National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide

National Railway Museum

The Ron Fitch Pavilion at the museum, 2014.
National Railway Museum Location within Greater Adelaide
Established	1963 (1963) (Mile End) 1988 (Port Adelaide)
Location	76 Lipson St Port Adelaide SA 5015 Australia
Coordinates	34°50′44″S 138°30′31″E / 34.84556°S 138.50861°E / -34.84556; 138.50861Coordinates: 34°50′44″S 138°30′31″E / 34.84556°S 138.50861°E / -34.84556; 138.50861
Type	Railway museum
Owner	National Railway Museum Inc.
Nearest car park	On site
Website	National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, South Australia, is Australia's largest railway museum with over 100 exhibits on display, primarily from the Commonwealth and South Australian Railways.

In 1963 a group of rail preservationists convinced the South Australian Railways Commissioner to allocate land on the site of the former Mile End Roundhouse to house a small collection of withdrawn steam locomotives. The first locomotive arrived on 24 August 1964, with the Mile End Railway Museum officially opened on 5 December 1970. The original site had only a small number of exhibits under cover with most items housed on the site in the open air. The effects of weather took their toll on the exhibits, so an alternative undercover venue was sought.

In 1987 the museum obtained a $2m Australia's Bicentennial Commemorative Grant to redevelop the former Port Dock goods terminal as a new under cover museum. On 2 January 1988 the Mile End Railway Museum closed and on 10 December 1988, the Port Dock Station Railway Museum was officially opened by the Premier of South Australia, John Bannon.

In 1999, funding was received as part of Australia's Centenary of Federation to construct the Commonwealth Railway Museum within the museum's precinct. This new facility, which was opened on 21 October 2001, houses a representative sample of exhibits from the Commonwealth Railways and Australian National. Included are vehicles from The Ghan, Tea & Sugar and Trans-Australian. At the same time, the Port Dock Station Railway Museum was renamed the National Railway Museum.

In May 2009 the main pavilion was named after Ron Fitch, who as South Australian Railways Commissioner had facilitated the transfer much of the museum's early rolling stock. At the same time, the Commonwealth Railways Museum was renamed the Ronald E Fluck Pavilion, after the museum's founder.