LRRSA Email Group

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About the LRRSA Email group

The LRRSA has an email mailing list based at Groups.io, a free, easy-to-use email group service.

The purpose of this email list is to enable members and non-members to exchange information about any aspects of past, present and preserved Australian industrial, light and narrow-gauge railways. The area covered includes Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the phosphate islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and wartime narrow gauge operations by Australian troops abroad.

The terms industrial, light, and narrow-gauge railways mean different things to different people, but for the LRRSA they mean:

  1. Industrial railways: railways or tramways that form part of an industrial enterprise, such as sawmilling, sugar milling, mines and quarries, steel mills, construction railways, explosives manufacture, private sidings with “captive” stock, and tunnelling railways. Examples include Bluescope Steel, Pilbara Rail, Manildra, Bundaberg Sugar, Powelltown tramway, Raminea tramway, Mt Lyell Mining & Railway Co, Hume Reservoir Construction, Laheys’ Canungra Tramway, Broken Hill Associated Smelters and Wongawilli Colliery.
  2. Light railways: local railways and tramways of any gauge built in a light and economical fashion by organisations other than the government railway systems and their successors. Examples include: WA Public Works Department port tramways, Sorrento tramway, Kerang - Koondrook tramway, Aramac tramway, Beaudesert Shire tramway.
  3. Narrow-gauge railways: railways with a gauge of less than 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) irrespective of ownership. Examples include the 2 ft gauge railways of the Tasmanian Government Railways and the 2 ft 6 in gauge railways of the Victorian Railways. (Most other narrow-gauge railways will already be covered under the Industrial railways and/or Light railways heading.)
  4. and anything else outside the above list that is quirky, peculiar, eccentric and/or weird.

What we generally exclude: (unless they might fall within item 4 above)

  • railways of 3 ft 6 in, 4 ft -8-1/2 in and 5 ft 3 in gauge which formed part of the state government railway systems and the Commonwealth (Australian National) Railways
  • metropolitan passenger carrying street tramways.
  • miniature railways with a gauge of less than 15 in (381 mm)

By joining this group, you will be able to easily send messages to fellow group members using just one email address. Groups.io also makes it easy to store photos and files, co-ordinate events and more.

Topics for discussion will include, but not necessarily be limited to:

  1. Industries: Industry news that may affect associated industrial rail, whether directly or not.
  2. Current sightings: Visit reports and sightings from the current day, whether of past or present operations.
  3. Research: With questions, discussion, and findings
  4. LRRSA News: Meetings, tours, publications and news.
  5. Photography: Requests for photos, sharing of photos and discussion of same.
  6. Industrial railway modelling: For those who want to have the industrial world at home.
  7. Overseas: Welcome in cases of relevant important breaking industrial railway news or as part of research that takes in operations, locomotives and builders overseas.

Material posted on this group may be adapted by the editors of LRRSA publications for use in those publications, including Light Railways and the LRRSA web-site www.lrrsa.org.au

How to join

To join this mailing list, click the bold text Jump to the LRRSA Email group below, then on the next screen click Join This Group and follow the directions. Entry to the Group must be approved by one of the moderators, this is to eliminate spammers.

Non-members of the LRRSA are welcome to join.

Jump to the the LRRSA Email group