Cooma Monaro Railway, Railway museum in Cooma, Australia
The Cooma Monaro Railway is a heritage railway museum based at Cooma railway station on the Bombala line. Its collection includes CPH railmotor 22, under restoration and operational, and CPH railmotor 6, in storage awaiting restoration. A restored 3203 locomotive is on static display, alongside S-Truck and L-Truck wagons and a timber-bodied refrigerated box van.
The Cooma Monaro Railway was formed in 1992, when residents met in Cooma to restore the town's railway station. After leasing the Bombala line to Chakola, the group bought three CPH railmotors and a trailer from the Mountain High Railway in Tumut in 1994. Services began on 5 December 1998 over three kilometres to Snowy Junction, and reached Chakola in June 1999. Trains stopped in January 2014 for major track repairs, and the museum reopened in December 2022.
The station rooms show how trains shaped daily life in the region, with spaces like the waiting area and booking office set up as they were in earlier times. Visitors see how people once prepared for their journeys and how the station served as a gathering point for the community.
The museum is based at Cooma railway station on the Bombala line. Trains stopped running in January 2014 for major line repairs, and the museum reopened in December 2022. In May 2024 maintenance vehicles resumed operating to Snowy Junction, a precursor to passenger services returning.
Local volunteers actively work to restore the tracks and train cars so they can actually run again to carry visitors between nearby towns. This hands-on approach means the museum functions as a working station rather than just a display.
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