A RESTORED rail car that once held pride of place in Dr George Miller’s Sydney animation studio could be making its way to Bathurst.
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The fully renovated CBA 547 passenger car has been on the market since the Dr D studios closed in 2013.
A report to councillors by cultural and community services director Alan Cattermole recommends Bathurst Regional Council fork out $85,000 to buy the carriage to become a feature display at the Bathurst Rail Museum.
Mr Cattermole’s report says the CBA 547 was one of a group of passenger carriers that first saw service on the pre-electrified Sydney suburban network but later covered longer distances on the Newcastle, Wollongong and Blue Mountains lines.
After being taken out of government service in the 1970s, the CBA 547 visited Bathurst on a number of occasions as part of the Lachlan Valley Railway heritage tourism program.
Dr D bought the carriage in 2007 and installed it at the studio’s office at the old carriage works in Redfern before it was placed in storage when Dr D wound up in 2013.
Mr Cattermole said the condition of the carriage and its links to Bathurst made it a good fit for the museum, to be established in the historic Railway Institute building on Havannah Street.
“A report was undertaken by AG Transport Heritage to investigate the condition and provenance of the carriage and its suitability for purpose,” the report states.
“The report found that the carriage has proven connection to the Bathurst area with the restoration work ‘carried out to a high standard’.
“It goes further to state that the carriage is currently ‘in good condition and able to cope with external display’ as part of the museum.”
If council buys the carriage, it will first be stored on the tennis courts next to the Railway Institute building as museum renovations are completed where it will “act as a focal point for the collection of stories and objects for inclusion in the museum”.
In the longer term, though, the carriage would be incorporated into the overall design of the museum.
Dr D was launched in mid-2007 as a partnership between two of Australia’s largest film production companies, Kennedy Miller Mitchell – makers of the Mad Max, Babe and Happy Feet films – and Omnilab Media.
But it closed just six years later following a series of financial flops at the box office.
Councillors will vote on the proposed purchase at a meeting on Wednesday.
