SEPTEMBER 2024
LAST HERITAGE TRAIN RIDES
T3 BANKSTOWN
Embark on a historic journey: the last heritage train rides on the T3 Bankstown Line.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to be part of history with one of the final heritage train rides on the T3 Bankstown Line before its closure and transformation to Metro. Choose your experience: travel behind the 122-year-old NSW Government Railways Steam Locomotive 3265, relive the past aboard the iconic Red Electric Set F1, which served the Bankstown Line until the 1990s, or take a nostalgic trip on the 1970s Silver Electric Set S28.
All proceeds from ticket sales support Transport Heritage NSW — a not-for-profit organisation, helping preserve and maintain our state’s transport heritage collection.
Hurry—tickets are strictly limited and available exclusively online prior to the event.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
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T3: Steam Train Rides
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September 2024
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Be part of history and experience a steam train ride for one final time along the T3 Bankstown Line!
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Departure times
10.20am, 1.00pm and 4.00pm
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All trips depart from Central Station, and run via Sydney’s Inner West, then along the Bankstown Line and back to Central Station via Sydenham.
Disembark at your choice of either Sydenham Station (to return by Metro – Opal fares not included), or experience the full journey by steam back to Central Station.
​Times are indicative and to be confirmed by email prior to departure.
Total journey duration
1 hour and 20 minutes (non-stop)
Fares
Open Saloon Car
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Adult - $45
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Child (aged 2-17) - $29
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Senior/Concession - $42
Compartment (for up to 6 people)
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Per compartment - $195
THNSW members enjoy discounted fares - become a member today!
T3: Vintage Electric Train Rides
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September 2024
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Departure times
Departs from Central Station:
Trip 1: 9.45am (duration 2hrs 7 mins)
Trip 2: 12.10pm (duration 1hr 45 mins)
Trip 3: 2.15pm (duration 90-minutes)​
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​Times are indicative and to be confirmed by email prior to departure.
Fares
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Adult - $25
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Child (aged 2-17) - $10
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Senior/Concession - $22
THNSW members enjoy discounted fares - become a member today!
T3: The Final Journey
Saturday 21 September 2024
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This is it! Secure your seat aboard the very last heavy rail passenger journey along the full length of the T3 Bankstown Line, ahead of its transformation to Metro.
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Departing Central in the early hours of Saturday 21 September, you will be travelling inside a silver electric train from the 1970s to Bankstown and returning via the inner west to Strathfield, where the service terminates.
Fares
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Adult - $50
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Child (aged 2-17) - $30
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Senior/Concession - $45
THNSW members enjoy discounted fares - become a member today!
OUR HERITAGE TRAINS
Locomotive 3265
Locomotive 3265 entered service as 4-6-0 express passenger engine P 584 in 1902. It was renumbered 3265 in 1924 and was equipped with superheating in 1933. The 32 class became known as the "English express locomotives” due to their origin, although some were built in the USA by Baldwin and others in Australia. 3265 was among those built by Beyer, Peacock and Co. in Manchester, UK.
The 32 class hauled a range of passenger services on almost every line in NSW. With 191 members the class were among the NSW Railways’ most successful steam locomotive designs.
3265’s original livery was black, but in 1933 it was painted maroon and received the nameplate ‘Hunter’, to haul the Northern Commercial Limited express to Newcastle. The 32 class were soon replaced by larger locomotives on this run.
From around 1960 they were gradually replaced by diesel locomotives, mostly 48 class, but so functional were the class that the last regular steam-hauled passenger train in New South Wales was hauled by a 32 class engine from Newcastle to Singleton in 1971. These locomotives thus outlived their successors – the 35, 36 and 38 classes.
3265 ran for 66 years across NSW and was retired in 1968 after clocking 2,965,840km of service. It still has its original frame, and the cab is stamped with its builder's number.
Restored by the Powerhouse Museum in 2009, 3265 later received further mechanical repairs with Transport Heritage NSW and returned to service in 2019.
Red Electric Set F1
This four-car vintage electric train set is part of 883 single-deck steel carriages that formed the backbone of the Sydney Suburban fleet from 1926 until the early 1990s.
More affectionately known by Sydneysiders as the ‘red rattlers’, this particular train set is an excellent representative example of a typical Sydney suburban electric train from the early twentieth century.
One of the carriages, C 3426, was the leading car on the first electric train to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. Built in 1927, it is an early example of a carriage constructed entirely of steel, representing a great advance in passenger rolling stock design for its time. Although this particular car was subject to a large number of modifications from 1954 onwards, it is the only one of this type of ‘modernised’ car to survive intact.
All three carriages were built in 1927 by the former State Government Dockyard at Walsh Island Newcastle, an important State Government owned enterprise at the time.
The train was restored in 1999 by Historic Electric Traction and is operated today in partnership with Sydney Trains and Transport Heritage NSW.
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Silver Electric Set S28
Retired from service in 2019, Set S28 is a silver 4-car double-deck suburban train which formed part of over 500 carriages originally built for Sydney’s rail network between 1972 and 1980. Entering service under the Public Transport Commission, the order for the S Set came following the successful trial of the first double decker carriages, known as the “Tulloch” carriages.
The design was immensely successful, with more than 500 carriages being built over 8 years, and becoming the basis of three generations of electric rollingstock in the Sydney metropolitan area, including the air-conditioned K sets, and the C sets which saw the introduction of chopper control.
Their success was largely thanks to their versatility and adaptability to a variety of passenger services, seeing them in services across the whole electrified network, from Kiama and Port Kembla in the south, to services between Newcastle and Morriset in the north. During their history, S sets operated on all Sydney lines.
Withdrawals of the S Set began in 2012, some forty years following their introduction to service. With the modern A sets coming online, the fleet of S Sets was reduced to 192, operating during peak services and on the T7 line. Their final withdrawal came with the introduction of the B set.
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