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25.01.2022 LRRSA News: Light Railways 274 (August 2020) has been handed over to Australia Post, thanks to a monumental single-handed effort by Frank. In the Shadow of the Prom delayed until start of September Two new books from Hesperian Press are available from the online shop: "Woodlines of Western Australia" and "Horse Trams of the Old West". For full details of these click on the photographs

23.01.2022 Hello all. A Facebook Group linked to this Page has been created called 'Light Railways of Australia'. It enables people interested in the types of railways described in 'Light Railways' magazine to exchange photographs and information. This Page will continue to operate for announcements from the Society relating to the magazine, meetings publications and tours. Whilst you can still post photographs and messages here, the Light Railways of Australia Group is far better suited to that. You can find the Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LightRailwaysAustralia/ and we encourage you to have a look at it and to contribute.

23.01.2022 The mailout team gathered yesterday, spread out so as to obey the social distancing rules, and with a changeover part way through to keep the number of visitors to 5. Light Railways 273, the June 2020 issue, has now been handed into the care of Australia Post. Who know when you might receive yours! This looks to be a most interesting issue, with articles and reports covering most state of Australia. If you are not a member of the Society, the magazine should be available at your usual source soon, or right now from the online shop in either printed or PDF form: https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/Light-Railways-No273-June-2020

23.01.2022 A reminder to members of the LRRSA - have you renewed your subscription? The August 2020 issue of "Light Railways" will be posted later this month. It is the first issue for the new financial year. If you have not yet renewed your subscription now is the time to do so. The annual subscription rate is still $48.00 as it has been four fourteen years. The easiest way to renew is at our website: https://lrrsa.org.au/

22.01.2022 A final reminder - the pre-publication special price for "Beneath the Peak of Lyell"expires at midnight on Friday night.

20.01.2022 A glimpse at our recently released book "Rails to Rubicon" https://youtu.be/zRXDjGYUxy4

20.01.2022 A reminder about the LRRSA Zoom entertainment meeting On Thursday 11 February at 8.00 pm AEDT (ACT, NSW, Vic., and Tas. Time). the LRRSA will be holding an online meeting via Zoom. It will go for about 60 to 90 minutes, but you will be free to leave at any time. Times in other places: 7.30pm in SA; 7.00pm in Qld; 5.00pm in WA; 0900 UTC; 9.00am GMT Thursday 11 February. After a brief introduction giving news of LRRSA activities, Jim Longworth will give a presentation of the tr...amways used in the construction of Sydney’s Upper Nepean Dams. You do not need to be a member of the LRRSA to attend this meeting. It is open to anyone anywhere in the world. To participate you will need to register your interest, which is easy at our website https://www.lrrsa.org.au/ and clicking "Zoom in". It is preferred that registrations are made no later than Tuesday 9 February at which time the meeting invitations will be emailed. Registration after that date may be accepted, but is not guaranteed. Pre-registrations will not be accepted after 7 pm AEDT on the day of the meeting. If you have not used Zoom before we can provide assistance. You can use a PC, tablet or mobile phone, but if using a PC you will at least need speakers or headphones to participate. See more

19.01.2022 LRRSA Zoom entertainment meeting On Thursday 11 February at 8.00 pm AEDT (ACT, NSW, Vic., and Tas. Time). the LRRSA will be holding an online meeting via Zoom. It will go for about 60 to 90 minutes, but you will be free to leave at any time. Times in other places: 7.30pm in SA; 7.00pm in Qld; 5.00pm in WA; 0900 UTC; 9.00am GMT Thursday 11 February.... After a brief introduction giving news of LRRSA activities, Jim Longworth will give a presentation of the tramways used in the construction of Sydney’s Upper Nepean Dams. You do not need to be a member of the LRRSA to attend this meeting. It is open to anyone anywhere in the world. To participate you will need to register your interest, which is easy at our website https://www.lrrsa.org.au/ and clicking "Zoom in". It is preferred that registrations are made no later than Tuesday 9 February at which time the meeting invitations will be emailed. Registration after that date may be accepted, but is not guaranteed. Pre-registrations will not be accepted after 7 pm AEDT on the day of the meeting. If you have not used Zoom before we can provide assistance. You can use a PC, tablet or mobile phone, but if using a PC you will at least need speakers or headphones to participate.

