MS 8059
Papers of John Leonard Buckland (1936-1989)
- Date range: 1936-1989
- Extent: 5.2 m. (34 boxes and 13 folio packages)
- Access conditions: Part available for research and part not available for research until 2021 (Series 1, Folder 28A).
The papers were donated to the Library in 1989 by the executors
of Buckland's estate in accordance with the terms of his will.
The collection contains papers relating to Buckland's lifelong
interest in railways. The papers include correspondence, subject
files, press cuttings, notebooks, typescripts written by Buckland
and other authors on railway history, Australian rolling stock
diagrams and railway maps.
Buckland's extensive railway photographic collection is housed
in the Library's Pictures Collection. Printed maps
have been transferred to the Map Collection and posters to the Pictures Collection.
John Leonard Buckland was born in Camperdown, Victoria in 1915
and educated at Melbourne Grammar School.
In 1938-40 Buckland worked as a cadet journalist for the Victorian
Railways Public Relations Department. During the Second World
War he served in the RAAF as a photographer and radar operator.
After the war, he worked as a journalist for various organisations:
Shennan Publishing Co., Sydney (1946-47), Commonwealth Department
of Labour and National Service, Melbourne (1948-50), Sydney and
Melbourne Publishing Co., Robsons Publications and Pacific Publications
(1953-54), Commonwealth Deparment of Trade (1954-70), and the
Australian Conservation Foundation (1970-75). After his retirement
in 1975 he devoted all his time to his railway interests.Buckland
was a founding member of the Australian Railway Historical Society
and served as President and Vice-President of the Victorian Division,
before resigning to join the NSW Division in the 1960s. He became
a life member in 1971. He was a regular contributor to the ARHS
Bulletin and Light Railways (the journal of the
Light Railway Research Society of Australia) and co-authored the
first volume (1845-1904) of a history of Victorian Railways steam
locomotives. He was also a keen railway photographer.
Buckland died in Melbourne in 1989.
- Correspondence, 1936-89
- Writings by Buckland, 1936-86
- Writings by others
- Subject files
- Press cuttings and printed material
- Rolling stock diagrams
- Maps, signalling diagrams, etc.
- Miscellaneous items
- Notebooks, 1938-85
Series 1: Correspondence, 1936-1989
This series contains letters written to Buckland from other railway
enthusiasts, historians and railway organisations. There are also
many carbon copies of Buckland's outward letters.
Some of the letters were kept in separate sequences. To keep this
original order, the correspondence has been arranged into two
groups: alphabetical according to the names of the major correspondents
(folders 1-23) and chronological (folders 24-30).
Barrington, Jerry Best, George Bond, David Burke, Bill Callaghan,
Tony Coen, Ray Ellis, Richard Horne, Wal Jack, John Knowles, John
Kramer, Bruce McDonald, Bob McKillop, Ian McNeil, Lou Rae, Charlie
Small, J.L.N. Southern, Jim Stokes, Cedric Thomas, Harry Wright.
See Appendix I for alphabetical and chronological
list.
1 folder in this series is closed.
Some correspondence is also included in Series 2 and Series 4.
Series 2. Writings by John Buckland, 1936-1986
The papers in this series have been arranged into the following
subseries:
2.A. Articles
This sub-series contains typescripts and photocopies of published
and unpublished articles written by Buckland and some correspondence
and notes relating to the publication of the articles. The typescripts
have been arranged in date order and alphabetically by title for
undated material. See Appendix II for complete
list of articles.
Some typescripts and drafts of articles by Buckland are included
in his subject files. See also Series 4.
2.B.History of VR steam locomotives, Volume 1.
This sub-series contains drafts and typescripts for Buckland's
chapers for Volume 1 of 'The history of VR steam locomotives'.
Series 3.
Writings by others
This series contains typescripts, carbon copies and photocopies
of articles, poems and talks by other authors which Buckland collected.
They have been arranged by author, or title where the author is
unknown. Authors include Ray Ellis, C.D. Gavan Duffy, M. Schrader
and C.S. Small. See Appendix III for complete
list of articles.
Series 4. Subject files
This series comprises files created by Buckland. They contain
press clippings, brochures, photographs, typescripts, notes, diagrams,
maps and some correspondence relating to Buckland's research interests.
The files have been arranged alphabetically by title. There are
also a number of miscellaneous untitled files. See Appendix IV
for complete list of subject files.
Series 5. Press cuttings and printed material
This series includes brochures and booklets on railways and various
publications of the Australian Railway Historical Society, the
Light Railway Research Society of Australia, the State Transport
Authority of Victoria and other railway organisations and societies.
