The Yass Railway Heritage Centre opened its doors again recently after an extended shutdown due to COIVD-19 restrictions.
After restrictions lifted the centre attempted to open on October 17 but due to a low number of guests, they delayed their grand reopening to November 7.
Yass Railway Heritage Centre Secretary Stewart Radcliffe said they had a good turnout on the day despite a wet weather forecast.
“We had quite a few people through the door,” he said. “A couple of donations as well on the day.”
Stewart said this time there were a lot more people around, with a steady stream of visitors through till the afternoon. Whereas their first reopening was shortly after stay-at-home orders were lifted so people were likely busy visiting family.
“It’s interesting, a lot of history in Yass town and the railway itself,” he said.
The volunteer group has recently applied for an equipment grant and a transport heritage grant for maintenance on the centre.
“We’ve put in for a new ride-on-mower because the old one is just about dead and there are three acres of grass to mow.”
The second grant is to fix the roof on the passenger carriage, which Stewart said has been covered up ever since he became a member over two years ago.
“It’d be good to get the tarps off and put the original roof back on,” he said.
Stewart said they’re still waiting to hear back on the results from the grant applications.
The Railway Heritage Centre opens 10am to 4pm every Sunday but as it takes guests more than 15 minutes to see the museum, it’s advised to get there no later than about 3pm.
In the walkthrough of the museum visitors can have a picnic and see the old railway station itself, big static displays, photos, and a model railway.
By Brianna O’Rourke
Photo by Stewart Radcliffe
