The Rail Motor Society, based at

Paterson, New South Wales Paterson is a small township in the lower Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Located within Dungog Shire, it is situated on the Paterson River. It is in the middle of what was once dairy, timber and citrus country and is now more signi ...

, is a community owned collection of preserved self-propelled railway vehicles and equipment from the former

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of diffe ...

. The items in its collection date from 1923 through to 1972.

About

The Society was established in 1984 as a community based not-for-profit organisation and is registered with

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the regulatory authority for charities and not-for-profit organisations within Australia. The Commission was established in December 2012 as part of the ''Australian Chariti ...

(ACNC) as a charity. The Society's primary aim is to collect, preserve and operate a representative fleet of New South Wales Government Railways rail motors. The Society's sole focus was to be on self-propelled or

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are als ...

rolling stock, a principle that it still adheres to today. The Society is accredited as a rail transport operator in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

by th
Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator
(ONRSR).

History

The Society's origins stem from the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Branch of the

Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foster an interest in the railways, and record and preserve many facets of railway operations. It had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT divis ...

(NSW Division) where a small band of enthusiastic members proposed a local organisation to preserve and operate some of the CPH rail motors that were planned for withdrawal at the end of 1983 by 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 ...

(SRA). The nucleus of the Society was established in 1984 with the support of four established heritage organisations – the NSW Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society, the

New South Wales Rail Transport Museum The NSW Rail Museum is the main railway museum in New South Wales, Australia. A division of Transport Heritage NSW, it was previously known as the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum (NSWRTM), Rail Heritage Centre and Trainworks. Transport He ...

, the

Zig Zag Railway The Zig Zag Railway is an Australian heritage railway, situated near Lithgow, New South Wales. It was opened by the not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-op as an unpaid volunteer-staffed heritage railway in October 1975, using the alignment of th ...

and the

Sydney Tramway Museum The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney. History Construction of th ...

. Each of these organisations purchased rail motors when they were offered for sale by the SRA and these were pooled to form the nucleus of the Society's fleet. A site for its base was identified in the old

goods yard A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are ...

opposite Paterson Railway Station and a lease was negotiated for its use. The first rolling stock items were delivered to Paterson from Sydney on New Year's Eve of 1984.History of the Rail Motor Society
Rail Motor Society The Rail Motor Society is run entirely by volunteers and funds its day-to-day activities, restorations and construction programs from the proceeds of its heritage train operations and donations from the public. The Society's collection is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register and contains CPH 3, being the oldest surviving rail motor in NSW and the only operating 400 Class rail motor. The 620/720 class rail cars NPF 621 and NTC 721 are part of

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

's core heritage fleet and are managed on behalf of

Transport Heritage NSW In 2013, Transport Heritage NSW was established by the Government of New South Wales to manage the State’s rail heritage collection and provide support to the broader transport (bus, tram, rail) heritage sector in NSW following an independent ...

by the Society under a custody arrangement. This set was originally built in 1961 to replace steam hauled suburban services in the Newcastle area and spent its entire working life based in Newcastle. In October 1986, CPH 1 was returned to traffic painted in post-war cream and green livery. It was joined by CPH 7 in January 1987 and together these have toured NSW and beyond extensively. In July 2011 they were joined by CPH 3. In August 1986, HPC 402 was leased back to the

and after an overhaul used as a radio system test unit operating across NSW. Initially leased for six months, it would not be until July 2000 that it returned to the Society after travelling some 200,000 km. It has continued to see regular main line use, often being hired by rail network owners for radio testing and for infrastructure and executive inspections. Since 2000, it has performed numerous rounds of these operational activities. Recent operations include testing interfaces for

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger Railways in Sydney, rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Railways in Sydney, network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban rail system with a central un ...

