The Norman W. De Pomeroy Railway Collection

... A REMARKABLE NEW FIND IN THE COLLECTION!

UPDATE (10/03/2005):
Comments on 4RM or anything else covered in the body of this article would be welcome. Simply Click here for the contact form, please select "No, I wish to send my email to somebody specialising in specific memorabilia" Then select 'Railway'.

UPDATE (02/03/2005):
Since the article below first appeared, I have been informed that there was an article in "A.R.H.S. Bulletin" just a few years' back, which mentioned that S.A.R.'s 4RM was in Victoria for a short period and that it was involved in trials on the Orbost line. I would suspect that Bairnsdale-Orbost was just one of the places where tests were carried out.


Albert Isaacs
22/02/2005

The late Norm De Pomeroy had a magnificent career as a Victorian Railways' locomotive driver and, because of his charming personality, endeared himself to railwayman and rail enthusiast alike. It was always known that he had one of Australia's most extensive collections of railway ephemera, hardware and printed matter. However, no-one realised just how large and far-ranging the collection was until after Norm's death, when the collection came onto the open market. Charles Leski Auctions is proud to be offering this material, on an on-going basis, on behalf of Norm's family. We first offered Norm's material in a special rail-only auction on 30th May 2004; since then there have been over 2,500 lots offered in 17 auctions. The Norm De Pomeroy collection has helped establish C.L.A. as one of the foremost sellers of railway material and, because we are now offering material from other collectors on an ongoing basis, we look forward to continuing to offer railway material, of all types, well into the future.


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Believe it or not, the sorting of the Norm De Pomeroy collection is still continuing and there are still lots from this huge collection to be offered in future auctions. Auction No.260 on 6th April 2005, will include some hundreds of new lots from Norm's collection. Amongst the material to be offered on 6th April, is a remarkable find which may change some aspects of Victoria's known railway history!

Hidden within the recently sorted material were thousands of record cards from Newport Workshops. There are actually four slightly different designs of card: for locos.; for boilers; for stationary boilers; and for brakes. These cards list all repairs carried out on specific locos, boilers and brakes from as early as 1860 until the end of the steam era in the 1960s! Much of the information on these cards may not have been recorded elsewhere. Most of the information recorded on the cards is in manuscript, although a little of the post-war recording was typed.

I would estimate that over 90% of the cards have been preserved and will be offered in Auction No.260. Unfortunately the cards for some of the more charismatic locos. such as two of the "S" classes, H220 and NA1 are missing but, importantly, the cards covering all repairs on S302, S303, G41 and NAs 2 to 17 inclusive, along with the boilers placed in all narrow gauge locos, are in the collection. About the earliest locos. to have their histories recorded were locos. 103 & 105. As can be imagined, there are hundreds of cards covering the changing careers of the D/DD/DDE/D1/D2/D3/D4 group. The careers of the AA/A1/A2s are a little easier to follow but the loco. cards for this class certainly help sort out some of the changes.

The cards for S302 and 303 should create a lot of interest. As can be seen from the illustration, when 302 was given its famous blue and gold shell on 17th August 1937, someone at Newport had enough sense of history to write the word "streamlined" in red ink, so that it stands out.

Along with the more well known "K"s, "J"s and "R"s are the more esoteric including, "Belgian R"s (introduced in 1881), "O"s and "ME"s. There are also cards for the various Steam Cranes and Wreckage Cranes, as well as the numerous stationary engines strategically placed around the State.

I suspect that many people will be interested in the cards made out for the locos. purchased when V.R. acquired the assets of the Deniliquin & Moama Railway Co in 1923 and the Kerang & Koondrook Tramway in 1952. Because these locos were scrapped soon after they were acquired by the V.R., the record cards have the dates of their acquisition and scrapping but there were no actual repairs to record.

Perhaps these cards may help us add to the known history of the V.R. For example, it is well known that in the 1920s, V.R. purchased a 75 class Brill rail motor from the South Australian Railways and run it under its old road number, 44RM. However, has it been recorded elsewhere that a 55 class Brill was also in Victoria? Nevertheless, there is a loco. record card for 4RM. The card records that it arrived on 25th July 1924; the card also states: "From S. Australia ? on loan". This makes one suspect that Victorian Chairman of Commissioner Harold Clapp actually borrowed two Brills from his old friend, South Australian Chairman of Commissioners, W.A. Webb, and that 44RM was purchased, while 4RM returned home to South Australia. Does anyone know any more about this puzzle, raised by these record cards?
These are just a few of the fascinating things revealed in this group of 72 lots in Auction No.260. An inspection of the record cards will certainly reveal more.

Please check our auction calendar for the latest auction dates.