Speech in the ACT Legislative Assembly
23 June 2009
Mr Speaker, a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting the Australian Railway Historical Society at Kingston.
I was privileged to be given a tour of the ARHS museum and workshops by tour guide Dr Howard Quinlan. The ARHS is a working museum and contains a variety of exhibits including carriages, freight cars, and track maintenance vehicles. Dr Quinlan has a great depth of knowledge and experience of the ACT’s railway heritage and is a great asset to the community for the knowledge he holds.
The museum is home to the Society’s restoration work. Significant volunteer effort goes into restoring and maintaining the Society’s locomotives, carriages, and rail motors. The Society uses some purely as exhibits, whilst others are used for the Society’s many rail tours.
The steam locomotive that led the first train into Canberra in 1914 is housed at the museum. Locomotive 1210 was built in 1878 and entered service on the New South Wales Railways. On 24 May 1914, when the Queanbeyan to Canberra Railway line was constructed, that locomotive pulled the first train to what was then the national capital construction site.
The locomotive continued to serve on the New South Wales Railways, and when it was eventually withdrawn from service was purchased by the National Capital Development Commission on behalf of the people of Canberra. It was displayed outside the railway station on Wentworth Avenue from 1962 until 1984.
In 1988 the locomotive was recommissioned to celebrate the Australian Bicentenary. It has since been used to operate heritage trips.
Indeed, the ARHS operates a number of heritage train services throughout the capital region. Unfortunately trains can no longer be operated to Michelago due to storm damage to the tracks. Services do continue to operate to Bungendore, the Southern Highlands, Sydney, and sometimes further afield to the North Coast, Central West, and south to Victoria. These services are operated by a combination of steam locomotives and historic wooden carriages, trains with the more modern stainless steel carriages of the old Sydney-Melbourne Southern Aurora Train, or the smaller ‘tin hare’ rail motors that were a feature of NSW branch lines in the second half of the twentieth century.
There can be no doubt that there is something special about rail travel. I have many fond memories of the Michelago Tourist Railway with my late grandfather, Alan Salisbury ISO, who was also involved with the Society as a foundation member. I would also like to pay tribute to Graham Stanley and Stephen Buck OAM for their service to the organisation over many years.
What makes these rail tours possible, and keeps the museum operating, is the selfless dedication of the association’s members and volunteers. The association can only afford to employ staff for specialist maintenance duties on their locomotives. Other than that, all the work done is entirely by the associations more than 100 active volunteers: whether it’s carriage conductors, catering, manning the on-board bar, performing the guard’s duty, track work, opening the museum, secretarial work, or driving the trains.
It is the spirit of volunteerism within the Society that ensure Canberra’s rail heritage is preserved for the current and future generations. The Society also operates a Countrylink travel agency at Queanbeyan to ensure that Queanbeyan travellers continue to have access to ticketing services at their local station.
The organisation faces significant challenges, including attracting volunteers, increasing costs, and keeping a skills-set necessary for maintenance and restoration work. I wish them well for the future and the successful continuation of their operations. If their history is any guide to their future, I’m sure they will rise to these challenges, overcome them, and become an even stronger Society in the future.
I hope the Government recognises the value of this organisation and helps to ensure a smooth transition to their new home as a result of the redevelopments at the Kingston and Causeway area.
The ARHS is a true credit to the volunteers who support it, and they do an invaluable job in protecting some of our national capital’s heritage.
