VIRTUAL TOURS

NSW Rail Museum

If ever there was a rolling, steel-wheeled work of art in this country, it is the stunning Governor General’s carriage. The end result of tireless labours performed by some of the best artisan craftsmen in wood of the day, this beautiful carriage was constructed within the echoing walls of the Carriage Workshops at Eveleigh, on the western side of Sydney’s CBD.

NSW Rail Museum

This carriage was built for use by NSW premiers, entering service in 1920. It included room for ministers travelling with the premier. The car was also part of the royal train that conveyed Queen Elizabeth II during February 1954, travelling behind 4001.

NSW Rail Museum

The Silver City Comet was introduced in 1937, operating out to Broken Hill, the 'Silver City'. A diesel railcar set, it was equipped for passenger comfort with reclining, reversible seating and air conditioning, the first fully air-conditioned train in the Southern Hemisphere. The passenger cars were timber-clad externally and painted silver to make them look sleek and modern.

NSW Rail Museum

For a hundred years these American carriages moved commuters, shoppers and tourists all over Sydney. Introduced in 1877, 659 were ultimately built, and such was their enduring success that the last was not pulled from traffic until 1977.

NSW Rail Museum

During the early 20th Century, the Sydney network electrification was and arguably remained the largest infrastructure project in the history of NSW. The passenger car that stands before you is the point at which Sydney's mass transport leapt from the 19th into the 20th Century.

NSW Rail Museum

Originally designed to take passengers on lightly loaded lines, a number of these railbuses were converted into pay buses. Powered by a Ford V8 engine and employed for transporting employee wages all over the system. FP1 was re-launched in 2009 following an extensive restoration by RailCorp apprentices.

NSW Rail Museum

Composite cars such as this one were used on lightly used lines, such as branches, where there wasn't enough traffic for multiple cars with different classes. CCA 1273 includes first- and second-class seating for passengers, plus a guard's compartment that also took parcels and small freight items. Nine CCA carriages were built, and they were fully imagined as a train 'built into a single carriage'. They were of light-weight construction and thus helped economise uneconomical railway operations.

Sydney Tram Museum

Sydney R Class Tram. Built-in 1933 by Clyde Engineering. Acquired by the Sydney Tramway Museum in 1959.

Sydney Bus Museum

After World War II, a total of 845 double-decker bus chassis were ordered by the Department of Road Transport & Tramways, from manufacturers in the United Kingdom. These deliveries enabled the withdrawal of buses that had been running since the 1930s, restarted the tramway replacement program in Sydney and Newcastle and enabled the expansion of Government bus services in both cities.

NSW Rail Museum

In the years following the end of the World War II, rail travellers of NSW were spoilt by trains offering luxury and speed that were the envy of the world. Air-conditioning, wall-to-wall carpeting, fluorescent lighting, reclining seats and a licensed restaurant.

NSW Rail Museum

8646 is one of the largest locomotives in the museum and, by a margin of around 15 years, the youngest. The museum’s locomotive 8646, entered service on 1st August 1985. The class suffered from teething problems early in their life but settled down to useful and productive work.

NSW Rail Museum

Dining Car AB 90 was the second dining car to work on the NSW Railways, being delivered in 1926. It represents the shift from the 'off train' catering of the classic Railway Refreshment Room style to onboard dining service. This service replaced the dining rooms located at many larger country stations throughout the system.

NSW Rail Museum

Known as lavatory cars, these side-loading carriages (sometimes called dog-boxes), did not allow movement between compartments while on the move, and so had a lavatory fitted to each compartment to assist with passenger comfort on longer journeys. Entry to the lavatory was by lifting a hinged seat out of the way to access the lavatory door. Like all carriages up until comparatively recently, the toilet discharged through an open pipe and dumped its contents on the track below.

NSW Rail Museum

A long-serving single-decker trailer car (no driver's cab) on the Sydney electrified system, T4310 was manufactured by Walsh Island and entered service in 1927 as a first-class car. It was downgraded to second-class in 1930 following a decision to abolish first-class travel on the Sydney metropolitan network. It remained in traffic until 1990. 

