Cooma Monaro Railway

The Cooma Monaro Railway is a tourist railway that is working on running trains on a 14 kilometre section of the Bombala line between Cooma and Rock Flat in New South Wales, Australia. Currently in voluntary cessation of services until the current infrastructure is brought up to speed.

History
Regular services on the Bombala line ceased south of Queanbeyan with the withdrawal of the Canberra Monaro Express in September 1988. Following a bridge carrying the line over the Numeralla River at Chakola being declared unsafe, freight services south of Queanbeyan ceased in May 1989. However a steam special did operate through to Cooma a few weeks later, albeit without passengers over the bridge in question.

In 1992, the Cooma Monaro Railway was formed with the aim of establishing a tourist railway. It set about negotiating a lease on the Bombala line from Cooma to Chakola with the State Rail Authority. In 1994, it purchased three CPH railmotors 6, 8 and 22 and accompanying trailer CTC55 from the Mountain High Railway, Tumut, and restoration at the former locomotive shed at Cooma commenced. After the line and railmotors were refurbished, operations commenced on 5 December 1998.

Trains ceased operating in January 2014, with major repairs required to the line. In January 2015, 620/720 class railcars 625/725 and 631/731 were purchased from RailCorp. FP Paybus FP11 is also in the collection.