TRAIN buffs are expected to pump almost $7 million into the Bathurst economy over the next 20 years once the city’s new rail museum opens.
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Mayor Graeme Hanger was joined by Calare MP Andrew Gee and Bathurst MP Paul Toole for a short ceremony on Friday to mark the start of construction of the $4.8 million museum, which will incorporate the heritage-listed Railway Institute on Havannah Street and celebrate Bathurst’s proud railways history.
Cr Hanger said around one-third of Bathurst’s male workforce in 1900 was employed on the railways and “we must never forget that history”.
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“What we’re about to see in the next 12 months is the construction of an absolutely magnificent building,” he said. “Council has been working with Andrew Gee and Paul Toole to make sure this happened.
“Bathurst is a railway town of monumental proportions.”
A feature of the museum will be a model railway donated to council by Paul and Bonny Hennessy in 2015.
The meticulous model of the Bathurst to Tarana line features the Bathurst station and building yards, Kelso, Raglan, Brewongle and Locksley stations, the Tarana Bridge, the three-arch bridge at Brewongle and the branch line to Oberon (from Tarana).
Cr Hanger acknowledged the Hennessy’s generosity, saying their donation was the catalyst that got the museum going in the first place.
Council has contributed $3.43 million to the project with $965,000 coming from the federal government and $413,000 from the state.
Mr Toole said the museum would complement Bathurst’s existing museums, including the Chifley Home, Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum and National Motor Racing Museum.
“To have a railway museum in this city will be something special,” he said.
“Guys who follow trains are absolute railway buffs and they will all come here when it opens.”
Mr Gee said the Railway Institute site was a fitting place for the museum.
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“It used to host social gatherings and dances and was a community hub for the people of Bathurst and now we are all about conserving that history,” he said.
Once open, the museum will house permanent and temporary exhibitions that tell the story of the development of rail in the city.
It will also feature some of the history of former prime minister and Bathurst engine driver Ben Chifley.
