Finding volunteers can be a challenge, but the Yass Railway Museum has been lucky to hold onto Bob Frank and Bill Pigram for 42 years combined.
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Although, perhaps, it is the 80- and 70-year-old who are the ones to have held onto the museum and its history.
"People like Bob and Bill have kept our history alive," said Tony Hawker, who recently became a museum volunteer.
"They should be celebrated," he said, adding "We should thank their understanding wives!"
Over the years, Mr Frank (who joined as a volunteer on the day the museum opened, April 20, 1992), Mr Pigram and Alan Stewart have invested countless hours to stop the museum fading away.
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They've saved and restored old trains, model railways and photographs, run tours and given the museum a fresh lick of paint whenever needed.
This year is the 30th anniversary since the town railway station stopped operating.
To mark the occasion, the volunteers are holding a Picnic Day on Sunday, September 29, from 10am to 4pm.
There will be two miniature railway displays, a jumping castle, face painting, heavy horse exhibit, pony rides, period costume and lucky gate prizes.
The is the first event of its kind for the museum and the hope is to reinvigorate local interest in its history.
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"The Picnic Day is all about raising awareness of the museum," Mr Hawker said.
"We get a lot of visitors but not many locals. This is the history of the town."
To see a lot of people at the museum would mean a lot to Mr Frank and Mr Pigram.
"It would be like a big thank you to Bob and Bill," Mr Hawker said.
Children can watch Thomas, Percy and Henry from Thomas the Tank Engine puff around the Harmsville model railway at the entrance of the museum.
"That's usually a big attraction for children," Mr Hawker said.
Everyone will also be able to see Steam Locomotive 1307 up close and search through old photographs and newspaper articles detailing incidents on local railways.
The draft horses will demonstrate how cargo was carried into the once operational station and Gold Trails Re-enactments will supply old costumes for everyone to try on.
Walking through the museum, people will see the old lamp room, main station office and waiting rooms.
The Yass Tramway became non-operational for passengers in 1958 and goods in 1988.
It was called a tramway instead of a train station because it was cheaper.
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"It was cost-cutting," Mr Frank said.
The museum opened in 1992 to remember the history of the town's railway.
The Yass Railway Museum is open every Sunday, from 10am to 4pm, and on public holidays.
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