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Australian Railway Historical Society

Logo: https://arhsnsw.com.au/about/, Non-free logo, via Wikipedia3

Society preserving Australian railway operations

The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) is a railway organisation concerned with history and preservation of railway heritage at a national level. It has had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT division was wound up in 2016, along with the Victorian division in 2020.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) is a railway organisation concerned with history and preservation of railway heritage at a national level.2

Corporate structure

Australian Railway Historical Society sits at the top of its group. 3 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Australian Railway Historical Society
    • Australian Railway Historical Society New South Wales Division Subsidiary · New South Wales, Australia
    • Rail Heritage WA Subsidiary · Western Australia, Australia

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Background

The ARHS was founded in Sydney in 1933 as The Railway Circle, becoming the Australasian Railway and Locomotive Historical Society shortly afterwards. The society's name was changed to the present form in 1952.

Divisions were later formed in other states, most of which established a railway museum:

ACT – Canberra Railway Museum, Kingston

Queensland – Rosewood Railway Museum

South Australia – operated the Mile End Railway Museum from 1964 to 1988, when the exhibits were moved to Port Adelaide, becoming, in 1999, the National Railway Museum. Meanwhile, the Division had set up a train-operating arm, SteamRanger Heritage Railway, which operates the Victor Harbor line as a working museum.

Victoria – Australian Railway Historical Society Museum, Williamstown North

Western Australia – Western Australian Rail Transport Museum, Bassendean

In February 2015, the ACT division commenced operating scrap metal services from Fyshwick to Port Botany through its commercial division, Espee Railroad Services, with locomotives and wagons leased from CFCL Australia. In November 2016, the Canberra Railway Museum was suddenly closed after the commercial division, which had been started to subsidise popular but expensive heritage train trips, collapsed with more than $700,000 of debt. That led to the ACT Division of the ARHS being placed into liquidation.

Read the full text

In July 2020, the Victorian Division was wound up, as the result of a number of civil claims made against it by those who, as children, were abused by ARHS volunteers.

Both the Canberra Railway Museum (Capital Region Heritage Rail) and the Newport Railway Museum are now run by organisations separate from the ARHS. In the latter case, Newport Railway Museum Inc., formed by museum volunteers, entered into an arrangement with VicTrack to take over the museum site lease

Australian Railway History

In October 1937, Australasian Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin was launched by the New South Wales Division. In May 1950, it was relaunched as the Australian Railway History Society Bulletin. In January 2004, it was renamed Australian Railway History, and is published monthly.

Australian Railway Historyincludes historical material from all states and territories.

From Wikipedia’s article on Australian Railway Historical Society, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Some divisions publish magazines at various frequencies. The state and divisions of the society publish magazines that vary in content and depth, but which provide items of local information about their state railway history and activities.

Newsrail

In November 1957, the Victorian Division launched Divisional Diary. From 1958 until 1965, it was also the publication of the Tasmanian division. In January 1973, Divisional Diary was replaced by Newsrail. It is published monthly. Since the winding-up of the Victorian Division in mid-2020, the magazine has been published by Victorian Rail Publishing Inc.

Sunshine Express

After publishing a supplement within the Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin for 16 issues, in February 1966, the Queensland division launched Sunshine Express. In 1968, annual publication was increased from six issues to eight. As of 2023, it is published every two months.

Tasmanian Rail News

From 1958 until 1965, the Victorian Division publication, Divisional Diary, also served as the Tasmanian Division's publication. In August 1965, Rail News was launched, which was renamed Tasmanian Rail News in July 1968.

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The Recorder

In October 1963, the South Australian division launched The Recorder. In May 1992, The Recorder ceased publication when the ARHS decided to pool resources with the National Railway Museum's Catch Point Magazine. The arrangement ceased in December 2008; the museum continues to publish Catchpoint every two months.

The Westland

In July 1972, the Western Australian division launched The Westland Express. It ceased in June 1973 after 12 issues. In January 1985, it was revived as The Westland. Publication ceased in 2019 after 287 issues.

From Wikipedia’s article on Australian Railway Historical Society, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

  • Australian Railway Historical Society New South Wales Division
  • Rail Heritage WA

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded Australasian Railway and Locomotive Historical Society1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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