On Track - exhibition of Tasmanian railway images

The exhibition included photographs from a series comprising a pictorial record of important events during the twentieth century. The state government took ownership of the Tasmanian railway system in 2009, and the records have now been physically transferred to the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO) from the National Archives of Australia.

The construction of railways in Tasmania was first considered in the years following the establishment of responsible government in 1856. The Launceston and Western Railway Company formed in 1867, though in the early 1870s it encountered serious financial difficulties. The Tasmanian Government took over the company and so the Tasmanian Government Railways was born. In March 1872 The Tasmanian Main Line Railway Company agreed to build an ambitious 3'6" gauge line between Hobart and Launceston; engineering works involved the line traversing three major divides in the hills, a tunnel 1.25km long to be bored through solid rock, sharp curves and horseshoe bends. Nevertheless on 13 March 1876 Main Line trains began running into Launceston.[1]

In the 1880s, numerous branch lines which served agricultural and timber-producing areas were constructed, though on 1 October 1890 the Tasmanian Main Line Railway Company was absorbed into the Tasmanian Government Railways. By the mid-1920s, as road transport began to compete, some unprofitable railways closed. Major rejuvenation was required after the Second World War and diesel-electric locomotives were introduced in 1950-1954. In the 1970s, passenger patronage continued to decline and the last passenger train ran on 18 July 1978.[2]

Ownership of the Tasmanian Railways was transferred to the Australian National Railways Commission on 1 July 1975, although the Commission did not take over operation of the system until 1 March 1978. The Archives Office of Tasmania had not actively sought records of the Tasmanian Railways prior to the change of ownership, so the significant quantities of records now controlled by the Commission were deposited in the National Archives of Australia during the 1980s. The Commonwealth Government sold Australian National/Tasrail to a private operator in 1997. Due to the high costs associated with maintenance, this company ceded ownership of the Permanent Way to the Tasmanian Government in 2007 and sold it the operating assets in 2009.

Following this change of ownership, the National Archives offered to repatriate to TAHO its voluminous holdings of Tasmanian railway records. These records have now been physically transferred to TAHO, although some work remains to establish full intellectual control over the more complex series of plans and drawings. This display included photographs from Series P1300, which comprises a pictorial record of important Tasmanian Railways events during the twentieth century. It offered just a glimpse of what is in store.