TRAIN and airplane enthusiasts unite their passions this weekend for the Tocumwal Airshow. Nearly 100 people are traveling by train from Melbourne with their diesel locomotive train due to arrive at Tocumwal Station at 9am on Saturday evening. They will then join a crowd of up to 7,000 for the flight display being held at the airfield where the city’s aviation museum opened last year. Bernie Williams, a member of the Lions Club and manager of the railway museum at the station, is eager to open the terminal to visitors. The former army member and catering driver has been volunteering at the station for five years. “We don’t have a fixed opening time, people call the number if they show up here and I can be here in 15 minutes and walk them through,” Mr Williams said. “We’ve had groups from Melbourne, from Echuca, there was a group of cars from Goulburn who came two years ago, so there are handfuls of three or four people, other times there are will be 25.” IN OTHER NEWS: The station was once a meeting place for NSW and Victorian trains and there were up to 80 staff employed during World War II when the town was an integral part of Army operations air. Goods trains continue to operate, but the last regular passenger service was in 1983 to Narrandera, with Victorian suburban runs ending in 1975. “There is a huge variation between what was and what is,” said Mr. Williams. Maps show how many tracks once ran through the yard when transshipping between Victorian and NSW gauge tracks and a branch line ran to the airfield. Mr Williams hopes the aviation museum will bring spinoffs to the station. “They’re complementary, I guess, because a lot of people who are interested in trains are also interested in planes,” he said. “We’re going to put up brochures at the air museum, so that people who are there go ‘train museum, we’ll call’.” The station’s history includes an array of photographs, model train tracks, and artifacts related to the city’s past. To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app from the Apple Store or Google Play. Our reporters work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. Here’s how you can continue to access our trusted content:
TRAIN and airplane enthusiasts unite their passions this weekend for the Tocumwal Airshow.
Nearly 100 people are traveling by train from Melbourne with their diesel locomotive train due to arrive at Tocumwal Station at 9am on Saturday evening.
They will then join a crowd of up to 7,000 for the flight display being held at the airfield where the city’s aviation museum opened last year.
Bernie Williams, a member of the Lions Club and manager of the railway museum at the station, is eager to open the terminal to visitors.
The former army member and catering driver has been volunteering at the station for five years.
“We don’t have a fixed opening time, people call the number if they show up here and I can be here in 15 minutes and walk them through,” Mr Williams said.
“We’ve had groups from Melbourne, from Echuca, there was a group of cars from Goulburn who came two years ago, so there are handfuls of three or four people, other times there are will be 25.”
The station was once a meeting place for NSW and Victorian trains and there were up to 80 staff employed during the Second World War when the town was an integral part of Air Force operations.
Freight trains continue to operate, but the last regular passenger service was in 1983 to Narrandera, with Victorian suburban runs ending in 1975.
“There’s a huge variation between what was and what is,” Mr Williams said.
Maps show how many tracks once ran through the yard when transshipping between Victorian and NSW gauge tracks and a branch line ran to the airfield.
Mr Williams hopes the aviation museum will bring spinoffs to the station.
Welcome mat: Bernie Williams, curator of the Tocumwal Railway Heritage Museum, inside the old station building with relics from its heyday. A group of passengers will arrive at the platform tonight. Photo: MARK JESSER
“They’re complementary, I guess, because a lot of people who are interested in trains are also interested in planes,” he said.
“We’re going to put up brochures at the air museum, so that people who are there go ‘train museum, we’ll call’.”
The station’s history includes an array of photographs, model train tracks, and artifacts related to the city’s past.
Our reporters work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. Here’s how you can continue to access our trusted content:
