Donating Items to Transport Heritage NSW

The Transport Heritage NSW collection is maintained to meet our mission of bringing transport heritage to life.

The purpose of the collection is to engage, enthuse and educate the public about the impact of the railways (government owned and private) on the development of the state, and the ways that the railways affected the lives of the people of NSW.

As a collecting institution we are often unable to accept everything that is offered to us. Transport Heritage NSW has a defined Collections Policy which outlines how the organsiation will enhance and develop its collection.

HOW TO MAKE A OBJECT DONATION

There are limitations on what Transport Heritage NSW can and cannot collect and in some areas of our collection is already well represented.

Objects offered for donation should:

demonstrate relevance to our mission statement and fit within the interpretive themes and/or fit within the strategic framework of the operational requirements of the organisation
be in a suitable condition for long-term storage or display
have appropriate provenance (information about its history and owners)
not be hazardous to the health and safety of the general public
have been honestly acquired and have not been stolen or misappropriated

Examples of objects we do not collect include:

material that cannot be connected to the history of NSW rail
items which are already held in our collection
material where current ownership is unknown or is disputed
photocopies or digital copies of original material, unless the original is unable to be obtained
newspaper articles
unofficial research material
books, photographs, documents or other material published by Transport Heritage NSW or the former Rail Transport Museum
artworks which have been reproduced or do not fit within our mission statement

Transport Heritage NSW will ensure, as far as possible, that donors understand the full implications of their donation to us. Please do not post or bring unsolicited objects to the museum as we cannot accept responsibility for this material. As a not-for-profit organsiation, we cannot purchase objects and we do not provide valuations or authentications.

If you wish to offer objects for donation, please fill in our online offer of donation section below and include a photo of the object or objects as well as information which describes its significance, how and when it was acquired, its size, number of parts, who made it, when and where it was made and its current condition.

For more information on donating material to Transport Heritage NSW please contact the Collections Officer on (02) 4683 6818.