Background on the Lithgow State Mine Railway Limited
The Lithgow State Mine Railway is a volunteer based community organisation and evolved out of the Greater Lithgow Mining Museum Inc which was set up in 1990 as a tourism initiative to combat a depressed local economy and a local mine closure. The concept revolved around the development of a mining museum set up to attract tourists into Lithgow to showcase the history of coal mining on the Western Coalfields. As a result the former Lithgow State Coal Mine site which had been derelict since the 1960’s was donated to the cause by the owners Austen & Butta Mining. The State Mine also had in tacked a 2 kilometre railway branch line which was connected to the main line. This line was leased to the Museum in 1995.
In the intervening period both the mine and the railway branch have been restored by volunteers, support from local organisations and grant monies from all tiers of government. In 2001, as part of the Centenary of Federation, the project was allocated money to fund a one kilometre extension of the branch into the Eskbank Goods yard and build a number of platforms along the branch line to facilitate the operation of a tourist railway. The LSMR became an accredited rail operator in 2004.
In early 2005, the Board of Directors of the Mining Museum, ratified a proposal to create a limited by Guarantee Company to enable all rail related activity to be managed and operated by a new fully autonomous Board, separate from that of the Mining Museum. The new organization known as the Lithgow State Mine Railway Limited was registered by ASIC as a Company limited by guarantee on the 3rd April 2006.
The aims and objectives of the new Company are all predicated around the preservation, restoration of all things rail including the management of heritage railway buildings and the successful operation of rail heritage tours. Operationally the Company will be staffed by a mix of paid and volunteer staff and any profits derived from its operations will be returned back to the Company to help it perpetuate and grow.
From an operational perspective the Lithgow State Mine Railway’s, activities can be broken up into three areas.
This organization over the years has lead the way in innovative partnerships and alliances. As you would appreciate a large percentage of preservation groups today are very reliant on grant funding and hand outs. Unfortunately times have changed and governments at all levels have less funds to distribute under various funding programs and are more circumspect in their allocation of those funds. Today any organization that can help itself, who has a strong business plan and a strategic focus has a better opportunity to succeed and becomes less reliant on government grants to survive.
The Industrial Heritage Park Concept
The Lithgow State Mine Railway is a major component of the Lithgow Industrial Heritage Park, which stretches from the Eskbank Railway Station to the Lithgow State Mine site.
This project involves the linking of a number of significant historic sites together via the railway. Those sites include the former Eskbank Goods Yard, which includes the Eskbank Railway Station, Goods Shed and Locomotive Depot - circa 1882 – 1886. The Lithgow Blast Furnace precinct was the birth place of the iron and steel industry in Australia before it relocated to Port Kembla in 1928 and the Lithgow State Coal mine which employed some 800 men in its hey day was the largest coal mine on the Western Coalfields.
In 1995, BHP Port Kembla became a major sponsor of the railway. This came about through the efforts of Mr Jerry Platt who was at that time General Manager Iron & Steelmaking at Port Kembla. After seeing the site first hand and being apprised of the magnitude of the project, Jerry facilitated the donation of 3 surplus 400 hp D class locos and spares parts as well as some survey and drafting work. BHP’s contribution to the Industrial Heritage Park had given the project a means to which a sustainable rail service on the branch could be established that would provide a novel way to move people between sites.
Without these locomotives the project could not have relied on rail transport. Their acquisition has ensured the long-term viability of rail operations on the line and the anticipated success it will bring.
The D class locos will haul tourist trains along the branch line connecting all of the sites with a number of services per day. It is proposed to use a diesel railcar service to operate on the main western line from Eskbank Railway Station to the bottom road of the Zig Zag Railway and return Lithgow. This rail service will provide the much needed bridge to tap into the 70000 plus visitors that currently make the trip to the Zig Zag Railway annually.
This project forms the cornerstone of Lithgow City Council's strategic tourism plan and when linked to the Lithgow Zig Zag Railway creates the largest cultural heritage precinct in the southern hemisphere. It is bigger than the Line of Lode project in Broken Hill.
Another aspect of this integrated cultural heritage tourism project is the ability for the LSMR to operate mainline tours from Lithgow to the east and west. Western destinations like Mudgee, Orange, Cowra, Bathurst and Dubbo can provide tourists with a diversity of experiences. Mudgee, with its wineries provides a rail destination with tremendous potential to operate weekend boutique winery rail tours. An air conditioned train would depart from Lithgow on Saturday morning with an overnight stay in Mudgee where passengers are able to enjoy tours of the many wineries and return to Lithgow Sunday afternoon to either drive back to Sydney or make a connection with the XPT.