Page 3375 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 14 November 2007
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The ARHS had its beginnings in 1966 when about 15 local enthusiasts met to consider the formation of a branch of the society in the ACT. The branch was formally inaugurated in May 1967 and received early success in organising a number of well-patronised rail tours prior to the withdrawal of steam locomotives from the southern districts of New South Wales in 1971.
Canberra was built using the railways. Important landmarks such as the Hotel Canberra and Old Parliament House had their materials brought in by rail on temporarily placed lines which ran alongside the buildings throughout the duration of their construction. Indeed, bricks used in the construction of Old Parliament House were run by rail line from the Yarralumla brickworks to Old Parliament House.
On 25 May 1914 the first revenue-earning train was hauled into Canberra. This was a coal train that serviced the main electricity generation station for Canberra. The locomotive that hauled this train became a significant piece of Canberra’s history, and today this locomotive has been preserved, avoiding the scrap heap, and can now be found at the ARHS railway museum. The locomotive returned to service in 1988 after the society received funding for restoration from the federal bicentennial grant. The locomotive, numbered 1210 at 129 years old, is the oldest operating standard-gauge steam locomotive in Australia. This is the society’s flagship engine and central to railway history in Canberra and Australia.
The Railway Historical Society offers an important insight into the past for all Australians. The railways helped change the world. They allowed great distances to be covered at speeds previously unknown and they were for many years the only form of long-distance travel. They allowed for the growth of inland settlements such as the ACT that in turn connected us with the rest of Australia.
The ARHS provides for Canberra a tourist railway that operates out of the Kingston railway station and an interactive railway museum. The museum, also located in Kingston, has on display numerous exhibits that represent the lifespan of the New South Wales government railways. There is also a unique exhibit of the Australian seat of government railway carriage, which was particularly manufactured for members of parliament travelling to the ACT. Can you imagine some of the conversations that would have occurred on that carriage?
Some 100 or so members are actively involved as volunteers in the day-to-day operations of the society. Today the society is trustee of the Canberra Railway Museum Trust and as such is dedicated to the study, preservation and operation of significant items of Australian rail history. As a non-profit organisation the society finances the preservation and restoration of engines and carriages by running heritage rail trips, local and long-distance train tours, operating the Canberra railway museum, the Michelago tourist railway and a CountryLink ticketing agency at the Queanbeyan railway station. The society’s theatre trains, to stage shows around Australia, use the operational carriages and showcase the high standards of hospitality and catering skills provided by the members. The society also operates the Railroad Restaurant dinner trains and dinner-dance trains and picnic trains.
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