Collections
National Railway Museum
Our Collections
The National Railway Museum collections cover all aspects of Australian railway history. Our collections include:
- Rolling Stock including historic vehicles operated by State, Commonwealth and private railway operators on the three major rail gauges used in Australia. All items of rolling stock are generously on loan to the National Railway Museum from the History Trust of South Australia and the Port Dock Station Railway Trust
- Infrastructure items related to the working of the railways such as station buildings, signalling and telecommunications equipment, track components, and maintenance vehicles
- Objects including locomotive builders’ plates, station name boards, uniforms, clocks, signal lamps, furniture, railway hospitality objects
- Audiovisual Items such as photographs, negatives, video and sound recordings, art, posters and placards
- Documents including public and railway working timetables, weekly notices, plans, drawings, gradient and curve diagrams, tickets, government documents
- The NRM also has a specialist reference library comprised of books, journals, photographs, film and audio items covering all aspects of Australian railway history
National Railway Museum collection services
The National Railway Museum offers a range of collection services, including accessing archives for research, providing copies of photographs and documents, records, loans of collection items, and much more.
We welcome your enquiries and ask that you contact us via email or letter. If you wish to meet with a Curator or Collection Manager in person, please make an appointment, as we may not be available to see you immediately.
For information about loans, donations and bequests, research requests, accessing the archive and general information about the NRM collections or collection management issues, please contact the Curator and Business Manager.
For more information about our services and charges, please download How The Museum Can Help You.
Our collection service areas
Search collection
Search parts of the National Railway Museum’s collection online. Our digital archives are continually updated to bring railway history to your fingertips. Explore our Master Index of photographs or discover stories told through voices from the past. Learn about the items of rolling stock we have onsite.
Collection research
The National Railway Museum contains an archive with information on railways throughout each state and territory in Australia. We welcome academic and other research inquiries about our wide range of information on railway organisations. We’re here to assist if you want to access our archives or consult our curator.
Collection enquiries
Do you have questions about our collections or need expert advice on specific items? You can contact the National Railway Museum for information on loans, donations, accessing archives, and more. Our team is dedicated to supporting your inquiry with detailed knowledge and resources. Please schedule an appointment to ensure a curator is available to assist you.
Donating to the collection
We appreciate if you are considering donating an item to the National Railway Museum Collection. Every item tells a story and help us to preserve and share the rich history of railways. Maintaining our collection to the highest standards is both costly and complex and therefore we invite you to discuss your proposed donation before we accept any items.