August 1989. In 1980, a wagon building and maintenance facility was constructed to the north of the roundhouse. In July 2006 this was transferred to

UGL Rail UGL Rail is an Australian rail company specialising in building, maintaining and refurbishing diesel locomotives, diesel and electric multiple units and freight wagons. It is a subsidiary of UGL Limited and is based in Melbourne, with a staff of ...

. Following UGL Rail deciding to close the workshop in June 2010, in September 2010 Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia signed a ten-year lease for the site to maintain both its locomotive and wagon fleets."Born in Chicago" ''Railway Digest'' November 2012 page 34 As well as maintaining its own fleet, Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia also perform maintenance for other operators including

Aurizon Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...

Museum exhibits

The Museum has a collection of railway locomotives, carriages, wagons and other railway equipment including: Other Locomotives * 48 Class diesel locomotive 4821 (operational) * General Electric Bo-Bo L80T diesel locomotive D1 (under restoration) * Clyde Engineering Co-Co GM12 Class diesel locomotive GM19 (owned by RailPower) * Beyer, Peacock & Co 4-6-0 C32 class steam locomotive

3237 Locomotive 3237 is a two-cylinder, simple, non-condensing, coal-fired, superheated, ‘Ten-wheel’ 4-6-0 express passenger steam locomotive. It is one of the four P class (later New South Wales C32 class locomotive, C32 class) locomotives that ...

(Operational, owned by

Lachlan Valley Railway The Lachlan Valley Railway Society is an Australian rail preservation society based in the New South Wales Central Western town of Cowra. It was established in 1974 to preserve and operate former New South Wales Government Railways locomotives ...

)

Gallery

File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Locomotive 4821.jpg, Locomotive 4821 File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Wheel Lathe.jpg, Wheel Lathe File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum NSWGR Locomotive 3085.jpg, Locomotive 3085 File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Signalling Display.jpg, Signalling Display File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum General Electric Bo-Bo L80T diesel locomotive D1.jpg, General Electric Bo-Bo L80T File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Telegraphy.jpg, Telegraphy File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Breakdown Crane 1072.jpg, Breakdown Crane 1072 File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Carriages.jpg, Carriages File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Entrance.jpg, Entrance File:Goulburn Roundhouse Museum Carriage under restoration.jpg, Carriage under restoration File:601 - Railway Workshops (former) - PCO Plan Number 601 (5045001p1).jpg, Heritage boundaries

References

{{Reflist Goulburn Railway roundhouses in Australia Railway workshops in New South Wales 1869 establishments in Australia Tourist railways in New South Wales New South Wales State Heritage Register