The Rail Motor Society
 
INTRODUCING THE SOCIETY

The Rail Motor Society is a group of dedicated volunteers who supply their time and energy to the restoration, maintenance and operation of Rail Motors. The Society's Rail Motors are passenger carrying  self  propelled  railway  vehicles. These  vehicles  were   introduced into the then
New South Wales Government Railways in 1923 and had a service life of approximately 60 years. They have an overall length of 42 feet (imperial) and a total seating capacity for 52 people. Their classification code was CPH and railway staff affectionately called them Tin Hares.

The CPH Rail Motor was designed for branch line operation, mainly in country areas and serviced locations where it was uneconomical to operate steam locomotive hauled passenger trains.

Some of the advantages of Rail Motor operation were :

Driver and Guard only
Faster service
Reduced running costs
Reduced maintenance costs
Minimal area required for stowing
Low axle load which reduced wear and tear on the permanent way.

This Society operates a number of Rail Motor tours throughout the year with a duration of 1, 2 or 3 days to places of interest within New South Wales and arranges appropriate overnight accomodation for patrons where necessary.

FOUNDING OF THE SOCIETY

The founding of this Society was due to the proposed closing of many country branch line rail services by the then State Rail Authority of New South Wales (SRA) who replaced The Rail Motor services with road coaches.

A group of members from the Newcastle Branch of the Australian Railway Historical Society (A.R.H.S. - NSW division) realised that the CPH - 42 foot rail motors were soon to be retired from service and would eventually be scrapped. With the electrification of the Sydney outer suburban areas progressing rapidly the last remaining areas of rail motor operation would cease as their services were replaced by suburban electric rolling stock and the need for action was imperative. With only a limited amount of time remaining the founding members began an urgent campaign to generate interest of members in kindred societies with the hope of acquiring and preserving these historical vehicles.

During 1984, the then State Rail Authority of N.S.W. (SRA), withdrew and disposed of their last remaining   CPH   and   400   class    rail   motors   and   this   event   lead   to   the   formation   of The Rail Motor Society in October of 1984 and was located at Paterson on the Main North Coast Railway Line, 55 kilometres north of Newcastle. This Society became an autonomous unit in 1986.

The Society was granted full accreditation under the Rail Safetey Act as a railway owner-operator by the NSW Department of Transport in May, 1995. The Society is incorporated under the NSW Associates incorporation Act, 1984. The Society is also nominated as an offical respository for the NSW heritage artifacts.

This Society's foundation members came from the ranks of the following organisations.

Australian Railway Historical Society - (ARHS - NSW Division)
Rail Transport Museum - (RTM - Thirlmere)
The Zig Zag Railway - Lithgow
Sydney Tramway Museum - Loftus

last modified 28th August, 2000.