National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide

The National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, South Australia is the largest under-cover railway museum in Australia. More than 100 major exhibits, mainly from the South Australian Railways (SAR) and Commonwealth Railways and their successor, Australian National, are displayed at its site. A large archival collection of photographs of those railways and records created by them is also managed by the museum. The museum operates with a large number of volunteers.

History

Mile End, 1964–1988

In 1963, a group of rail preservationists asked the South Australian Railways Commissioner to allocate land near the site of the former Mile End locomotive depot to hold a small collection of withdrawn steam locomotives. The first locomotive arrived in 1964 and in 1970 the site opened as the Mile End Railway Museum. Only a few exhibits were under cover and the effects of weather took their toll; an alternative, under-cover venue was sought.

Move to Port Adelaide

In 1987, the Mile End Railway Museum obtained a $2 million Bicentennial commemorative grant to redevelop the former Port Dock goods terminal, off Lipson Street, as the new property. In January 1988, the museum closed at Mile End and 11 months later opened as the Port Dock Station Railway Museum.

In 1999, funding was received as part of Australia's Centenary of Federation to construct a Commonwealth Railway Museum within the museum's precinct. The facility, opened in 2001, houses a representative sample of exhibits from the Commonwealth Railways and its successor, the Australian National Railways Commission.The Australian National Railways Commission used the trading names, successively: Australian National Railways, Australian National, and AN (the latter being a trademark). Included are vehicles from ''The Ghan'', '' Tea and Sugar'' and ''Trans-Australian'' trains. At the opening, the museum was renamed the National Railway Museum on the initiative of deputy prime minister and noted railway enthusiast, Tim Fischer, AC.

In May 2009, the main pavilion was named after Ron Fitch, who as South Australian Railways Commissioner had facilitated the transfer of much of the museum's early rolling stock. At the same time, the Commonwealth Railways Museum was renamed the Ronald E. Fluck Pavilion, after the museum's founder.

Construction of spur line

In 2017, $16.4 million was allocated in the state budget for a new station to be built near the original site of the Port Dock railway station, at the end of a new 1.0 km (1100 yard) spur line subscription: the source is only accessible via a paid subscription ("paywall"). using the existing corridor beside the museum that connects to the Outer Harbor railway line. In June 2019, when some museum track had already been dismantled, the development was paused while a North West Planning Study was conducted; a forecast cost increase to $40 million was cited. On-ground preparatory work was reversed in January 2020.

In June 2023 the project, by then budgeted at $51 million, resumed with partial severing of the direct rail connection to suburban lines, followed by removal of some of the museum's rail siding storage space. A general loss of land in the museum's leaseholding was incurred. The line extension was planned to include a dual-purpose island platform for both regular suburban services and on the other side of the platform during special event days and holidays, broad-gauge heritage trains.

Collection

The museum houses its large static collection in two pavilions and the historic Port Dock railway station goods shed. On the site, all three mainline gauges of Australia are represented: narrow, ; standard, ; and broad . The collection comprises more than 100 major exhibits, mainly from the Commonwealth Railways and South Australian Railways. It also holds rolling stock from the Silverton Tramway and Victorian Railways.

Operational locomotives and railcars on these gauges are:
*narrow gauge: former Broken Hill Associated Smelters steam locomotive ''Peronne'' (1918 Andrew Barclay 0-6-0T tank locomotive)
*broad gauge: former SAR diesel-electric locomotives 515 and 801, "Red Hen" railcars 321 and 400, and "Bluebird" railcar 257.
The museum also operates locomotives, including steam locomotives ''Bill'' (with a 2-4-0 wheel arrangement) and ''Bub'' (0-4-2 T), for visitor rides on its track around the site.

Locomotive and railcar exhibits

;Steam locomotives
* SAR Rx 93
* SAR Y 97
* SAR P 117
* SAR T 253
* SAR F 255
* SAR 409
* SAR 504 '' Tom Barr Smith''
* SAR 523 ''Essington Lewis''
* SAR 624
* SAR 702
* SAR (ex VR) 752
* CR G 1
* CR NM 34
* Silverton Tramway Y 12
* Silverton Tramway A 21
* Silverton Tramway W 25
* Broken Hill Associated Smelters Peronne
* BHP Whyalla no. 4

