The Newport Railway Museum is located on Champion Road,
Newport, Victoria
Newport is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Newport recorded a population of 13,658 at the 2021 census.
Newport is a ...
, near the
North Williamstown station.
History
The museum opened on 10 November 1962, after the
Australian Railway Historical Society
The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foster an interest in the railways, and record and preserve many facets of railway operations. It had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT divis ...
(ARHS) Victorian Division was allocated space at
Newport Workshops
The Newport Railway Workshops is a facility in the Melbourne suburb of Newport, Australia, that builds, maintains and refurbishes railway rollingstock. It is located between the Williamstown and Werribee railway lines.
History
Plans for a wo ...
by the
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
to develop a collection of key examples of steam locomotives that were then in the process of being replaced by diesel and electric locomotives. By the late 1980s, the early diesel and electric locomotives that had replaced steam traction were themselves nearing end of life, and the museum expanded its collection to incorporate a number of key examples.
Following a safety audit by
VicTrack
VicTrack, the trading name of Victorian Rail Track Corporation, is a Victorian Government state-owned enterprise which owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in the state of Victoria, Austr ...
, the landlord and owner of most of the exhibits, the museum closed in February 2010. After various improvements, it reopened in March 2014.
On 16 June 2020, it was announced that the ARHS had withdrawn from the operation of the museum and a new group, Newport Railway Museum Inc., formed by museum volunteers, had entered into an arrangement with VicTrack to take over the Museum site lease.
In 2016, a project was announced to construct a roof canopy over four wooden passenger carriages and three of the oldest steam locomotives on the site; this project was completed in 2017. In 2019, the Victorian Government announced a project to construct a roof canopy to protect the heritage-listed locomotive H220 ''Heavy Harry''. A structure that covered H220 and several adjacent exhibits was completed in 2020. In announcing the completion of the second roof canopy, Newport Railway Museum stated its intention to continue to construct further roofing over remaining exhibits to ensure their preservation.
The museum's regular opening hours are between 12 noon and 5 pm on Saturdays. During school holiday periods, the museum opens on both Saturdays and Sundays, between 12 noon and 5 pm.
Collection
The museum contains the largest existing collection of Victorian Railways steam locomotives, a wide range of other Victorian Railways rolling stock, and numerous Victorian Railways artefacts. The collection includes:
* seventeen steam locomotives
* eight diesel locomotives
* two electric locomotives and four electric suburban carriages
* five country/interstate passenger carriages
* ten freight wagons and two guards vans
* five railway cranes
* rail tractors and postal trolleys
* a signal box
* an
O scale
O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad sca ...
model railway
Steam Locomotives
Diesel Locomotives
Electric Rollingstock
Passenger Carriages
Vans
Freight wagons
Other items
Gallery
Image:X 36 locomotive.jpg, X36
Image:MikadoN432.JPG, N432
Image:C10-preserved.jpg, C10
Image:H220a2884.jpg, H220 with A2884
Image:A2-995.jpg, A2995
Image:J556 at museum.jpg, J556
Image:S303brass.jpg, Railway artefacts
Image:Harris795M.jpg, Harris-type suburban car
Image:Harris903M.jpg, Modified Harris suburban car ("Grey Ghost")
Image:V56 ARHS.jpg, V56
Image:ARHS B83.jpg, B83
References
External links
{{commons category-inline, Newport Railway Museum
Railway museums in Victoria (Australia)
1962 establishments in Australia
Museums in Melbourne
Buildings and structures in the City of Hobsons Bay