Newport Railway Museum

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox museum

The Newport Railway Museum is located on Champion Road, Newport, Victoria, near the North Williamstown station.

History

The museum opened on 10 November 1962, after the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) Victorian Division was allocated space at Newport Workshops by the Victorian Railways to develop a collection of key examples of steam locomotives that were then in the process of being replaced by diesel and electric locomotives. By the late 1980s, the early diesel and electric locomotives that had replaced steam traction were themselves nearing end of life, and the museum expanded its collection to incorporate a number of key examples.^[1]

Following a safety audit by VicTrack, the landlord and owner of most of the exhibits, the museum closed in February 2010.^[2] After various improvements, it reopened in March 2014.

On 16 June 2020, it was announced that the ARHS had withdrawn from the operation of the museum and a new group, Newport Railway Museum Inc., formed by museum volunteers, had entered into an arrangement with VicTrack to take over the Museum site lease.^[3]^[4]

Site improvements

In recent years, projects have been undertaken to construct roof canopies to cover the exhibits and protect the collection from the elements.

In 2016, a project was announced to construct a Template:Convert roof canopy over four wooden passenger carriages and three of the oldest steam locomotives on the site;^[5] this project was completed in 2017.
In 2019, the Victorian Government announced a project to construct a roof canopy to protect the heritage-listed locomotive H220 Heavy Harry.^[6] A Template:Convert structure that covered H220 and several adjacent exhibits was completed in 2020. In announcing the completion of the second roof canopy, Newport Railway Museum stated its intention to continue to construct further roofing over remaining exhibits to ensure their preservation.^[7]
In late 2023, the second canopy was further extended by Template:Convert to bring several additional exhibits under cover, including steam locomotive C10, the last-remaining member of a class the museum describes as representative of a step change in the haulage of freight in Australia.^[8]^[9]

Opening hours

The museum's regular opening hours are between 12 noon and 5 pm on Saturdays.^[10] During school holiday periods, the museum opens on both Saturdays and Sundays, between 12 noon and 5 pm.^[11]

Collection

The museum contains the largest existing collection of Victorian Railways steam locomotives, a wide range of other Victorian Railways rolling stock, and numerous Victorian Railways artefacts. The collection includes:^[12]

seventeen steam locomotives
eight diesel locomotives
three electric locomotives and four electric suburban carriages
five country/interstate passenger carriages
ten freight wagons and two guards vans
five railway cranes
rail tractors and postal trolleys
a signal box
an O scale model railway

Steam locomotives

Number	Type	Year built	Builder	Livery	Notes
F 176	F class (Steam)	1880	Phoenix Foundry	Canadian Red
T 94	T class (Steam)	1884	Phoenix Foundry	Two-tone green	Built as T 265. Renumbered as T 94 in 1924. Modified with flangeless wheels and coupled to W Class tender
Y 108	Y class (Steam)	1889	Phoenix Foundry	Two-tone green	Built as Y 395. Renumbered as Y 412 in 1924. Renumbered as Y 108 in 1951
E 369	E class (Steam)	1892	David Munro	Black	Built as E 494. Rebuilt as an 0-6-2T and renumbered as E^E 494 in 1919. Renumbered as E^E 369 in 1923. Renumbered as E 369 in 1931
E 236	E class (Steam)	1893	David Munro	Two-tone green	Built as E 506. Renumbered as E 236 in 1923
D⁴ 268	D4 class (Steam)	1910	Newport Workshops	Canadian Red	Built as $D_{E}^{D}$ 790. Renumbered $D_{E}^{D}$ 268 in 1923. Renumbered as D⁴ 369
D² 604	D2 class (Steam)	1912	Beyer, Peacock and Company	Canadian Red with blue lining	Built as D^D 557. Renumbered D^D 580 in 1925. Renumbered D^D 795 in 1926. Renumbered D² 795 in 1929. Renumbered D² 604 in 1951
D³ 635	D3 class (Steam)	1912	Baldwin Locomotive Works	Black with red lining	built as D^D 597. Renumbered D¹ 597 in 1930. Renumbered D³ 635 in 1939
A² 884	A2 class (Steam)	1913	Newport Workshops	Canadian Red	Built as A² 848. Renumbered A² 884 in 1929. Last remaining example of original 125 A² locomotives built with Stephenson valve gear
A² 995	A2 class (Steam)	1916	Newport Workshops	Canadian Red	Example of later 60 A² locomotives built with Walschaerts valve gear
C 10	C class (Steam)	1922	Newport Workshops	Black
X 36 / Gerald A Dee	X class (Steam)	1929	Newport Workshops	Black
H 220 / Heavy Harry	H class (Steam)	1941	Newport Workshops	Black
K 165	K class (Steam)	1941	Newport Workshops	Black
N 432	N class (Steam)	1951	Newport Workshops	Jubilee Train - Green and gold	Last steam locomotive built by VR's Newport Workshops. Its green and gold livery was applied to N 430 for the 1951 Centenary-Jubilee train
R 704	R class (Steam)	1952	North British Locomotive Company	Black with red lining	Was displayed at the Festival of Britain in 1951 and retained its commemorative plaques
J 556	J class (Steam)	1954	Vulcan Foundry	Black with red lining	Wears the historically significant plates of scrapped J559, the last steam locomotive to enter service on the VR