NSW Rail Museum

Imported from America as a sleeping car in 1883, FZ909 was later used by the commissioner to travel around the state and finally converted into a training car to teach trainee steam train drivers how to manage Westinghouse air brakes. Set up to simulate the braking system on a long goods train, the system was pre-set with faults that the students had to be able to troubleshoot before passing their exams. The car was taken out to the depots where schools were being held, and the instructor lived on-site in the car, using the depot's bathroom facilities and sleeping in the small compartment at the rear of the vehicle. 

NSW Rail Museum

As they entered traffic, NN (later 35) Class locomotives immediately took over the major passenger expresses and became the NSWGR standard motive power for all main-line passenger services including the Melbourne and Brisbane Expresses. In 1918, they took over on ‘The Fish’ – then the premier Blue Mountains train

Sydney Tram Museum

Built-in 1902 by Clyde Engineering. Acquired in 1953. Display hall; operational for special events. Only F class car remaining, owing to its use as a driver training tram.

NSW Rail Museum

State officials were provided with their own private train carriages when they had to travel. This carriage was built in 1911 for use by State governors' and contained three bedrooms and two bathrooms for the governor, and guests, staff accommodation, a dining area, and an observation lounge. 

NSW Rail Museum

The Silver City Comet was introduced in 1937, operating out to Broken Hill, the 'Silver City'. A diesel railcar set, it was equipped for passenger comfort with reclining, reversible seating and air conditioning, the first fully air-conditioned train in the Southern Hemisphere. Transport Heritage's Comet set is on display at the NSW Rail Museum, and is on the long-term restoration plan to bring them back to display condition. 

NSW Rail Museum

During 1938 the NSW Railways sought to offer world-class luxury to its most influential passengers. The benchmark had been raised by the Victorian Railways' stylish Spirit of Progress, racing along the 'broad gauge' between Melbourne and Albury. The NSW KAM sleeping cars were a step in that direction.

NSW Rail Museum

Only used on the long-distance, overnight trains, these elegant sleeping cars from the 1910s provided private facilities for those who could afford the fare, and allowed travellers to arrive at their destination in the morning rested and refreshed. The upper bunks folded away into the walls, while the lower bunks became seats and allowed passengers somewhere comfortable to travel during daylight hours.

NSW Rail Museum

Double-deck trains have become syonymous with Sydney's electric train network following the introduction of the first double-deckers in 1964. Sydney's suburban sprawl and the relatively long distances that people travel each day to commute to work meant it was more important for Sydney's trains to have greater seating capacity than similar city systems elsewhere in the world, where people are typically on trains for relatively short times and seating is less important. 3804 was one of the first four double-deck driving cars on the system, entering service in 1969 and operating until 1985.

NSW Rail Museum

The Commissioner for railways was provided with his own carriage to allow him to conduct business while travelling the state to inspect his network. The car that eventually became FZ909 fulfilled this function until 1919 when it was replaced by this carriage. The carriage was any ‘railway nut’s’ dream motel, including a comfortable bedroom, bathroom, office, dining area and — a luxury of luxuries — an observation lounge.

NSW Rail Museum

3801 was the first of the iconic 38 class to be built and the pinnacle of express steam locomotive technology in NSW. It was launched during World War II to great fanfare. It has aesthetic significance in the streamlined casing, as one of only five steam locomotives in NSW to ever be streamlined. It was meant to typify the power and glory of this new type of locomotive entering traffic. Today it is the only government streamlined locomotive in NSW that survives. 

Sydney Bus Museum

During World War II, it became impossibly to obtain chassis from the United Kingdom. Requiring more buses to cope with extremely heavy loadings, the Department of Road Transport & Tramways turned to American and Canadian chassis, even though their chassis were relatively small in size. The Department was able to obtain 61 Ford FCB 194 chassis through the local agent, Hastings Deering, between 1943 and 1945. Three were powered with Hercules 6 cylinder diesel engines, 38 with Mercury V8 petrol and 20 with standard V8 petrol engines. 18 were equipped with two-speed diffs.