The press cuttings include a scrapbook of cuttings on the Southern
Aurora crash at Violet Town, Victoria on 7 February 1969.
See Appendix V for more details.
Series 6. Rolling stock diagrams
This series contains locomotive, cars, vans, trucks and wagon
diagrams for the Government Railways of Victoria, New South Wales,
Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, and Queensland.
Some of the diagrams date back to the late 19th century and there
is a set of Victorian rolling stock diagrams for 1904-61. See
Appendix VI for more details
Series 7. Maps, signalling diagrams, etc.
This series contains railways maps for various regions in Australia,
including a number of maps for the Yallourn/Morwell State Electricity
Commission of Victoria railway. There are also Victorian Railways
signalling diagrams and some gradient and curve diagrams for South
Australia. See Appendix VII for more
details.
Series 8. Miscellaneous items
This series includes mostly photographs and photocopies of locomotives
and some railway notices.
Series 9. Notebooks 1938-85
Notebooks, mostly dated, recording miscellaneous details about
railways, including events on journeys. Some of the notebooks
contain distances between various stations, types of locomotives
and indexes of photographs.
Folder
1 Bill Abbott, 1960-89
2 John Armstrong, 1968-86
3 Rodney Barrington, 1980-85
4 Jerry Best, 1963-68, 1982
5 George Bond, 1965-83
6 David Burke, 1981-84, 1987
7 Bill Callaghan, 1980-85
8 Tony Coen, 1972, 1984
9 Ray Ellis, 1978-89
10 Richard Horne, 1978-89
11 Wal Jack, 1953-61
12 John Knowles, 1965-88
13 John Kramer, 1981-84
14 Bruce McDonald, 1966-81
15 Bob McKillop, 1981-89
16 Ian McNeil, 1986-88
17 National Library of Australia, 1979-80
18 Lou Rae, 1984-87
19 Charlie Small, 1962-88
20 J.L.N. Southern, 1936-41, 1961-81
21 Jim Stokes, 1964-88
22 Cedric Thomas, 1964-81
23 Harry Wright, 1956-88
General correspondence in chronological order:
24 1947-66
25 1967-71
26 1972-79
27 1980-85
28 1986-87
28A 1987 Closed till 2021
29 1988
30 1989
Folder
31 Articles, 1936-38: With Pocono Pete on a trip to Echuca
(1936); Christmas pudding (1937); The Perambulations of
Pocono Pete (1936-38): The Maryboro' circuit, Off to
Queenscliff, Noogee trip, Going west in 2 ways, Christmas
pudding, Extra west, The wind & the rain
32 Articles, 1938-1940: Being an account of the experiences of
Bill the Boiler, Butcher on the trip to Walhalla (1938),
New year evolutions (1938), Black diamonds galore (1939),
Roundabout (1939), Timboon or bust (1940), Railway
enterprise in South Australia (1940), Exploding some myths
(1940)
33 Articles, 1944-47: Observations in exile (1944), Apple
cider and old iron (1945), There will be no trains ...
(1946), Unattended crossing loops in single lines (1947),
Alarms and excursions (1947), Chaos in the 'Golden era'
(1947), Tests of third rail devices at Tocumwal (1947), The
Goodwood timber tramway, Noojee (1947)
34 Articles, 1948-57: Studies in late running, or, what price
time without a time-table? (1948), Roundabout to Ararat
(1948), Pressing on regardless ...(but not exactly as the
crows fly) (1948), Locomotive load rating and depto
identification, Victorian railways (1949), Victorian
railways centenary, 1854-1954, Jubilee of the A2-class
locomotive, Victorian railways by H Clark & J. Buckland
(1957)
35 Articles, 1963: South African safari, 1963
36 Articles, 1964-1972: Canadian and American locomotives used
for war service on Trans Australian line (1964), Railways
and locomotives : talk to Seymour Historical Society
(1964), Kate of the M.C. Davies Karri & Jarrah Co. (1966),
Trailable points for unattended crossing loops, Victorian
railways (1967), The AA-class 4-4-0 express locomotives of
the Victorian railways by M.H. Clark and J. Buckland
(1970-71), Journeys by day and night (1972)
37 Articles, 1973-76: The 'Goods motors' of South Australia
(1973), The heavy-duty industrial railway at Weipa, N.Q.
