“However, the central component of
that plan must be the retention of the vital steam locomotive and rolling stock
workshops at Eveleigh in Redfern,” she added.
The Trust has written to the Hon.
Frank Sartor, Minister for Planning and Minister for the Redfern-Waterloo
Authority, highlighting the importance of protecting and maintaining Eveleigh’s
Large Erecting Shed which is of national significance and rare at a world
level.
It is the only solution for the
long-term maintenance and operation of steam trains in the State of New South Wales.
Major rebuilding of steam
locomotives is required periodically if these steam trains are to continue to
operate at the same frequency as at present. The famous and much loved 3801 locomotive
has traveled more than half a million kilometres in the past 20 years because of
the ability to carry out major repairs. Consigning engines such as 3801 and the
Power House Museum’s
3830 to distant museums will guarantee that such constant operation will no
longer be possible or at best be short term.
In its letter to Mr. Sartor the
Trust stressed the training of skilled apprentices that has taken place at
Eveleigh in restoring and rebuilding steam locomotives, their carriages and
Rail Corp’s heritage fleet.
The Smithsonian Institute commented
on Eveleigh in 1988:
…“Workshops such as Eveleigh are a
great rarity world wide and in view of the broad significance of the railway in
the development of world civilization, and the concomitant role of the repair
shop in the operation of any sizable railway system, it would appear essential
to protect the Eveleigh facility if an accurate picture is to be preserved of
the railway’s place in our culture.”
“The National Trust urges the
retention of the workshops in the Large Erecting Shed at Eveleigh and a
continuation of its role in training skilled apprentices and in restoring, rebuilding
and major overhaul of our state’s steam engines and rolling stock,” said Ms Jackson.
For more information: Kim
Carter/National Trust Media Relations: 02 9258 0131 or 0407 771 698.
National
Trust urges steam railway workshops to be kept at Redfern