19.01.2022 The Wonders of Technology Folks, we have a couple of technical hitches in our computer systems at the moment. Firstly: when attempting to renew your (or apply for) membership online, after pressing "Continue" to go to SecurePay to make your payment the screen goes white and nothing happens. This seems to be happening more often than not at the moment. I have raised a support ticket with SecurePay. If this happens to you, try again another day (or wait for an announcement) Sec...ondly: Some customers of the online shop are reporting they are unable to checkout. Often seen with an error saying the address is incomplete. This affected five or six customers last week - there may be more. The fix seems to require contacting the online shop support team - nothing you or I can do. If this happens to you please let us know either via FB, the shop "Contact Us" page, or email to sales. See more

19.01.2022 LRRSA News. Firstly, all meetings scheduled for April have been cancelled. It is likely that our meetings will be unable to be held for some time. Check this page (or group), or the LRRSA web page for any updates. The mail out for LR272 (April 2020) was planned to be done on Thursday 19th, but due to a miscommunication with the printers, we didn't have a magazine to send. Plan B was to hold the mail out last Thursday (26th) but considering the restrictions on gatherings, and ...the participants being in the high-risk category, we felt it nest not to meet as a group. Plan C was for three regulars to pick up a third of the magazines, envelopes, labels and the inserts, (arriving at scheduled times to avoid one another) and then deliver the packed magazines back to Emerald for posting, hopefully on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. That plan was scuppered slightly when the magazine delivery didn't occur until 4pm yesterday (Friday). We are still proceeding with three people packing one third of the mags, but now the best we can do is to post the magazines on Monday, assuming we are not in a lockdown status and Frank is comfortable taking everything to the PO. There will be a further update when the magazine is finally handed over to Australia Post. See more

17.01.2022 A reminder that the LRRSA’s new book In the Shadow of the Prom is available to LRRSA members at a 40% discount price of $39.60 until 30 August. For non-members a reduced price of $55.00 applies until 30 August. Postage on one or two copies within Australia is $15.00. From 31 August the price will be $66.00 ($49.50 for LRRSA members). I have not yet seen a copy of the printed book, but a few advance copies from the printer have been seen by others, and their responses have b...een: I thumbed through the book and was amazed at what I saw. The words fabulous and stunning came immediately to mind. Congratulations Mike on creating such an impressive book.; Looking at it now and I'm very impressed. the pics and the mapping and diagrams are excellent! I got my hard copy of the Prom yesterday and it is MAGNIFICENT In the Shadow of the Prom, subtitled Early South Gippsland Times, Tales and Tramlines is a hard-cover book by Mike McCarthy. It has 285 A4 size pages, with 212 photographs, 64 maps, plans and diagrams, bibliography, references, and index. It is a history of the tramways and railways associated with the early settlement of south Gippsland from Foster to the Mullungdung forest north-east of Yarram. Amongst many other tramways it covers the construction of the Victorian Railways South-Gippsland line, the VR’s Port Welshpool 2 ft 6 in gauge line, and the 2 ft gauge steam operated tramway north of Port Albert. The book is available here: https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/

17.01.2022 We are now taking orders for Beneath the Peak of Lyell. The recommended retail price will be $66.00 ($49.50 for LRRSA members) but for orders placed before May 15, the special pre-publication price will be $55.00 ($39.60) . Postage anywhere in Australia will be $15.00. Available to order from the LRRSA online shop - https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/Beneath-the-Peak-of-Lyell - however the book will not be available until early May.

16.01.2022 Light Railways 272 (April 2020) has now been entrusted to Australia Post. As mentioned recently this has been a long, drawn out process, but it is finally completed. The contents of this issue we have: * Early internal-combustion locomotives in Australia - an interesting look back in time by John Browning * Tasmanian Main Line Railway - * Looking back featuring two lovely photos of bananas being transported by rail in Queensland... * Garratt locomotive at Colac, Victoria - 1935 - a report from the Australian Portland Cement Compnay on the VR Garratt, prior to purchasing their own Garratts. * plus the usual Industrial Railway News, Letters, Field Reports and Heritage & Tourist News. LR272 should be appearing in member's letter boxes later this week, or if you are not a member, at your local Newsagent. Or buy from the LRRSA online shop in either printed or PDF format. See more

14.01.2022 A reminder that time is running out to take advantage of the pre-publication price on "Beneath the Peak of Lyell". From next Saturday, May 16, the price will be $66.00 ($49.50 for LRRSA members) - buy this week and get your copy for $55.00 ($39.60 members price). Postage is $15.00, for one or two copies, so perhaps buy one for yourself and one for a friend!

