The Lachlan Valley Railway Society is an Australian rail preservation society based in the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Central Western town of

Cowra Cowra () is a town in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. Cowra is located approximate ...

. It was established in 1974 to preserve and operate former

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

locomotives and rolling stock. It operates regular heritage train tours to a variety of locations across New South Wales.

History

The Lachlan Valley Railway was formed in 1974 initially to operate locomotive 5917 (not owned by the LVR but a group called the 59 syndicate) and four carriages. It soon acquired other locomotives and formed a relationship with the Lachlan Vintage Village,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

. It then operated rail tours, including an interstate tours from Parkes to

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

in August 1976 with 5917. At that stage, rolling stock was stabled at

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

locomotive depot. On 18 June 1977, the society moved its base to the 1923-built Cowra roundhouse. Initially allocated a couple of roads, in 1985 it took over the entire facility when the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities A ...

vacated it. In 1979, the LVR commenced operating tours from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

, with a base established at West Ryde in Sydney. However, the site had to be vacated in August 1987 to make way for the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

to expand. In November 1983, the LVR purchased its first diesel locomotive, 4204, and shortly afterwards

Australian Iron & Steel Australian Iron & Steel was an Australian iron and steel manufacturer. History Public company (1928-1935) Australian Iron & Steel (AI&S) was established in 1928 to take over the business of Hoskins Iron & Steel. That company had already comme ...

shunter D9. The

ceased services on the Cowra to Blayney section of the Demondrille to Blayney line in 1987 and leased it to the LVR."LVR to carry wheat from Woodstock" ''Railway Digest'' January 1991 page 9 The line was closed for repairs in 1990 and was reopened in 1993. In late 1990, the society's subsidiary, Lachlan Valley Rail Freight, successfully tendered to operate wheat trains between

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

and Cowra on the Blayney to Cowra line for the Grain Handling Authority. However, since the line was closed for repairs, those services did not start until September 1993. Diesel locomotive 4204 hauled the first of these services. In August 1994 the LVR operated wheat trains from Trajere on the Eugowra line to Cowra with 47 class locomotives. In June 1999, Lachlan Valley Rail Freight commenced operating trip working services between

Port Botany Port Botany is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Port Botany is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Port ...

and the

Cooks River The Cooks River, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a tributary of Botany Bay, located in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The course of the urban waterway has been altered to accommodate various developme ...

container terminal in Sydney using 47 class locomotives and former Australian National wagons. In July 1999 Lachlan Valley Rail Freight commenced operating a service between Cooks River and Carrington with 44 and 47 class locomotives for R&H Transport Services. Congestion in Carrington saw the service diverted to the

Toll Holdings The Toll Group is an Australian freight company that operates a logistics and global freight forwarding network spanning 150 countries, with over 20,000 customers. Toll has more than 16,000 workers across 500 sites. Toll Holdings Pty Limited ( ...

siding at Sandgate."Lachlan Valley Rail Freight - ELs commence working Newcastle - Sydney freight" ''Railway Digest'' March 2000 page 33 In January 2000 Lachlan Valley Rail Freight started hiring locomotives from Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia and

Freight Australia Freight Australia was an Australian railway company that purchased the Public Transport Corporation, V/Line Freight business from the Government of Victoria in 1999. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and cont ...

, and in September 2000 from Great Northern Rail Services. In October 2006, the company was sold to Stephen Heraghty of Bowport Allroads Transport and rebranded as Independent Railways of Australia. A government decision in 1999 to reopen the Cowra–Blayney section to other users caused LVR to lose its rights to exclusive use of the Demondrille to Cowra line, although its trains were still able to operate on the line. In 2009

RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, established in 2004 pursuant to the ''Transport Administration Act 1988''. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW, foll ...

closed the line, first to Blayney and then Harden. In August 2009 the society hurriedly moved its serviceable rolling stock to

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. I ...

and

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

. Since then it has operated steam and diesel trains in other parts of the state; however, those still in Cowra have remained "landlocked" and have had to be moved when needed by road transport. It is planned to reopen a short section of the Blayney line for heritage train operations. The station is used by the society. The society's present complex houses more than 55 carriages and locomotives under cover, and is open to visits daily.

Organisation

The Lachlan Valley Railway Society has approximately 300 members. It is administered by a voluntary board. The society is an accredited rail operator under the NSW Rail Safety Act 2002 meaning it has network access rights on the NSW main line rail network.

Fleet details

The Lachlan Valley Railway Society has in its custody the following locomotives:

Steam locomotives

Diesel locomotives

Diesel locomotives (Scrapped, Static & Under Restoration)

* 45 class: 4502 & 4528 (ex 45s2), both stored at Broken Hill. * 47 class: 4703 (stored at HVRT Rothbury), 4707 (under restoration at Eveleigh LES) & HTV2000, ex 4719 with 4715's cab on the 2nd end (Stored at Cowra).47 Class
Vicsig * 80 class: 8014 Scrapped for parts.

Railmotors

* CPH railmotors CPH12 (Operational), CPH24 (Operational), CPH25 (Operational), CPH16 (stored at Cowra) & CPH31 (under restoration at Cowra). * 620/720 set: 638/738 at Cowra * DEB set: PF901, PF907, PF909, HPF953, HPF959, TFR852, TM853, TCR861, TM857 & TCR862 at Cowra (PF903, HPF957, HPF958, TC751, TM803 and TBR855, to be restored, are owned by a member; all are ex

Hunter Valley Railway Trust The Hunter Valley Railway Trust was a collection of items located in North Rothbury, New South Wales, Australia on the site of the Rothbury Riot. It included various types of rolling stock, such as coal and freight wagons and passenger coaches, ...

Passenger rolling stock

* ABS Dining car: 2304 (Operational) * FS Economy car: 2029, 2091, 2126 & 2133 (Operational), 2130 (Stored at Rothbury) *MFS Economy car: 2028, 2121 (Operational) * RBS First/Buffet car: 2160 (Under Repair) *EAM Sleeping car: 1831 (Stored at Cowra) *MBV Lounge Car: 931 (Stored at Cowra) *MCE Corridor car: 114 (Stored at Cowra) *MHG Crew/Workshop Van: 11604 (Under Repair) *FHG Power/Guards Van: 31772 (Operational) *EHG Guards/Luggage Van: 2409 (Under Repair) *OAM (ex NAM) Crew Sleeping Car: 2329 (Operational) *OAN (ex LAN) Crew Sleeping Car: 2378 (Under Repair)

Notable Tours

Blue Suede Express,

ABBA Express,

- Trundle -

Richmond Shuttles,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

- Mulgrave -

Gallery

File:Lachlan Valley Railway 4204 locomotive on platform 3 at Central Station.jpg, Lachlan Valley Railway 4204 locomotive on platform 3 at Central Station File:3237 steamfest 2009.JPG, 3237 leading a triple header into Maitland at the Hunter Valley Steamfest 2009 File:CPH 12 railmotor at Wagga Wagga Railway Station.JPG, CPH railmotor no. 12 at Wagga Wagga station in March 2011

References

External links

*
Lachlan Valley Railway websiteCowra Shire CouncilCowra Tourism
{{Railway lines in New South Wales, state=collapsed 1974 establishments in Australia Railway museums in New South Wales Tourist railways in New South Wales