;Diesel locomotives:
* SAR diesel shunter 515 & 517 ←''(no. 515 is operational)''
* SAR mainline diesel 703 ←''(static, to be operational)''
* SAR diesel shunter 801 ←''(operational)''
* SAR mainline diesel 900
* SAR mainline diesel 930
* CR GM class GM 2
* CR mainline diesel NSU 61
* CR diesel shunter DE 91

;Railcars:
* SAR Model 55 Brill railcar 8
* SAR Model 75 Brill railcar 41
* SAR Bluebird railcar 257 ''Kestrel'' ←''(operational)''
* SAR Redhen railcars 321 and 400 ←''(operational)''
* STA 2000 class railcars 2006 and 2112
* CR Budd Railcar CB 1

Operations

The museum operates a number of historic locomotives for shunting of rolling stock and during special events. Within the museum grounds, -gauge steam and diesel locomotives provide rides on a track long. In 1992, the museum, in cooperation with the local council, built a line along the beach from Semaphore to Fort Glanville. From October to April, trains operate – subject to temperatures being less than – on weekends, public holidays and school holidays. The line travels along the coastline, through the sand dunes and the Fort Glanville Conservation Park; the locomotive is turned at each end.

Since 1982 the museum has published its bi-monthly ''Catch Point Magazine'', a full-colour, A5-format, 48-page magazine that features news and articles about railway operations mainly in South Australia.

Buildings

The museum has a number of historic buildings, some original to the site and others transported for display, including the following:
*''Port Dock station goods shed:'' this is the only remaining intact building of the Port Adelaide (later named Port Dock) station complex. Typical of South Australian Railways structures of the 19th century, architecturally it is an austere industrial building notable for its scale and the use of large timber beams throughout. Its size and scale reflect the economic prosperity of South Australia when it was built, in 1878 – a time when Port Adelaide's facilities were being extended to serve the growing import and export trade. It has been entered in th
SA Heritage Register

*''Woodville signal cabin:'' this two-storey wooden building from suburban Woodville, prominently backing on to Lipson Street, is connected to the narrow gauge yard.
*''Callington shelter shed:'' typical of a type of building provided by the South Australian Railways at small country stations, this shelter shed and minuscule booking office was originally built in 1951 for the then small rural community of Callington, west of Murray Bridge on the main Adelaide-Melbourne line.
*''Eudunda gangers' shed:'' typical of hundreds of such sheds on the South Australian Railways where track-maintenance gangers and packers held their tools and track inspection trolleys, this example came from Eudunda, north of Adelaide.

Gallery

File:Bub + train, NRM, 2014 (04).JPG, A train on the museum's 1.7 km (1 mi) Semaphore and Fort Glanville Tourist Railway, headed by miniature steam locomotive, ''Bub''
File:Semaphore and Fort Glanville Tourist Railway turntable.jpg, Turning a miniature locomotive on the seafront line at Semaphore
File:South Australian Railways 900 class locomotive number 900 at Mile End locomotive depot before transfer to museum.jpg, SAR-designed and built diesel-electric locomotive no. 900 ready for transfer to the museum
File:DA52, NRM, 2014(3).JPG, Commonwealth Railways dining car DA 52, which served fine food across the Nullarbor Plain between 1930 and the 1960s
File:GM2 National Railway Museum Port Adelaide.jpg, Commonwealth Railways GM class diesel-electric locomotives, such as no. GM2, revolutionised schedules on the Trans-Australian Railway in 1951
File:Railway signalling and safeworking display, NRM, 2014(3).JPG, Railway signalling and safeworking display
File:SAR 41 Brill, NRM, 2014.JPG, South Australian Railways 75-class railcars, designed by US company Brill, were introduced in 1928 to run on suburban and country lines alike
File:Woodville signal cabin, NRM, 2014.JPG, alt=Woodville Signal Cabin, The relocated Woodville signal cabin
File:BHP 4, NRM, 2014.JPG, 1914-built locomotive no. 4, which hauled BHP iron ore trains from Iron Knob to Whyalla
File:Preserved South Australian Railways 400 class Beyer-Garratt loco 409 at National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, 2015 (Brett Shillabeer).jpg, Narrow-gauge Beyer-Garratt 400 class locomotive no. 409 was one of ten introduced in 1952 to haul silver-lead-zinc ore mined at Broken Hill to Port Pirie

See also

*List of railway museums

Notes

References

Bibliography

*

External links

Official Website

{{Port Adelaide landmarks

Museums in Adelaide
National railway museums
Railway museums in South Australia
1963 establishments in Australia