13.01.2022 The Sydney meeting of the LRRSA is coming up quickly - just three days to the 26th of February. Bill Laidlaw will be presenting on a trip to the The Mount Washington Cog Railway, USA. This railway opened as long ago as 1869, climbing to the summit of Mt Washington. Bill will also include photos of railway points of interest during his trip. As usual, the meeting will be at the Woodstock Community Centre, Church Street, Burwood (with a free Council car park behind the building, entered via Fitzroy Street) or close-by street parking. It's also only 10 minutes easy walk from Burwood railway station. Wednesday 26 February 2020 at 7:30pm

12.01.2022 In the Shadow of the Prom, subtitled Early South Gippsland Times, Tales and Tramlines is a new book to be published in August by the Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. The hard-cover book by Mike McCarthy has 285 A4 size pages, with 212 photographs, 64 maps, plans and diagrams, bibliography, references, and index. It is a history of the early settlement of south Gippsland from Foster to the Mullungdung forest north-east of Yarram. The development of the town...s and the importance of coastal shipping to their survival is comprehensively covered. It includes detailed maps showing the early towns, industries, and transport routes. A special price of $55.00 ($39.60 for LRRSA members) will apply for orders placed before 31 July. Postage is $15.00 on one book, less on multiple copies. After 31 July the price will be $66.00 ($49.50 for LRRSA members). In conjunction with the Foster Historical Society the LRRSA is planning to have a book launch of this publication at Foster in August. At that event the book will be available at the special price of $55.00 and it will give purchasers the opportunity to avoid paying postage on the book. (This event will be dependent on any COVID-19 restrictions at the time, of course). Online orders at the special price can be placed here, where more details can also be found: https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/ See more

12.01.2022 A reminder that the LRRSA's new book "Beneath the Peak of Lyell: The Mount Lyell mines and their 2 ft gauge tramways" - by Ross Mainwaring - is to be published by the LRRSA in May this year. It is a hard-cover book of A4 size with 263 pages and over 230 illustrations. The recommended retail price will be $66.00 ($49.50 for LRRSA members) but for orders placed before May 15, the special pre-publication price will be $55.00 ($39.60) . Postage anywhere in Australia will be $15.00. Available to order from the LRRSA online shop - https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/Beneath-the-Peak-of-Lyell - however the book will not be available until mid May. A quick preview of the book can be seen here: https://youtu.be/vGNUtHQP8oo

12.01.2022 The originally planned mailout date for Light Railways 276 was to be last week, but we pushed it back so we could do a traditional mailout. The magazine has now been handed over to Australia Post, so with luck Melbourne members should see it next week, those living further away it might be the week after. It's another packed 48 page edition. Contents of this issue are: - The Luggage Point Tramway, Brisbane Part 1 - Memories of Garratts on Tasmania’s West Coast - Looking Ba...ck - South Australian miscellany - Light Railways 276 a milestone... - Wilmar 40 tonne locomotive upgrades - Book Review - In the Shadow of the Prom Plus the usual Field Reports, Letters and Heritage & Tourist News, with the back cover displaying a couple of photos of the AIS Nebo Colliery If you are not a member pick it up at your local newsagent, or buy online from https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/Light-Railways-No276-December-2020 - available in printed and PDF format. See more

12.01.2022 Last few days! A reminder that the LRRSA’s new book In the Shadow of the Prom, by Mike McCarthy, is available to LRRSA members at a 40% discount price of $39.60 until 30 August. For non-members a reduced price of $55.00 applies until 30 August. Postage on one or two copies within Australia is $15.00. From 31 August the price will be $66.00 ($49.50 for LRRSA members). In the Shadow of the Prom is a history of the railways and tramways and their importance to the early set...tlement of south Gippsland from Foster to the Mullungdung forest north-east of Yarram. It includes extensive details and maps of numerous tramways, which provided transport from the coast before the coming of the South Gippsland Railway. The 2 ft gauge steam operated Goodwood tramway from Port Albert is covered in detail, as is the 2 ft 6 in gauge Victorian Railways Port Welshpool line. The illustrations, including photographs, maps and diagrams are some of the best to be produced so far in an LRRSA publication. In the Shadow of the Prom is available here: https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/In-the-Shadow-of-the-Prom See more

