Cottonvale Museum
A striking collection of railway memorabilia is housed in the former Cottonvale Station building to be found at the SDSR Precinct.
Available to all visitors on our volunteer working days Wednesday & Thursday each week 8:00am to 2:00pm, email enquiries museum@downsexplorer.org.au
The Inception – The SDSR obtained a quantity of artefacts following the end of passenger services and the demolition of the railway yards by Queensland Rail in the 1970’s.
When the present heritage railway was established, several people began donating artefacts from personal collections of railway memorabilia. All donations were gratefully received by SDSR and the items collected were stored for several years. A large part of the collection from Queensland Rail was in the Warwick Goods shed.
The idea of creating a museum came initially from the then President, Mr. Peter Brixey.
A lot of effort was put into sorting and storing the collection. When he retired from SDSR, work stopped on the museum for several years.
Renewed Interest – In 2018 Lindsay Mills, and Michelle Morgan took over the task of sorting all the documentation inherited from QR. Work progressed slowly as it proved a gigantic task.
In February 2019 Kevin Patterson took over the task of sorting and recording the numerous donated items. The Cottonvale Station building was renovated in 2018 by SDIEA trainees. In March stored items not used for display were removed.
The display items were sorted into categories and work started on putting the display items up for viewing. Work continued until November on the internal displays.
An outdoor display was also planned. A short section of track being laid in front of Cottonvale Station and three items of rolling stock were brought from the goods shed and placed on the track
In December the displays were almost complete. Track laying tools still needed to be displayed so these were mounted on the outside of the museum building for viewing.
Future Development – In 2021 the whole museum was lifted by cranes and relocated to the main entrance of our site, along with the original Cottonvale goods shed.
In 2022 the area has been landscaped and an old carriage placed nearby which is currently being renovated and converted into a tea room where our visitors will find refreshments.
Updated 9th June 2022, current curator is Kevin Patterson
email: museum@downsexplorer.org.au
John, Julie, Kevin, Neil & Darryl