(1974), The introduction of American-designed locomotives
to the Victorian Railways,1877-1898 (1976)
38 Articles, 1978: The Ballarat-Buninyong branch line
39 Articles, 1983-4: Industrial railways at Yallourn and
Morwell SECV
40 Articles, 1984-85: Crane tank locomotives in Australia
(1984), North by west, the course on a solo (1985)
41 Articles, 1980-86: World Book Encyclopedia of Railways
42 Articles, A-J (n.d.): 590 and all that, The Adelaide City
and Port Railway Company, Afterthoughts on some aspects of
Australian steam locomotion, BHP locomotives - additional
notes, Black diamonds to burn, A brief outline of the
railways of Tasmania, The Camden branch of the NSWGR, Early
bogie goods wagons of the Victorian railways by J. Buckland
& Frank Kelly, Explanatory remarks on locomotive classes
and numbering, Factors affecting the progress and outlook
for electric railways during 1927-1935, Footloose and far
from home, In at the death (or rum goings on in the bush),
The Jumbo's place in locomotive history
43 Articles, L-M (n.d.): Lever locking and track control
signalling on single lines, Looking for deserts, Lost
railways in Victoria, Mad with the Mulga, The Maroochyshire
tramways, South Queensland
44 Articles, M (n.d.): Metamorphosis of an ugly duckling, the
D3-class, locomotives of the Victorian railways
45 Articles, M-S (n.d.): Mixed gauge medley, Modern Australian
locomotives : Victorian Railways K-class 2-8-0 type, The
numbers game - an exercise in futility, Puffing billy runs
again - for the last time?, Reflections on some aspects of
Australian steam locomotion design, Some journeys of
another sticky beak
46 Articles, T-Z (n.d.): Trial runs and delivery of
foreign-owned diesel-electric locomotives, Unification -
administration and rail gauges, Victorian railways
centenary, 1854-1954, The Wangaratta derailment, West to
north the course, A wild weekend in the woolly West, The
Woods hydraulic continuous brake
47 History of VR steam locomotives, Vol. 1
Folder
48 Peter Allen. You're just in time
E.H. Brownbill. The economic problems facing Australian
rail transport in the next decade (1960)
49 N. Cave. VR history
50 W. Chynoweth. Historical summary of the locomotives used
in the logging tramways of the Huon timber industry (1985)
262 J. Drennan. Inter Colonial Express Adelaide to Melbourne,
1980
51 J.W. Delaney. Brief history of the railway now known as
South Maitland railways (1962)
Ray Ellis. The North Mount Lyell Copper Company and its
railway Preserved steam locomotives in Australia
52 C.D. Gavan Duffy. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on
the fold Easter, 1955, Go west, young man, go west, Gone
with the wind, On time, all the time, or was it? : trip to
Central Queensland (1939)
53 C.D. Gavan Duffy. Ross Town Junction Railway, Round the
big Baldoun, Single line block on the VR, Some journey's
of a sticky beak (1934), A trip amongst the apples
(1938?), Trip to New South Wales (1933), Two branch lines
54 C.D. Gavan Duffy. Two cross country lines (1945), Under
five flags (1938), A wedding and after (1936)
55 K.T. Groves. The big engines, Steam working north of the
border
263 K.T. Groves. The big engines of the NSW Government
railways
56 S.F. Keane. Engine utilization and running shed practices
of the Victorian railways (1962)
D.B. Mack. History of Bagnall locomotive number 1801
(1988)
Jack McLean. Poems
M.A. Park. The wanderings of a railwayac
57 L.G. Poole. Locomotives of the Victorian
railways,1860-1946
58 M. Schrader. Tasmania revisted, Travel in the Soviet Union
: from the Atlantic to the Pacific by train (1965)
59-60 C.S. Small. Locomotives of the sugar mills and timber
lines of Queensland (1963-65), Privately owned loco lists
of Western Australia, (1965), The private railroads of
Japan (1962)
61 Author unknown, California here I come back to where I
started from; The darky trip;Easter Monday without tears;
Good-bye - Bayles; It will all be the same in 100 years;
