Who we are - A brief History of the Museum

National Railway Museum Port Adelaide

In 1963 a group of rail preservationists, alarmed at the scrapping of steam locomotives which had served South Australia for many decades, set about saving, restoring and maintaining many of the historic vehicles in this museum today. The first railway museum was located at Railway Terrace Mile End, operated on a completely voluntary basis and opened on only two afternoons each month. Prior to 1988 museum members restored many locomotives and carriages, designed and built our steam engine Bub, and completely restored narrow gauge steam engine Peronne to operational condition. They also published several railway books.

The exposure of the exhibits to the weather was a cause for great concern and an undercover venue was sought. In 1988 the museum was fortunate enough, with the involvement of the History Trust of SA, to obtain a $2m Australian Bicentennial Commemorative Grant to relocate to our current site and to provide covered accommodation for the exhibits. On 2 January 1988 the gates at the Mile End Railway Museum closed for the last time and on 10 December 1988, after a year of frantic activity, the Port Dock Station Railway Museum Port Adelaide was officially opened by the Premier of South Australia, The Hon John Bannon.

In 1999, special funding was received as part of Australia's Centenary of Federation to construct the Commonwealth Railway Museum within the museum's precinct. This new facility, which was opened on 21 October 2001, houses a representative sample of exhibits from the "Commonwealth Railways" and "Australian National". Included is the original Tea & Sugar train, as well as a number of vehicles that were used on the Ghan and Trans-Australian passenger trains.

At the opening of the Commonwealth Railway Museum the Port Dock Station Railway Museum was renamed the National Railway Museum Port Adelaide. The name change is a response to the Commonwealth Railway's operations being integrated into a National Transport Network that spans the whole of the Australian continent.

The Museum is a self-supporting, non-profit enterprise which only occasionally receives government grants for special projects. Apart from the duties of two paid staff members, all of its activities are conducted by volunteers.

It features train rides, exhibits and displays. Its activities include a sales centre, and the publication of a national magazine, Catchpoint. Tours are available and the Museum is available for private functions. The Museum is open from 10 am until 5 pm every day of the year except Christmas Day.