Digital Train Radio System (DTRS), ARTC executive inspections and in 2013 route training for the newly standardised North East main line and the Benalla to Oaklands line in Victoria. Green 7344

In 2018, the Society became the custodian of former NSW Government Railways (and

3801 Limited East Coast Heritage Rail is a not for profit company limited by guarantee formed in June 1985 as 3801 Limited to operate steam locomotive 3801 and its associated rolling stock. The company operated heritage train tours from 1986 until 2017, wit ...

's) 73 Class shunting locomotive, 7344, under a custody agreement with Transport Heritage NSW. Like 621/721, 7344 is part of the RailCorp heritage fleet. 7344 was delivered to Paterson on 28 December 2018. In Society service, 7344 will be returned to its original Indian Red colour scheme. 42-Foot Rail Motor Trailer CTC 51 is currently under restoration to operational service by the Society.

Depot and Museum

The Society's Depot and Museum is situated in the old Goods Yard adjacent to Paterson Railway Station. This one hectare site is located on the north-western side of the North Coast Railway Line, 213 kilometres north of Sydney and 20 kilometres north of Maitland. The site houses the Society's rail motor fleet, a large three-road storage shed, maintenance facilities and the old station Master's cottage. The cottage houses a small museum with a collection of railway memorabilia. Member facilities are provided in two carriages (TAM 503 and BR 1395) located on an isolated track segment. During 2017, the Depot facilities were expanded and improved with the construction of a 30-metre by 4-metre extension to the shed to create a weather-proof workshop. This work was funded by a NSW Heritage Grant. During 2020, the Depot site was increased in size with the inclusion of the abandoned ARTC siding located in the railway corridor adjacent to the eastern boundary.

Heritage listing

The Society's own rolling stock collection – eleven of the current fourteen vehicles – was listed on the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Herita ...

on 17 August 2001. The heritage-listed vehicles consist of 42-Foot Rail Motors CPH No.1, No.3, No.7, No.14 and No.19, 42-Foot Rail Motor Trailer CTC No.51, 400 Class HPC 402, 500 Class Rail Motor Trailer FT 501, 600 Class Rail Motors WFP 602, FPH 606 and 700 Class Rail Motor Trailer CT 707. Other units in the fleet, 620 Class 2-car diesel unit (621/721) and locomotive 7344, that are under operational management by the Society for Transport Heritage NSW, are also listed on the NSW State Heritage Inventory.

Affiliations

Other societies and organisations with which the Rail Motor Society is affiliated include:-Rail Motor Society web site *Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW Division) * Australian Railway Monument * Canberra Railway Museum * Cooma Monaro Railway *

East Coast Heritage Rail East Coast Heritage Rail is a not for profit company limited by guarantee formed in June 1985 as 3801 Limited to operate steam locomotive 3801 and its associated rolling stock. The company operated heritage train tours from 1986 until 2017, with ...

* Finley Pioneer Railway Station * Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre *Historic Electric Traction * Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway *

Lachlan Valley Railway The Lachlan Valley Railway Society is an Australian rail preservation society based in the New South Wales Central Western town of Cowra. It was established in 1974 to preserve and operate former New South Wales Government Railways locomotives ...

Lithgow State Mine Railway The Lithgow State Mine Heritage Park & Railway is an Australian mining museum, located in the Central Tablelands city of Lithgow, New South Wales. Collection The museum is principally a museum of coalmining and related industries. The aim of th ...

*Regional Heritage Transport Assoc – Junee *

Royal Australian Historical Society The Royal Australian Historical Society, formerly Australian Historical Society, is a voluntary organisation founded in Sydney, Australia in 1901Helen Doyle, "Royal Australian Historical Society" in Graeme Davison, John Hirst and Stuart Ma ...

*Tenterfield Railway Station Preservation Society *

*Wagga Wagga Rail Heritage *

Rolling Stock

References

External links

{{commons category, Rail Motor Society
Official Website
1984 establishments in Australia Railway museums in New South Wales Tourist railways in New South Wales New South Wales State Heritage Register