The 3801 Ltd occupancy of the LES.
3801 Ltd operated the 3801 steam locomotive out of the Large Erecting Shop until its lease ran out in late 2006. In early 2007 some other heritage rolling stock was removed from the Large Erecting Workshop by the Office of rail Heritage and transferred to the RTM at Thirlmere. 3801 Ltd continued to operate heritage tours out of the "Large" until 2017 when they were locked out of the LES. When Mirvac purchased the ATP site it obtained the first rights to the LES should it become surplus to rail requirements. Here we have collected some material from 3801 Ltd. including their submission to the RWA on the Draft Built Environment Plan. The 3801 Ltd submission includes as an appendix an Assessment of the Adequacy of the Structure and Electrical Services of the Large. It also documents the struggle by 3801 Ltd over the 3801 Locomotive and the struggle to remain operating heritage tours from the LES.
With 3801 Ltd locked in a battle with Transport for NSW to be able to stay at the Large Erecting Shop (LES) in 2017 under a Berejiklian government, it is interesting to look back at the comments Gladys Berejiklian made in 2006 as then Shadow Transport Minister when 3801 Ltd was locked in a similar battle with the then NSW Labour government. You can see these in the media release below. What is the current equivalent of "A NSW Liberal/Nationals Government would ensure RailCorp renews the existing lease and was prevented from disposing of any of the rolling stock"? Maybe it is time for Gladys to take a personal interest in what is currently happening to 3801 Ltd to ensure they get a renewed lease and can continue to operate out of Eveleigh.
Eveleigh Heritage rail operator, 3801 Ltd, after two years of difficult dealings with Transport Heritage NSW, was locked out of Eveleigh’s Large Erecting Shop (LES) at the end of January 2017. It can no longer operate its scheduled trips including the Cockatoo Run to the Illawarra and tours which collaborate with the cruise ship industry. Anything that leaves the LES cannot be returned to it.
This PDF file contains the 3801 Ltd Submission on the RWA Draft BEP. The Attachment on the Adequecy of the large has been posted as a seperate file. Please note that to maintain a workabe size for the PDF file we have not been able to use colour photos. File is 702 Kb PDF.
These are the details of the Nomination of The Large Erecting Shop on the Australian Heritage Database.
This list of links was prepared for those wanting to find out more about the Future of the Eveleigh Workshops. Please submit any suggestions for other links on this topic to Geoff Turnbull - mail@redwatch.org.au
This PDF file contains the Apendix to the 3801 Ltd Submission on the RWA Draft BEP. The Attachment provides an Assessment of Adequacy - Structure and Electrical Services of the "Large". The report is important as it shows that the cost of maintainence necessary on the Large is around $3 million which is considerably less than the $12-15 million currently being quoted by the RWA and Railcorp. PDF file is a large 2.3 MB. Please Note - that while the 'Large' is owned by Railcorp this Assessment was commissioned by 3801 Ltd & paid for by 3801 Ltd. No help was received from RailCorp to produce this report on their property!