Monday, February 22, 2016

RAILWAY WANTS TO RUN THROUGH TOP END RAILWAY MUSEUM

Strange, concerning situation  has  developed  at  the important , interesting   Adelaide River Railway Museum Precinct  in the Northern Territory . A legal type letter of demand  was  sent to the  railway  by  AARC , the consortium which runs the main North South   rail  link , alleging  illegal structures  and  rolling stock  have been placed on the corridor, and  the  public invited  to come in  and view .

Furthermore  , AARC wants to build a 1.8metre  security fence through the railway museum area, creating access problems and interfering  with the museum's future  plans.
 
The museum's January newsletter, All Aboard ,  outlines the  extraordinary  situation in full , including approaches to the Chief  Minister , Adam Giles, and  local member , Gary Higgins, to no avail, independent  Gerry Wood   the only one trying to  help .
 
There are claims that the government's own Heritage Branch , supposed to protect  the  heritage, has disappeared down a  tunnel like a  ghost train .

The Genealogical  Society of  the Northern Territory , soon to place a well researched  Adelaide River  Pioneer Cemetery plaque  near the railway  museum site , is concerned about  the  situation. 
 
Adelaide River is also the site of the  war cemetery. In the early days of settlement  in Darwin the railway held an annual picnic  at the  river    and  author Xavier Herbert actually worked as a fettler  in the railway camp there  gaining  material  for his  1938    award winning novel about the Territory, Capricornia.