National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide facts for kids
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The Ron Fitch Pavilion at the museum
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| Established |
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| Location |
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| Type | Railway museum |
| Owner | National Railway Museum Inc. |
| Nearest car park | On site |
Welcome to the National Railway Museum in Port Adelaide, South Australia! It's the biggest railway museum in Australia. You'll find over 100 amazing trains and railway items here. Most of them are from the old South Australian Railways (SAR) and Commonwealth Railways, plus their later company, Australian National. The museum also keeps a huge collection of old photos and records about these railways. Lots of dedicated volunteers help run this fantastic place!
Contents
History of the Museum
Starting at Mile End (1964–1988)
In 1963, some people who loved trains asked the South Australian Railways if they could use some land. They wanted to keep a small collection of old steam locomotives that were no longer in use. The first train arrived in 1964.
In 1970, the site opened as the Mile End Railway Museum. However, only a few trains were under cover. The weather started to damage the exhibits. So, the museum began looking for a new place where they could keep all the trains inside.
Moving to Port Adelaide
In 1987, the Mile End Railway Museum received a special grant of $2 million. This money was part of Australia's Bicentennial celebrations. They used it to build a new museum at the old Port Dock goods terminal in Lipson Street.
The museum closed its doors at Mile End in January 1988. Just 11 months later, it opened again as the Port Dock Station Railway Museum at its new home.
Becoming the National Railway Museum
In 1999, the museum received more funding. This time, it was for Australia's Centenary of Federation. They used the money to build a special Commonwealth Railway Museum section within the main museum. This new part opened in 2001.
It shows off trains and items from the Commonwealth Railways and its later company, the Australian National Railways Commission. You can see vehicles from famous trains like The Ghan, Tea and Sugar, and Trans-Australian. When this new section opened, the museum was renamed the National Railway Museum. This idea came from Tim Fischer, who was the deputy prime minister and a big train fan.
In May 2009, the main building was named the Ron Fitch Pavilion. This was to honor Ron Fitch, who helped the museum get many of its early trains when he was the South Australian Railways Commissioner. At the same time, the Commonwealth Railways Museum was renamed the Ronald E. Fluck Pavilion. This honored the museum's founder.
Changes to the Railway Line
In 2017, there were plans to build a new train station near the museum. This would connect to the Outer Harbor railway line. However, the project was paused in 2019 because the cost went up a lot.
In June 2023, the project started again. This meant some of the museum's own train tracks and storage space had to be removed. The new line will have a platform that can be used by both regular suburban trains and special heritage trains on certain days.
What You Can See: The Collection
The museum keeps its huge collection of trains in two large buildings and the old Port Dock railway station goods shed. You can see trains that ran on all three main track sizes used in Australia:
- Narrow gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
- Standard gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
- Broad gauge: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
The collection has over 100 major exhibits. Most are from the Commonwealth Railways and South Australian Railways. There are also trains from the Silverton Tramway and Victorian Railways.
Some of the trains you can see in action are:
- Narrow gauge: The steam locomotive Peronne (built in 1918).
- Broad gauge: Diesel locomotives 515 and 801, and railcars "Red Hen" 321 and 400, and "Bluebird" 257.
The museum also runs smaller locomotives for visitor rides. These include steam locomotives Bill and Bub. They run on a 457-millimetre (18.0-inch) track around the museum site.
Locomotives and Railcars (as of 2022)
- 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 ←(you can ride this one!)
- BHP Whyalla no. 4
- Diesel locomotives
- SAR diesel shunter 515 & 517 ←(no. 515 is operational)
- SAR mainline diesel 703 ←(static, will be operational)
- SAR diesel shunter 801 ←(you can ride this one!)
- 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 ←(you can ride this one!)
- SAR Redhen railcars 321 and 400 ←(you can ride these!)
- STA 2000 class railcars 2006 and 2112
- CR Budd Railcar CB 1
Museum Operations
The museum uses some of its historic locomotives for moving trains around and during special events. You can take rides on 457 mm (18.0 in)-gauge steam and diesel trains. They run on a track that is about 1.2 km (0.75 mi) long within the museum grounds.
In 1992, the museum also built a 1.7 km (1.1 mi) line along the beach. This line goes from Semaphore to Fort Glanville. From October to April, trains run on weekends, public holidays, and school holidays. (They don't run if it's too hot, over 35 °C (95 °F)). The train travels along the coast, through sand dunes, and past Fort Glanville.
Since 1982, the museum has published a magazine called Catch Point Magazine. It comes out every two months and has news and articles about railways, especially in South Australia.
Historic Buildings at the Museum
The museum has several old buildings. Some were already on the site, and others were moved there for display. Here are a few:
- Port Dock station goods shed: This is the only original building left from the Port Adelaide station. It was built in 1878. It's a large, strong building with big wooden beams. Its size shows how well South Australia was doing financially back then. This building is listed on the SA Heritage Register.
- Woodville signal cabin: This two-story wooden building came from suburban Woodville. It's connected to the narrow-gauge train yard.
- Callington shelter shed: This small building was typical of those found at country train stations. It has a tiny booking office. It was built in 1951 for the small town of Callington.
- Eudunda gangers shed: Hundreds of these sheds were used by railway workers called "gangers." They kept their tools and small track inspection trolleys here. This shed came from Eudunda.
Images for kids
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A train on the museum's 1.7 km (1 mi) Semaphore and Fort Glanville Tourist Railway, pulled by the miniature steam locomotive, Bub
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Turning a miniature locomotive on the seafront line at Semaphore
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SAR-designed and built diesel-electric locomotive no. 900 ready to move to the museum
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Commonwealth Railways dining car DA 52, which served food across the Nullarbor Plain between 1930 and the 1960s
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Commonwealth Railways GM class diesel-electric locomotives, like no. GM2, made train travel much faster on the Trans-Australian Railway in 1951
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A display showing how railway signals and safety systems work
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South Australian Railways 75-class railcars, designed by a US company called Brill, started running on suburban and country lines in 1928
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The relocated Woodville signal cabin
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Locomotive no. 4, built in 1914, used to pull BHP iron ore trains from Iron Knob to Whyalla
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Narrow-gauge Beyer-Garratt 400 class locomotive no. 409 was one of ten introduced in 1954 to pull silver-lead-zinc ore trains to Port Pirie
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