Diesel locomotives

Number / Name	Type	Year built	Builder	Livery	Notes
F 216 / SEC 2	F class (Diesel-electric)	1952	Dick, Kerr & Co.	SEC green	Renumbered back to SEC 2
F 211 / Little Trimmer	F class (Diesel-electric)	1953	Dick, Kerr & Co.	V/Line Orange & Grey	Was SEC 3
B 83	B class (Diesel-electric)	1953	Clyde Engineering	VR Blue and gold
S 308	S class (Diesel-electric)	1958	Clyde Engineering	V/Line Orange & Grey
V 56	V class (Diesel-hydraulic)	1959	Newport Workshops	The Met (Trefoil logo)
W 243	W class (Diesel-hydraulic)	1960	Tulloch Limited	VR Blue and gold
W 255	W class (Diesel-hydraulic)	1960	Tulloch Limited	VR Blue and gold
T 367	T class (Diesel-electric)	1964	Clyde Engineering	V/Line Orange & Grey
Y 137	Y class (Diesel-electric)	1965	Clyde Engineering	V/Line Orange & Grey

Electric rollingstock

Number / Name	Type	Year built	Builder	Livery	Notes
8M	Swing Door motor	1888	Newport Workshops	Heritage red
E 1102	E class (electric)	1928	Newport Workshops	Black
L 1150 / R G Wishart	L class (electric)	1953	English Electric	VR Blue and gold
795M	Harris motor	1968	Newport Workshops	VR Blue and gold
187M	Hitachi motor	1980	Martin & King	Steel
903M	Refurbished Harris motor	1983	Comeng	The Met (Trefoil logo)	Converted from Harris 744M

Passenger carriages

Number / Name	Type	Year built	Builder	Livery	Notes
136 AB	AB 1st / 2nd Class	Template:Circa1886		Red	Body only, resting on a steel frame
11 AA	AA 1st Class	1880	Wright & Edwards	Red	Display car
Norman	Inspection Car	1890	Newport Workshops	Red	Display car
Torrens	Sleeping Car	1907	Newport Workshops	Overland - Dark green
Wimmera	Medical & Vision Test Car	1908	Newport Workshops	VR Blue and gold
VRS 231 / Mitta Mitta	VRS Refreshment Car	1939	Newport Workshops	V/Line Mk II	Birthday car

Vans

Number	Type	Year built	Builder	Livery	Notes
ZL 220	ZL Guards Van (Long Shank)	1875		Red	Built as D 45. Renumbered as Z 45 in Template:Circa1910. Renumbered as Z 220 in 1954. Renumbered as ZL 220 in 1960
ZLP 25	ZLP Freight / Pass Van	1962	Newport Workshops	Red	Built as ZF 25. Renumbered as ZLP 25 in 1965
VVEY 1	VVEY Modular Cabin Van	1980	Newport Workshops	White	Built as ZMF 1. Renumbered VVEY 1 in 1983. Body on ground
VVEY 10	VVEY Modular Cabin Van	1982	Newport Workshops	White	Built as ZMF 10. Renumbered VVEY 10. Body on ground

Freight wagons

Number	Type	Year built	Builder	Livery	Notes
IB 5452	IB Open Wagon	1890	Lennon, H., Spottiswoode	Red	Built as I 5452. Renumbered as IB 5452 in Template:Circa1929. Renumbered as HD 5452 in Template:Circa1960. Renumbered as IB 5452 in Template:Circa1968
H 925	H Fixed Wheel Produce Van	1893	Newport Workshops	Red
H 958	H Fixed Wheel Produce Van	1897	Newport Workshops	Red
KR 169	KR Rail Transporter	1905		Red	Built as I 7460. Renumbered as IA 7460 in Template:Circa1935. Renumbered as KR 169 in 1959
UB 56	UB Louvre Van	1916	Newport Workshops	Red	Built as U 855. Renumbered as UB 56 in 1934. Renumbered as VLAA 56 in 1981
KR 307	KR Rail Transporter	1917	Newport Workshops	Red	Built as I 14911. Renumbered as KR 307 in 1968
No. 15 Oil Tank	OT Oil Tank	1924	Newport Workshops	BP - Black with yellow stripe
RY 600	RY Open Wagon	1931	Newport Workshops	Red	Built as IZ 600. Renumbered as RY 600 in 1965
VLBY 114	VLBY Louvre Van	1954	Newport Workshops	VR Red	Built as VP 114. Renumbered as VLPY 114 in 1980. Renumbered as VLBY 114 in 1983
VLX 334	1964 - VLX Louvre Van	1966	Newport Workshops	Red	Built as VLX 334. Renumbered VLCX 334 in 1979
HZL 211	HZL Loco Bogie Transport			Red

Other items

Number	Type	Year built	Builder	Livery	Notes
RT 1	Rail Tractor	1932	Newport Workshops	Red
	Ex Geelong Loco Hand Crane
No 2 Steam Crane	Steam crane			Black
No 19 Steam Crane	Steam crane			Black
No 19 Crane Tender	Crane tender			Red
No 36 Steam Crane	Steam crane			Black
No 73 Hand Crane	Hand crane			Green, yellow and black
SEC 37	SEC electric loco
Coal Hopper 637	SEC coal hopper			White and yellow
Mary the Match Truck	Wagon			Red
	Postal motor trolley			Yellow
	Way & works trollies			Yellow	2 trollies
	Cordite trucks			Yellow	2 trucks