Rolling stock
Some of the key items in the collection are the:
Governor General's carriage
When the first Governor General of Australia, Rt Hon John Hope, was appointed in 1901, the NSW Government Railways built him a special car, featuring sleeping, dining and office accommodation of the highest quality. The car was also used for Royal visitors, including most famously Queen Elizabeth in 1954.
The Governor General's carriage is on loan from the Powerhouse Museum.
The Governor-General's carriage is one of the most luxurious railway carriages in Australia. It represents the work of the most skilled artisans employed in the New South Wales Government railways in the early 1900s, especially in the work of local timbers. The carriage was built at the Eveleigh Railway Carriage Workshops, Sydney, in 1901 for the use of the newly appointed Governor-General of Australia, the Earl of Hopetoun, John Adrian Louis Hope Hopetoun (1860-1908). It is one of five special cars built by the New South Wales Department of Railways between 1891 and 1920 for the exclusive use of royalty, governors-general, governors, premiers and the railway commissioners.
Information and photos courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum. Read more about the Governor General's carriage.
Pay Bus FP1
Pay Bus FP1 is the only surviving example of the first fleet of rail buses which travelled throughout New South Wales taking the fortnightly wages to railway employees, including those working in track maintenance gangs.
Built in 1937 by coach-building firm Waddington at their Camperdown workshops, FP1 was originally designed for passengers. For the next thirty years, despite derailments, floods and mechanical faults, FP1 travelled throughout NSW carrying its crew and pay loads of cash. It was eventually retired from service in 1968 when a new, modern fleet was commissioned. FP1 was subsequently placed in the care of the NSW Rail Transport Museum.
Pay Bus FP1 has been restored by a team of RailCorp apprentices as part of the Heritage Restoration Program. To achieve this, RailCorp's Office of Rail Heritage has worked closely with RailCorp's Rollingstock and Training Divisions, external partners and volunteers.
It is on display until March 2010 on the main concourse at Sydney's Central Station as part of the ‘Ca$h on Track' exhibition.
Steam Locomotive 78 - M36 Class
Steam Locomotive No. 78 was built in Sydney Workshop in 1876, using frames supplied by Robert Stephenson. Apart from an exhibition engine built in 1869, No. 78 was one of the first four engines the NSWGR built. Their design was similar to the original 1 class Robert Stephenson supplied to the Sydney Rail way Company in 1855.
The other members of the class were scrapped during the years 1891 to 1904. No. 78 however, continued working for quite a number of years before being finally set aside in 1928. It was restored for display by volunteers and is not in trafficable condition.
Locomotive No. 1 is on display at the Powerhouse Museum. Read more on the Steam Locomotive 78 - M36 Class
Image under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial
Prison Van BKD 711
Train have been delivering precious goods all over NSW for over 150 years. They deliver everything from fruit and veg, horses, families even the state's most wanted! The Prison Van at the Rail Heritage Centre is one of four vehicles built in 1915 to convey prisons to country goals. The van could carry up to 22 prisoners on the longitudinal seats. These type of rail vans were superseded by road transport.