4 November 2009

A push to relocate Williamstown’s historic railway museum from its home in Champion Road to the Newport Rail Yards has gained tacit Government approval.

Project manager John Kirk said the museum attracts about 10,000 visitors a year and a move to a bigger site would potentially increase numbers to more than 100,000.

Mr Kirk said the main reason for a move was capture in the title of a proposal – Don’t Let Us Rust in Peace – submitted to the State Government last month.

“We asked the Government to recognise the importance of preserving and displaying Victoria’s proud railway heritage by guaranteeing the Newport Workshops would be the site of a new world-class railway museum and rail heritage centre,” Mr Kirk said.

A full submission would be lodged with the Government next month, he said.

“I think there was always an intention by the State Government to do something more, but the museum seems to have been left here and forgotten about,” Mr Kirk said.

MP for Western Metropolitan Region Bernie Finn raised the issue in Parliament last month, saying a move to Newport was warranted. “I saw some of the difficulties volunteers face in protecting these magnificent vehicles and the problem is that these treasures of Victoria are in many cases rusting away despite the best efforts of the volunteers,” Mr Finn said.

“An obvious solution is to shift the museum indoors not only to protect the unique and priceless exhibits but to provide a tourist boost for the west.”

The rail museum was established in 1962 following talks between former Victorian Railway commissioner George Brown and members of the Australian Railway Historical Society about the need to preserve historic rail stock. “It was the first railway museum in Australia and became the model for a number of others,” Mr Kirk said.

However, years of being left out in the weather has taken its toll and the collection is showing the effects. “We’ve got one locomotive that was built in 1885 with a bad rust problem,” Mr Kirk said.

“Our volunteers do what they can keeping up with painting and constantly cutting out rust, but it’s a bit like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge: a non-stop job. We estimate that in the past 10 years, our volunteers have spent about $2 million on preserving these locomotives.”