National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum is the largest under-cover railway museum in Australia, housed in the old Port Dock goods shed on Lipson Street. The collection spans 150 years of Australian railway history: steam locomotives, diesel engines, carriages, freight wagons, and railway infrastructure, including the famous 'Bluebird' rail cars that operated on Adelaide's metropolitan lines until 2008.

The scale is impressive — the shed is large enough to house locomotives at full scale, and the collection is remarkably comprehensive for a country museum. Children are well catered for, with interactive exhibits and the opportunity to climb into driving cabs. Steam train rides operate on weekends. The adjacent Semaphore Road cafe strip is a short walk away for post-visit food and coffee.

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A story
The National Railway Museum is housed in the former Port Adelaide goods shed, built in 1856 and reputed to be the oldest surviving railway building in Australia. The collection includes the only surviving Garratt locomotive in Australia — a double-articulated design developed specifically for Australia's steep narrow-gauge mountain lines.

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