Just a wee bittie trip; Looping the loop on an olympic
circle; Myensa; North East passage - and then some ; A
roundabout; She will be coming round the mountain when she
comes; Timboon once more; A trainy day; Trip notes - North
America - 1986; Up hill and down dale
Folder
62 American locomotive practice and performance
63 The Amiens gun
64 Australian loco builders
65 Australian National Railways weekly time tables,16/3/86
66 Australian railway bibliography
67 Australian Railway Historical Society 1983 National
Conference papers
68 Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW) tours
69 Association of Railway Enthusiasts book
70 Association of Railway Enthusiasts loco rosters (VR)
71 Baldwin 0-4-OST's
72 Baldwin list
73 Baldwin locos
74 Beaudesert tramway (Qld)
75 Beyer Peacock Dubs lists
76 BHP/AIS (Port Kembla, NSW), BHP - Coffin Bay tramway (SA),
BHP Whyalla (SA), BHP Whyalla & Newcastle
77 Christmas Island
78 Clyde Engineering Co. Pty Ltd diesel loco list (SA)
79 Commonwealth Railways/ANR
80 CR/TGR loco lists
81 Cranes
82 Deal Island Decauville lists
83 Engine lists: Commonwealth, WA, NZ & Tasmania
84 Four header coal train test, CDQGR, July 1969
85 Geelong & Melbourne Railway Co.
86 Governor Weld & Pioneer locos in WA Grover Bogie
87 Hunslet Rod's Kerr Stuart
88 Kitson tram motors Lines VR wrecks
89 Loco builders lists
90 LRRSA (Light Rail Research Society of Australia) notes
91 Main line heavy freight locomotives of the Victorian
railways Mauritius railway
92 Metro Gas Co. (Vic.)
93 Midland Railway of WA
94 Mortlake Gasworks Railway (NSW)
95 MMBW - outfall sewer, Mt Lyell Mining & Railway Co. 3'6" &
2'0" gauge
96 New Zealand locomotives
97 Notes on VR loco development, NSW freight cars
98 NSW loco lists
99 NSW locos
100 NSW private loco lists
101 NSW SRA rules for working 'WB' trains, NSW GR - tests of
eng. 3508 fitted with ACFI feed water heater
102 NSWR locomotive data
103 NSWR main north line
104 NSWR steam vs. diesel
105 NSWR steam loco data
106 Perry Eng. Co. locomotives (SA)
107 Phoenix foundry locos - Ballarat
108-10 Pilbara, WA
111 Portland Harbour Trust Railway
112 Private builders' loco lists
113 Private line locos, South Australia, Privately owned loco
lists of Western Australia
114 PTC (Public Transport Commission of NSW) Archives
115 Pulverised coal loco trials
116 PWD (Public Works Dept.) - NSW
117-19 Queensland railways (see also folder 138)
120 QR-1 (Locomotives of the Queensland railways,1864-1899),
QR-2 (3'6" gauge locomotives of the Queensland railways
since 1908)
121 QR North Coast line gradients - Central Gympie,
Reflections on Aust. steam locomotion
122 S-class VR
123 SA/NT, SAR loco lists
124 SAR/STC
125 SECV railways
126 SECV - Yallourn/Morwell
127 Serviceton collision
128-29 Signalling
130 Single line token exchangers, Standard gauge Wodonga -
Melbourne
131 Steam locomotive performance, by R.C. Abbott
132 Sunshine accident 20-4-1908
133 Sunshine railway disaster
134-35 Tarcoola - Alice Springs railway
136 Tasmania railways
137 Tasmania privately owned loco lists, Tasmanian railcars
138 TGR loco lists
139 TGR Oatlands tramway, Tour notes & weekly time tables,
etc.
140 Tulloch/Goodwin/ Com-Eng list/ M.Moore list
141-42 Victorian coal mining (mines & railways)
143 Victorian contractor's locos
144 Victorian Light Railway Research Society
145 Victorian private line locomotives
146 Victorian private lines
147 Victorian tramways
148 VR & H class details
149 VR Belgrave, VR cranes
150 VR electric car stock, VR electrics
151 VR E nglish coal tests, 1892-1908
152 VR feed water heating/ oil burning
153 VR freight car codes
154 VR Garratt (proposed), VR Grampians line, VR hired locos
155 VR Locomotive Board of Inquiry (1877)
156 VR loco history cards
157 VR narrow gauge, VR passenger rolling stock lists
158 VR private loco lists
159 VR railway notes
160 VR Richmond accident 18/7/1970
161 VR Rolling Stock Branch report 3/2/1904, VR single line
safeworking
162-64 WA private loco lists
65 WAGR loco lists
66 Westernport coal lines (Vic.)
67 Yallourn (Vic.)
Untitled files
168 74 files on locomotives
175 76 Files on NSW railways
177 79 Files on Queensland Government Railways
180 86 Files on Victorian railways
187 202 Miscellaneous files
Folders
203 Australasian Railway and Locomotive Historical Society,
Bulletins 1948
204 Index to Bulletin of the A. R. L. H. S.1938-48
205 Australian Railway Notes 1933-34 (incomplete)
206 Australian Railway Exploration Association, The Whisper
1985 (8 issues only)
207-11 Hobson Bay Railway:Australian Railway Notes 1939-51
(incomplete)
212 New South Wales Government Railways, Miscellaneous undated
leaflets on locomotives
213 Sydney's Eastern Suburbs Railway, Press releases n.d.
214-15 Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales
Digest 1963-65.
