Archives behind the scenes - State Rail personal history cards
Martyn Killion | Director, Collections takes you behind the scenes at NSW State Archives.
Come and see what an archival storage cell looks like and have a look at the popular railway personal history cards.
About the records
Railway Personal History Cards - Employees born before 1900 [NRS-12922]
These cards detail the service history of railway employees born prior to 1900 who were still employed in 1910 when the Railway Service Superannuation Act was introduced. The cards were kept by the Finance Branch to record rates of pay, leave, and superannuation entitlements. Examples of details include: name and date of birth, date of probationary and permanent appointment, staff number, position held, railways branch employed by, name of railway station(s) employed at, rate of pay, and a “remarks” column where qualifications, award variations, leave taken, medical conditions affecting employment, military leave, information regarding dismissal, retrenchment, resignation or retirement, and details of superannuation entitlements were recorded.
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Behind the scenes
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Sydney Opera House: inspired design
Kieran Larkin, Senior 3D Designer at Museums of History NSW, talked to us about some of the highlights and challenges of designing the landmark exhibition The People’s House: Sydney Opera House at 50, on display at the Museum of Sydney until March 2024
Archives behind the scenes - bubonic plague
Did you know there was an outbreak of plague, in Sydney, at The Rocks, in 1900?
Archives behind the scenes - bankruptcy files
The bankruptcy files in our Collection - dating from 1888 to 1928 - contain lists of creditors that the bankrupt person owed money to and debtors that owed money to the bankrupt person
Archives behind the scenes - school files
We hold NSW School Files from 1876 to 1979. They are an amazing source of information, not only for school history but also for the history of a local community
Railways
Railway employment records 1856-1917
The index records the name, position, date of appointment and page number within the register. There are 763 entries
Railway photographs NRS-17420
An introduction to our rich collection of NSW railway photos, including locomotives, carriages, gate houses, railway refreshment rooms, staff and stations
Railway employees guide
Employment with the Railways covered a large range of positions including driver, cleaner, engineer, draftsman, inspector, timekeeper, porter and ganger
Eveleigh Workshops during the 1917 railway strike
On 2 August 1917 the General Strike began. It started in the Randwick Rail Workshops & Eveleigh Carriage Workshops & quickly spread to other industries until about 100,000 workers were on strike
On This Day
First NSW railway line opened, 1855
On 26 September 1855 the first railway line in NSW was opened. The 22km 'Great Trunk Line' operated from Sydney (Redfern) to Parramatta
WW1
‘Escapade’ at Eveleigh
On 2 August 1917, workers at Sydney’s Eveleigh railway workshops and Randwick tramway depot went on strike over the introduction of a time card system
3 Jul 1850 - works begin on first railway line
On 3 July 1850 work began on the first NSW railway lines from Sydney to Parramatta
On This Day
13 July 1945 Ben Chifley became Prime Minister
Ben Chifley became Prime Minister of Australia on 13 July 1945. He was born and raised in Bathurst and worked on the railways for many years.
Wallpaper
Trainspotting wallpaper from Blackdown, Bathurst NSW
Although the railway did not officially arrive at the New South Wales town of Bathurst until 1876, at a nearby property, Blackdown, a virtual railway station had been created more than 20 years earlier