How to Get There
The New South Wales Rail Museum is located in Thirlmere which is near Picton to the west of Sydney. We drove there as part of a larger trip to the Illawarra which made it an excellent break from driving.
The New South Wales Rail Museum
The museum houses the majority of Transport Heritage NSW large collection of historic locomotives and rolling stock. The importance of this collection means that it is well protected and mostly housed under cover as well as having a modern display hall containing the most important items.
Parking is on the road outside of the museum in marked parking bays. Entry is via the new building where the staff will give you a map of the museum and answer any questions you may have.
The main building houses the historic E18 and E78 trains as well as the Governor’s train.
The majority of the collection is held outside under cover and away from the elements. This huge collection would take many hours to explore if you wanted to examine it all in detail. There are arrows painted on the walkways to make walking around the collection easier.
As well as the trains and rolling stock, there is other memorabilia at the museum. As you walk around you will find old station clocks, time-table departure boars and baggage carts.
Unfortunately the on site café was not working when we visited but there are options available just a few minutes walk away at the Thirlmere shops.
Train Photographs
More photographs fro the NSW Rail Museum can be found here.
Thirlmere Station
While at the New South Wales Rail Museum have a look at the Thirlmere station and station master’s house as they are well maintained and make some great photos.
The old boom gates where the road into Thirlmere crosses the rail tracks are also worth having a close look at.
The Mushroom Tunnel at Picton
If you are in the area it is worth stopping at Picton for another rail related visit. There is a disused rail tunnel that you can visit called the Mushroom Tunnel. We missed the entrance the first time as it is quite small, so drove on into Piction and found somewhere to have a snack and drink. The dirt road into the tunnel can be rough so drive carefully. The tunnel itself is quite interesting, having been re-purposed from a train tunnel to a mushroom farm (hence its name) and now a tourist attraction. We drove though then turned around and drove back before walking through it. Remember to take a torch.
A great place to explore if you are a rail enthusiast and a good break if you need somewhere to stop to relieve the driving boredom.