Bathurst museums

Two very different museums in Bathurst. The delightful Rail Museum tells the story of the history of rail in Bathurst and the major part it played in the development of the town. The Railway Instiitute was the centre of social and community life and also provided training and advancement for many railway workers.

The Museum isn’t full of steam engines, as you might expect. Instead, it has a working model railway as large as a tennis court. The line is a real one, the one from Tarana to Bathurst. There is also a wonderful area for kids to play trains, Kids Central.

The second museum (extra) is the house where much loved Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley and his wife lived for the whole of their married  life. What is extraordinary is the modesty of the simple, two bedroom house. It’s hard to imagine how serious affairs of government were conducted here.

There is a connection between the two museums, in that Ben Chifley was a local and a railway man, working his way up from shop boy to engine driver.