Lithgow State Mine Heritage Park & Railway facts for kids

Lithgow State Mine Heritage Park & Railway

Lithgow State Coal Mine, ca. 1900-27; (Collection of the State Library of New South Wales)
Location	State Mine Gully Road, Lithgow, New South Wales
Type	Railway and mining museum
Owner	The City of Greater Lithgow Mining Museum Inc

The Lithgow State Mine Heritage Park & Railway is an exciting museum located in Lithgow, New South Wales. It's a special place where you can learn all about coal mining and the history of trains in Australia. This museum helps us understand how people used to work deep underground and how important coal was for our country.

What You Can See at the Museum

This museum is mainly focused on coal mining and other related industries. Its main goal is to show off the amazing industrial history of the western coalfield in New South Wales.

Mining Machines and Tools

The museum has the biggest collection of coal mining tools and machines in Australia. You can see:

• Coal cutters, which are machines that cut coal from the mine walls.
• Coal loaders, used to pick up the cut coal.
• Continuous miners, huge machines that can cut and load coal at the same time.
• Underground transport vehicles, which moved miners and coal around the tunnels.

Stories of Miners

The museum also has cool exhibits that tell the stories of the miners.

• The "Fire in the Mine" exhibit uses videos and sounds to show what life was like for coal miners in the middle of the 1900s. It also explains the scary results of an underground fire that happened in the State Coal Mine in 1953.
• Other exhibits like "Hewers of Coal" and "Lithgow Valley Colliery Fire & Explosion 1886" use old photos, real tools, and digital displays. These help you explore different parts of coal mining history in the New South Wales Western Coalfield.

How the Museum Started

The City of Greater Lithgow Mining Museum Inc. owns and runs this museum. It began to take shape in 1990. That's when the old Lithgow State Coal Mine site was given to the Lithgow community. A mining company called Austen & Butta Limited, which no longer exists, donated the land.

The Museum's Location

The museum is on the northern edge of Lithgow. It's built on the exact spot where the State Coal Mine used to be. This mine closed down in 1964 because it was damaged by floods.

The museum is connected to the main railway line, called the Main Western railway line. There's a 1.5-kilometer branch line that goes from the Lithgow train yard right to the museum site.

Restoration and Challenges

In 1976, the site was sold to Austin & Butta Collieries. They then donated the site to the City of Lithgow in 1990. Soon after, work began to restore the old mine site and turn it into the museum you see today.

Sadly, in October 2001, a fire destroyed the carriage shed and several train cars at the museum. But the museum has continued to grow and share its important history.

Today, the site is also used by Southern Shorthaul Railroad as a place to fix and maintain trains.