Richmond Vale Railway Museum


The Richmond Vale Railway Museum operates a railway and museum located at the heritage-listed Richmond Main Colliery south of Kurri Kurri, New South Wales. The museum is a volunteer non-profit organization, formed in 1979 with the aim of preserving the Richmond Vale railway line and the mining heritage of J & A Brown and the Hunter Valley.

History

After the closure of Richmond Main Power Station in 1976, Cessnock City Council acquired the abandoned Richmond Main Colliery together with surrounding the buildings from.
In 1979 the newly formed Richmond Vale Preservation Co-operative Society assumed the responsibility for the railway, leaving the development of Richmond Main Park and Mining Museum to be done independently.

Operations

The museum is opened on the first three Sundays of each month and every Sunday during school holidays, and the site consists of the following features:
The museum also operates a small number of ex-industrial diesels, and owns a wide variety of ex-New South Wales Government Railways and ex-industrial rollingstock.
Ex-industrial diesels are:
Rail Motor
Following a fire on 13 September 2017, the museum was closed, with the following losses. :
The museum reopened to limited rail operation on 4 March 2018 and is gradually restoring damaged track to trafficable condition, with shuttle train services available over restored track. Other elements of the museum's operations remain available on open days as before the fire.