Men of Steel Lengthen Taggerty’s Life

The over one hundred year old Taggerty Buffet Car has been a familiar inclusion of the collection at Donald’s Train Park for many years, having been purchased by Donald Lions Club for $2,000 around twenty years ago.  

Once having held royalty, it is now being somewhat treated like royalty, with the erection of a steel shed cover to protect the historical carriage from the elements.

The Taggerty Buffet Car was originally built in 1910, was destroyed by fire in 1912 and rebuilt in 1914. The air-conditioned, timber, composite buffet/sitting was used on the trains running between Melbourne and Bendigo from 1937 to 1981, and on other lines to 1987. 

Taggerty is the earliest surviving air-conditioned timber carriage in Victoria, and only the third carriage in the state to be air-conditioned. The remaining two intact air-conditioned dining carriages in Victoria are made of steel and are full dining cars not composite buffet/sitting cars like Taggerty.

Grant
Unfortunately, Taggerty’s canvas top and timber cladding, make it susceptible to the elements, which has prompted the erection of a steel cover over the entire carriage, thanks to a grant from Small Towns Big Difference Community Grant Program – a combination of Buloke Shire Council, Regional Development Victoria, and Bendigo Community Banks.

Since there aren’t enough hours in a business week, the Donald Steel boys were hard at it over the weekend, erecting a shed over the Taggerty carriage to help preserve it for many more years to come. A very rainy Saturday almost made the following sunny Sunday at work bearable for the dedicated team, which has been spreading itself thinly across some of the town’s major projects.

Many thanks to all involved with the preservation of this important piece of rail history.