The Lachlan Valley Railway Society is an Australian rail preservation society based in the

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 ...

Central Western town of

Cowra Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

. It was established in 1974 to preserve and operate former

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 ...

locomotives and rolling stock. It operates regular heritage train tours to a variety of locations across New South Wales.

History

The Lachlan Valley Railway was formed in 1974 initially to preserve locomotive 5917 and four carriages. It soon acquired other locomotives and formed a relationship with the Lachlan Vintage Village,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

. It then operated rail tours, including an interstate tours from Parkes to

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

in August 1976 with 5917. At that stage, rolling stock was stabled at

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

locomotive depot. On 18 June 1977, the society moved its base to the 1923-built Cowra roundhouse. Initially allocated a couple of roads, in 1985 it took over the entire facility when the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...

vacated it. In 1979, the LVR commenced operating tours 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 ...

Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants ...

, with a base established at

West Ryde West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

in Sydney. However, the site had to be vacated in August 1987 to make way for the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

to expand. In November 1983, the LVR purchased its first diesel locomotive, 4204, and shortly afterwards

Australian Iron & Steel Australian Iron & Steel was an Australian iron and steel manufacturer. History Public company (1928-1935) Australian Iron & Steel (AI&S) was established in 1928 to take over the business of Hoskins Iron & Steel. That company had already comme ...

shunter D9. The

ceased services on the Cowra to Blayney section of the Demondrille to Blayney line in 1987 and leased it to the LVR."LVR to carry wheat from Woodstock" ''Railway Digest'' January 1991 page 9 The line was closed for repairs in 1990 and was reopened in 1993. In late 1990, the society's subsidiary,

Lachlan Valley Rail Freight Independent Rail of Australia was an accredited railway freight operator in New South Wales, Australia. History The company's origins can be traced back to 1990, when the Lachlan Valley Railway successfully tendered to operate wheat trains betwe ...

, successfully tendered to operate wheat trains between

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

and Cowra on the Blayney to Cowra line for the Grain Handling Authority. However, since the line was closed for repairs, those services did not start until September 1993. Diesel locomotive 4204 hauled the first of these services. In August 1994 the LVR operated wheat trains from Trajere on the Eugowra line to Cowra with 47 class locomotives. In June 1999,

, a

subsidiary company A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company (law), company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company ...

, commenced operating trip working services between

Port Botany Port Botany is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Port Botany is located 12 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Port Bo ...

and the

Cooks River The Cooks River, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a tributary of Botany Bay, located in south-eastern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The course of the long urban waterway has been altered to accommodate various deve ...

container terminal in Sydney using 47 class locomotives and former Australian National wagons. In July 1999 Lachlan Valley Rail Freight commenced operating a service between Cooks River and Carrington with 44 and 47 class locomotives for R&H Transport Services. Congestion in Carrington saw the service diverted to the

Toll Holdings The Toll Group is an Australian-based subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings with operations in transportation, warehousing and logistics in road, rail, sea and air. It has two divisions; Global Forwarding, Global Logistics. History In 1888, Al ...

siding at Sandgate."Lachlan Valley Rail Freight - ELs commence working Newcastle - Sydney freight" ''Railway Digest'' March 2000 page 33 In January 2000

started hiring locomotives from Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia and

Freight Australia Freight Australia was an Australian railway company that purchased the V/Line Freight business from the Government of Victoria in 1999. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and controlled non-urban rail track in ...

, and in September 2000 from

Great Northern Rail Services Great Northern Rail Services was a railway operator in Victoria, Australia. Great Northern Rail Services was incorporated in July 1993 and provided locomotives and train crews to other rail operators, ran general train operations (freight and pas ...

. In October 2006, the company was sold to Stephen Heraghty of Bowport Allroads Transport and rebranded as Independent Railways of Australia. A government decision in 1999 to reopen the Cowra–Blayney section to other users caused LVR to lose its rights to exclusive use of the Demondrille to Cowra line, although its trains were still able to operate on the line. In 2009

RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the State of New South Wales, Australia established under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988'' in 2004. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW since the latter' ...

closed the line, first to Blayney and then Harden. In August 2009 the society hurriedly moved its serviceable rolling stock to

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

and

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

. Since then it has operated steam and diesel trains in other parts of the state; however, those still in Cowra have remained "landlocked" and have had to be moved when needed by road transport. It is planned to reopen a short section of the Blayney line for heritage train operations. The society's present complex houses more than 55 carriages and locomotives under cover, and is open to visits daily.

Organisation

The Lachlan Valley Railway Society has approximately 300 members. It is administered by a voluntary board. The society is an accredited rail operator under the NSW Rail Safety Act 2002 meaning it has network access rights on the NSW main line rail network.

Fleet details

The Lachlan Valley Railway Society has in its custody the following locomotives:

Steam locomotives

Diesel Locomotives

Diesel locomotives (Scrapped, Static & Under Restoration)

* 45 class: 4502 & 4528 (ex 45s2), both stored at Broken Hill. * 47 class: 4703 (stored at HVRT Rothbury), 4707 (under restoration at Eveleigh LES) & HTV2000, ex 4719 with 4715's cab on the 2nd end (Stored at Cowra).47 Class
Vicsig * 80 class: 8014 Scrapped for parts.

Railmotors

CPH railmotor The CPH (or 42 foot) rail motors were introduced by the New South Wales Government Railways in 1923 to provide feeder service on country branch lines. Introduction Often referred to as "Tin Hares", having evolved at the same time as the mechanica ...

s CPH12 (Operational), CPH24 (Operational), CPH25 (Operational), CPH16 (stored at Cowra) & CPH31 (under restoration at Cowra). * 620/720 set: 638/738 at Cowra * DEB set: PF901, PF907, PF909, HPF953, HPF959, TFR852, TM853, TCR861, TM857 & TCR862 at Cowra (PF903, HPF957, HPF958, TC751, TM803 and TBR855, to be restored, are owned by a member; all are ex Hunter Valley Railway Trust.)

Passenger Rolling stock

* ABS Dining car: 2304 (Operational) * FS Economy car: 2029, 2091, 2126 & 2133 (Operational), 2130 (Stored at Rothbury) *MFS Economy car: 2028, 2121 (Operational) * RBS First/Buffet car: 2160 (Under Repair) *EAM Sleeping car: 1831 (Stored at Cowra) *MBV Lounge Car: 931 (Stored at Cowra) *MCE Corridor car: 114 (Stored at Cowra) *MHG Crew/Workshop Van: 11604 (Under Repair) *FHG Power/Guards Van: 31772 (Operational) *EHG Guards/Luggage Van: 2409 (Under Repair) *OAM (ex NAM) Crew Sleeping Car: 2329 (Operational) *OAN (ex LAN) Crew Sleeping Car: 2378 (Under Repair)

Notable Tours

Blue Suede Express,

ABBA Express,

- Trundle -

Richmond Shuttles,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

- Mulgrave -

Gallery

File:Lachlan Valley Railway 4204 locomotive on platform 3 at Central Station.jpg, Lachlan Valley Railway 4204 locomotive on platform 3 at Central Station File:3237 steamfest 2009.JPG,

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 ...

leading a triple header into

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

at the

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. Held over two days in April, it is usually attended by steam locomoti ...

2009 File:CPH 12 railmotor at Wagga Wagga Railway Station.JPG,

no. 12 at Wagga Wagga station in March 2011

References

External links

*
Lachlan Valley Railway websiteCowra Shire CouncilCowra Tourism
{{Railway lines in New South Wales, state=collapsed 1974 establishments in Australia Heritage railways in Australia Railway museums in New South Wales