The Bathurst Rail Museum

12 Nov

The Bathurst Rail Museum is housed in the historic Railway Institute building. Built in stages from 1909, it was the place to be for rail employees and their families to enjoy social gatherings, celebrations, and gain access to important vocational education courses. A fitting home for the Bathurst Rail Museum, the building has been extended to house the museum and a model railway the size of a tennis court. This scale model of the Main West railway during the 1950s and 1960s, displays the Tarana to Bathurst line and is complete with operating trains.

I visited the museum on 25 October 2021 and used my Service NSW Dine and Discover Voucher. If you don’t know what the Dine and Discover Voucher is, The NSW Government launched Dine & Discover NSW to encourage the community to get out and about and support dining, arts and recreation businesses.

NSW residents aged 18 and over can apply for 4 x $25 vouchers, worth $100 in total.

2 x $25 Dine NSW Vouchers to be used for dining in at restaurants, cafés, bars, wineries, pubs and clubs or for takeaway meals.
2 x $25 Discover NSW Vouchers to be used for entertainment and recreation, including cultural institutions, live music, and arts venues.

The vouchers can be used :

7 days a week, including public holidays
at participating NSW businesses that are registered as COVID Safe
until 30 June 2022.

The Bathurst Rail Museum opened on 22 February 2020 (going by the date in the local paper) so the museum has been open over a year now. I always got the impression that the museum was mainly aimed at young children as the only photos I would see advertised of inside the place was the large playroom they have set up for families, So I was worried I might not enjoy visiting the museum.

The Bathurst Rail Museum brings the rich social history of Bathurst and the story as a railway town to life, with personal recollections and interesting artefacts. Explore the stories of local people connected to the Railways, past and present, who have contributed to making Bathurst the city and community it is today.

Some of the volunteers who work at the museum all have a story to share about their time working on the railway for example Michael who was working the day I visited the museum had a display of artefacts from his time on the railway even his first pay slip.

My favourite parts of the museum were having lunch in the big red historic rail carriage (CBA547) and the model railway that also had a short video of the people who worked on the railway and the history of the line that I found fascinating.

History

The completion of the railway between Sydney and Bathurst in 1876 was instrumental to the development of the colony of New South Wales. The Main Western Line was celebrated as a marvel of engineering that opened up trade, transport and communication opportunities for people living inland.

The railway also marked a new social and cultural era for communities in inland NSW. Besides giving working class people access to stable jobs and vocational education, the Railway Institute in Bathurst offered support and leisure activities for railway workers and their families.

One of my favourite displays in the museum was this mismatch display of railway memorabilia.

Prices & Opening Hours

ENTRY FEES

Adult $15.00
Concession $10.00
Child $7.00
Family $35.00

OPENING HOURS

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
9:00 am to 4:30 pm

Location

126 Havannah St, Bathurst NSW 2795

Parking: There are parking spots out the front of the museum on Havannah Street or you can also park next to the museum off the busy street inside the Bathurst Railway Station car park.

If you park at the Bathurst Railway Station you will find a couple of signs on the foot path with facts about the Bathurst Railway Station as you walk towards the museum.

Nadine’s review

The museum is still in early stages so there is so much potential for more exhibits and stories to come. The staff and volunteers were friendly and full of information and stories they wanted to share with the visitors to make you have a great experience. The museum is very family friendly but caters to all ages.

I enjoyed my visit to this museum and I would recommend it to families, anyone who has a love for history or trains but most of all if you just want to discover something new.