design across time - Powerhouse Museum

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+ 20 powerline spring 05 TO MARK THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF NSW RAILWAYS LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 HAS HAD A FACELIFT. story_MARGARET SIMPSON, CURATOR, TRANSPORT the long haul The completion of the railway line between Sydney and Parramatta in 1855 represented the greatest engineering feat in the colony at the time. In social and economic terms it opened up the potential for transporting goods and people to and from the growing city of Sydney. When the line was extended to Goulburn in 1869, it ushered in a boom time for the farmers, graziers and merchants there and further afield. Central to the building and early operation of the line was Locomotive No 1, one of the Museum’s most prized exhibits for the last 120 years. The story behind the first railway in NSW is a fascinating one. The project was plagued by political and bureaucratic delays, labour shortages, continual financial problems, ineffective engineering and project management and hold-ups in the arrival of iron rails and rolling stock. The driving force for its construction was the politician and Goulburn landholder, Charles Cowper (later Sir Charles). Elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 1843, he campaigned for a railway in 1846 and persisted until the Sydney Railway Company was formed in 1848, with himself as manager and chairman of the board. The first turf for the line was turned on a rain-swept day in early July 1850 not far from the present-day Devonshire Street pedestrian tunnel in a much publicised ceremony organised by Cowper to rekindle investor enthusiasm for the project. By 1853, however, it was obvious state funding was needed and Cowper returned to politics to lobby the government to take over the line, which it did in 1855. Apart from Cowper, two others played critical roles in building the railway: James Wallace, the engineer, and William Randle, the resourceful contractor who not only built the line but ran the first trains. Randle is the unsung hero whose arrival in 1852 transformed construction from incompetent tinkering to drive and action. He opened quarries, built brickworks and set up workshops. Most importantly, he organised the workers and attended to their needs. After the labourers all absconded to the goldfields he encouraged the government to bring out 500 railway navvies from England, recruited there by his father. James Wallace, the engineer, made the railway happen with technical innovations and new plans and specifications. He changed the Sydney terminus from Haymarket to Devonshire Street, the bridges from timber to stone, the track from single to double, the rails from timber to wrought-iron Barlow type, and added a branch line to Darling Harbour. For all his achievements, Wallace’s most lasting change from broad gauge to standard gauge track ironically led to Australia’s great gauge debacle. Locomotive No 1 entered the story in 1855, one of four locomotives built in England the previous year for the Sydney Railway Company. After arriving in Sydney, it was assembled locally and put to work hauling ballast trains of broken stone to build the railway. In May 1855, Locomotive No 1 pulled the first passenger train carrying the governor and his party for an inspection of the railway to the Long Cove viaduct at Lewisham. This was followed by the first trip from Sydney to Parramatta in August, with Locomotive No 1
+ 21 powerline spring 05 FROM FAR LEFT; CONSERVATORS SUE VALIS AND ALAYNE ALVIS AT WORK ON LOCOMOTIVE NO 1. PHOTOS SOTHA BOURN; THE EARLIEST KNOWN PHOTO OF LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 TAKEN IN SYDNEY YARD ABOUT 1858. THE MAN IN THE TOP HAT WAS THOUGHT TO BE WILLIAM SIXSMITH, THE TRAIN’S FIRST DRIVER, BUT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THE UNIFORM IS MORE LIKELY TO BE THAT OF A STATIONMASTER; LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1905 FOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF RAILWAYS IN NSW. PHOTO COURTESY STATE RAIL AUTHORITY ARCHIVES; LOCOMOTIVE NO 1 BEING REMOVED FROM ITS SPECIAL ENGINE HOUSE IN 1905. PHOTO COURTESY STATE RAIL AUTHORITY ARCHIVES; VIEW FROM THE FOOTPLATE WHILE ON DISPLAY IN MARTIN PLACE IN 1938 FOR THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF NSW. PHOTO COURTESY THE LATE RON DEBENHAM. hauling three first class carriages to accommodate the visiting dignitaries. The railway opened officially, again in the rain, on 26 September 1855 with much fanfare, luncheons and a grand ball at the Prince of Wales Theatre. At midnight the crowd danced to William Paling’s specially composed Sydney Railway Waltz, complete with locomotive sound effects. The line was indeed a significant achievement, with a total length of 13 miles 28 chains (20 km), terminal stations at Sydney and Parramatta and intermediate stations at Newtown, Ashfield, Burwood and Homebush. A tunnel was built at Redfern, an impressive viaduct over Long Cove Creek, and a total of 27 bridges and 50 culverts. The rolling stock included four steam locomotives, 32 carriages and 30 wagons. Locomotive No 1 went on to pull goods and passenger trains between Sydney, Campbelltown, Richmond and Penrith for 22 years. In 1884, seven years after having been withdrawn from service, it was presented to the Museum by the Commissioner for Railways. Initially Locomotive No 1 was given pride of place in the Agricultural Hall in The Domain, the Museum’s home at the time. When the Museum moved to Ultimo in 1893, the locomotive was stored in a purpose-built engine house for viewing by appointment only, apart from four special occasions when it was taken out for display. In 1980 Locomotive No 1 was restored although no attempt was made to return it to working condition as this would have caused loss to the priceless and irreplaceable original materials. Since 1988, when the Museum opened in its new home in Harris St, Locomotive No 1 has been on permanent public display, complete with first, second and third class carriages. One or possibly two of these were part of the first train of 1855. All were converted after their passenger use to workmen’s vans, which ensured their survival until they were recovered and restored by the railways for the Museum, rare surviving examples of carriages of this vintage. Now as part of the 150th anniversary of railways in NSW the Locomotive No 1 exhibition has been given a well-earned upgrade. In May, scaffolding was erected over the train in the exhibition and conservators and curators set to work thoroughly cleaning and repairing the locomotive, its tender and the carriages. Four large new display cases have been added to the exhibition to house additional exhibits including over 130 railway models and an impressive candelabrum presented to Charles Cowper by the Sydney Railway Company in 1855. An audio visual presentation, especially adapted for children and narrated by Scott McGregor, tells the story of Locomotive No 1. It is very rare for a country to retain its first locomotive as most were scrapped. Locomotive No 1 is one of the most significant items in the Museum’s collection and in the history of NSW. Happy birthday Locomotive No 1 and the NSW railways! The Locomotive No 1 exhibition is sponsored by RailCorp.
Page 1 and 2: design across time POWERLINE + the
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Page 5 and 6: + 05 powerline spring 05 on the roa
Page 7 and 8: + 07 powerline spring 05 THE MUSEUM
Page 9 and 10: + 09 powerline spring 05 William Ke
Page 11 and 12: + 11 powerline spring 05 THE MEMBER
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Page 15 and 16: + 15 powerline spring 05 A 1950s TE
Page 17 and 18: IN A DRAMATIC FASHION SHOW FOR TOKY
Page 19: + 19 powerline spring 05 THE CUTTIN
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Page 25 and 26: Powerhouse Membership It makes a gr

design across time - Powerhouse Museum

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