06.01.2022 An update on the LRRSA's new book "Beneath the Peak of Lyell" The book has now been printed and this week five volunteers (all working separately due to COVID-19 restrictions!) have been packing all the orders placed up to last Monday. These are all expected to be in the mail by the end of the week. A reminder that the special price ($55.00 or $39.60 to LRRSA members) is still available until 15 May. After that date the price will be $66.00 ($49.50 for LRRSA members). In all ...cases postage is $15.00 on one book, and much less on two or more. The book, by Ross Mainwaring, describes the Mount Lyell mines, near Queenstown,Tasmania, and their 2 ft gauge tramways, It is a hard-cover book of A4 size with 263 pages and over 230 illustrations. It is available to order from the LRRSA online shop - https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/Beneath-the-Peak-of-Lyell See more

06.01.2022 Please see link below for a glimpse at the next book to be published by the LRRSA - "In the Shadow of the Prom: Early South Gippsland Times, Tales and Tramlines". The book by Mike McCarthy has 285 A4 size pages, 212 photographs, 64 maps, plans and diagrams, bibliography, references, and index. "In the Shadow of the Prom" is a history of the early settlement of south Gippsland from Foster to the Mullungdung forest north-east of Yarram. The development of the towns and the impo...rtance of coastal shipping to their survival is comprehensively covered. It includes extensive details and maps of numerous tramways, which provided transport from the coast before the coming of the South Gippsland Railway. The 2 ft gauge steam operated Goodwood tramway from Port Albert is covered in detail, as is the 2 ft 6 in gauge Victorian Railways Port Welshpool line. Both these lines have their own extensive chapters. Another chapter describes the construction of the South Gippsland Railway, including tramways and five locomotives used by the contractors in its construction The illustrations, including photographs, maps and diagrams are some of the best to be produced so far in an LRRSA publication. This book will not be available until mid-August. A special price of $55.00 ($39.60 for LRRSA members) will apply for orders placed before 31 July. Postage is $15.00 on one book, less on multiple copies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B7nHDxtlas See more

06.01.2022 Better late than never! We had a bit of a delay with the delivery of Light Railways 277, which pushed the mailout back a week. The magazine has now been handed over to Australia Post - members should see the mag dropping into their letter boxes over the next few days. It's another cracking issue - contents are: The Bellinger River breakwater story (NSW) Yallourn, the early years part 3 (Vic) Lewis’ ballast siding, Pomborneit, (Vic) Looking Back - Queensland Mills miscellan...y plus the usual letters, field reports, industrial and heritage railway news. For non-members the magazine can be purchased from your local newsagent or online from the LRRSA shop: https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/Light-Railways-No277-February-2021 as either a printed magazine or as a PDF. See more

05.01.2022 Light Railways 275, the October 2020 issue, has been entrusted to Australia Post for delivery. It should drop into your letterboxes some time soon - or for non-members, it should be available at your usual newsagent. As usual, it is available (Print or PDF) from the online shop: https://shop.lrrsa.org.au/Light-Railways-No275-October-2020 Contents include: - Tasmanian Main Line Railway - part 2 (Tas) - Henry’s locomotive operation at Forrest 1921 (Vic)... - Yallourn, the early years part 2 (Vic) Plus a host of most interesting letters, a couple of field reports, the usual Industrial and Heritage news, and a book review. See more