216-18 Australian Railway Historical Society, Victorian Division
Diary 1958-62
219 Tasmanian Railway News 1985-88 , (incomplete)
220 Miscellaneous newsletters
221-24 Miscellaneous newspaper cuttings
225 Newspaper scrapbook 1969: Aurora crash
Box 28 Miscellaneous printed material
Folder
226-27 New South Wales Government Railways locomotive diagrams
228 South Australia locomotive diagrams
229 Tasmanian Transport Department locomotive diagrams
230 Diagrams of wagons
231-33 Miscellaneous diagrams of rolling stock
258 Tasmanian Government Railway, Pocket Section Rolling
Stock 2'-O" Gauge
259 Rolling Stock 3'-6" Gauge
260 West Australian Government Railway, Pocket Section
Rolling Stock
261 N.S.W. Freight Vehicles, 1979, Pocket Section
There are 462 large folio items of rolling stock diagrams kept
in eight folio packages
Folio packages 1-8
Folio 1 Item 1-4 Victorian Railways rolling stock branch:
Diagrams and particulars of locomotives,
cars, vans and trucks, complete set of 4
volums 1904-1961
Folio 2 Items 5-354 Miscellaneous rolling stock diagrams
Folio 3 Items 355-404 Miscellaneous rolling stock diagrams
Folio 4 Items 405-08 Miscellaneous rolling stock diagrams
Folio 5 Items 409-19 Miscellaneous rolling stock diagrams
Folio 6 Items 420-27 Miscellaneous rolling stock diagrams
Folio 7 Items 428-45 Miscellaneous rolling stock diagrams
Folio 8 Items 446-62 Miscellaneous rolling stock diagrams
Folder
234 South Australian Railways: references to profiles
235 Railways gradients and curves, State transport Authority
of Victoria
236-40 Miscellaneous railway maps, signalling diagrams and curve
diagrams
241-57 Miscellaneous curve and gradient diagrams pocket sections
There are also 70 large folio items kept in 5 folio packages
Folio packages 1-5
Folio 1 Items 1-46 Miscellaneous maps and signalling diagrams
Folio 2 Items 47-48 Miscellaneous maps and signalling diagrams
Folio 3 Items 49-59 Miscellaneous maps and signalling diagrams
Folio 4 Items 60-64 Miscellaneous maps and signalling diagrams
Folio 5 Items 65-76 Miscellaneous maps and signalling diagrams
Series |
Box |
Piece |
1 |
1 |
1-9 |
1 |
2 |
10-16 |
1 |
3 |
17-25 |
1 |
4 |
26-30 |
2 |
4 |
31-32 |
2 |
5 |
33-42 |
2 |
6 |
43-47 |
3 |
6 |
48-49 |
3 |
7 |
50-57 |
3 |
8 |
58-61 |
3 |
33 |
262-63 |
4 |
8 |
62-66 |
4 |
9 |
67-75 |
4 |
10 |
76-85 |
4 |
11 |
86-94 |
4 |
12 |
95-102 |
4 |
13 |
103-110 |
4 |
14 |
111-119 |
4 |
15 |
120-127 |
4 |
16 |
128-135 |
4 |
17 |
136-144 |
4 |
18 |
145-153 |
4 |
19 |
154-162 |
4 |
20 |
163-167 |
4 |
21 |
168-174 |
4 |
21 |
175-176 |
4 |
22 |
177-186 |
4 |
23 |
187-195 |
4 |
24 |
196-203 |
5 |
25 |
204-212 |
5 |
26 |
213-220 |
5 |
27 |
221-225 |
5 |
28 |
Printed material |
5 |
34 |
Printed material |
6 |
29 |
227-33 |
6 |
32 |
258-61 |
6 |
Folio box 1 |
Folio 1, Items 1-4 |
6 |
Folio box 2 |
Folio 2, Items 5-354 |
6 |
Map drawer |
Folios 3-8, Items 355-462 |
7 |
30 |
234-40 |
7 |
32 |
241-57 |
7 |
Map drawer |
Folios 1-5, Items 1-76 |
8 |
Folio box 2 |
Folio 1 |
9 |
31 |
1-49 |
Guide prepared August 1994. Last updated 17 July 1996.
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