The Sydney Live Steam Locomotive Society was formed in 1948 and built a

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

along a

drainage channel Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

behind houses on Anthony Road,

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 ...

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 ...

, Australia. 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 operates miniature

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s which represent

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

engines of 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 ...

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

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s. The locomotives work hard hauling 6 car trains with up to 30 persons. A 10 lever mechanical ex New South Wales Government Railways

ground frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the signals, track locks and points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usually located in the signal box, the ...

operates elevated swing stub points and lower quadrant signals on the elevated railway and a 48 miniature (Westinghouse style)

lever frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the signals, track locks and points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usually located in the signal box, the ...

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

model engineering Model engineering is the pursuit of constructing proportionally-scaled miniature working representations of full-sized machines. It is a branch of metalworking with a strong emphasis on artisanry, as opposed to mass production. While now mainly a ...

in the creation of miniature steam locomotives, truly representative of the prototype. A booklet detailing the history of the society was produced to celebrate the 50 years of their operation The club owns the second oldest miniature steam locomotive in Australia, known as The Old Girl.

References

Northern District Times The ''Northern District Times'' is an Australian local newspaper, serving the communities in the western parts of the Northern Sydney region. The readership area stretches from the Parramatta River in suburbs such as Gladesville and Hunters Hill ...

'' 1 September 2010 page 35. http://digitaledition.northerndistricttimes.com.au/

External links

*{{official site, https://www.aals.asn.au/ Rail transport modelling associations Miniature railways in Australia Clubs and societies in Australia Cooperatives in Australia 1948 establishments in Australia

See also

References

External links