05.01.2022 LRRSA Zoom entertainment meeting On Thursday 8 October at 8.30 pm Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (8.00pm in SA; 7.30pm in Qld; 5.30pm in WA; 0930 UTC) the LRRSA will be holding an online meeting via Zoom. It will go for about 60 to 90 minutes, but you will be free to leave at any time. After a brief introduction giving news of LRRSA activities Tony Weston will be giving a presentation describing the narrow gauge railways in north western Spain including current exten...sive metre gauge operations and four railway museums. You do not need to be a member of the LRRSA to attend this meeting. It is open to anyone anywhere in the world. To participate you will need to register your interest, which is easy at our website https://www.lrrsa.org.au/ and clicking "Zoom in". Before the entertainment meeting the LRRSA will be holding its Annual General Meeting at 8.00pm Daylight Saving Time. This will be open to LRRSA members only. Members can register to attend this at our website lrrsa.org.au and clicking "Zoom in". Members registering to attend the entertainment meeting will automatically be registered to attend the AGM. Attendees to either meeting will need to pre-register at lrrsa.org.au preferably no later than Tuesday 6 October at which time the meeting invitations will be emailed. Registration after that date may be accepted, but is not guaranteed. Pre-registrations will not be accepted after 5pm on the day of the meeting. In order to speed up the AGM, the President’s and Financial reports, minutes of the previous AGM, and the Agenda will be available soon from the website at lrrsa.org.au/ar2020.htm

04.01.2022 LRRSA Zoom entertainment meeting On Thursday 10 December at 8.00 pm AEDT (ACT, NSW, Vic., and Tas. Time). the LRRSA will be holding an online meeting via Zoom. It will go for about 60 to 90 minutes, but you will be free to leave at any time. Times in other places: 7.30pm in SA; 7.00pm in Qld; 5.00pm in WA; 0900 UTC ... After a brief introduction giving news of LRRSA activities, John Browning will speak about the 2 ft gauge railways built on the Western Front in World War I and the stories of the war service locomotives that found their way to Queensland after the war to haul sugar cane. You do not need to be a member of the LRRSA to attend this meeting. It is open to anyone anywhere in the world. To participate you will need to register your interest, which is easy at our website https://www.lrrsa.org.au/ and clicking "Zoom in". (If there are more than 100 registrations, preference will be given to financial members of the LRRSA - we are limited to an audience of 100) It is preferred that registrations are made no later than Tuesday 8 December at which time the meeting invitations will be emailed. Registration after that date may be accepted, but is not guaranteed. Pre-registrations will not be accepted after 7 pm AEDT on the day of the meeting. If you have not used Zoom before we can provide assistance. You can use a PC, tablet or mobile phone, but if using a PC you will at least need speakers or headphones to participate.

03.01.2022 "Beneath the Peak of Lyell: The Mount Lyell mines and their 2 ft gauge tramways" is a new book - by Ross Mainwaring - to be published by the LRRSA in May this year. It is a hard-cover book of A4 size with 263 pages and over 230 illustrations.

03.01.2022 Further to the announcement of the impending arrival of Light Railways 277, we have been advised that the South Australian group will be having a meeting on 4 February, at 1 Kindergarten Drive, Hawthorndene commencing at 7:30 pm. The main topic will be the back story of press report - the mine at Seacliff. Contact details are available in LR or here: http://localhost:5711/lrrsa/LRR_Meetings.html

03.01.2022 The booklet "Powelltown Tramway Centenary 1913-2013" which the LRRSA published in 2013 is now out of print. However the LRRSA has now made it available as a fr...ee download as a pdf. It is a 32 page A4 publication built around the original survey plans for the tramway. A series of double page spreads show the course of the line from Yarra Junction through Powelltown and "The Bump" tunnel, and then up beyond New Ada as far as Starlings Gap. Details of bridges, curves, embankments and cuttings are shown. Alongside the maps are gradient profiles, and there are numerous photographs. While a number of the photos may be well known, their reproduction in this publication is excellent, better then ever seen before. You can fins a link to the pdf on this page (sixth book down): https://www.lrrsa.org.au/Lrr_Pubs.htm

01.01.2022 A couple of years ago the Society's Council made a decision to make all of the PDF back issues (except for the most recent 12 - 2 years worth) available as free downloads. We are now finally pleased to announce that this has indeed transpired. While there are possible downsides, we felt that as a research body the results of our research should be freely available. The benefits to the Society are wider recognition, as all these issues will appear in Google searches, and possibly offer a "short cut" to new researchers who might be unaware of previous research. The PDFs can be accessed either by going to the various Light Railway pages on our website (see http://lrrsa.org.au/Lrr_LRf.htm as an example) or by finding the magazine in the online shop, where there is a link.