NRS-16621 | Sydney Harbour Bridge rail plans

These plans are of the railway infrastructure approaching the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the Bridge's construction and of the railway tracks on the Bridge. The series includes plans of viaduct piers, footbridges, overhead wiring structures, signalling accommodation, switch rooms, retaining walls, drainage, steelwork, stonework, overhead wiring system, signal cabins, foundations of roadway walls, tunnel details, cable tunnels, and track cross sections.The series also contains plans of North Sydney and Milson's Point Stations (Milson's Point Station was known as Kirribilli Station at the time). Plans of the Stations include station layout, ticket barriers, display windows, shop fronts, wall tiling, necessary services such as sewerage and water, and amenities.Most plans are signed by J.J.C. Bradfield, the Chief Engineer responsible for the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Some plans have the signature of approval of the Chief Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of Railways. Some plans also have annotations, revisions, and notes.There is a general plan of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and approaches showing the route of the railway and tramway from Sydney's CBD to North Sydney. The plan identifies most streets around the approaches to the Bridge and gives some additional detail such as the location of churches, schools, and parks. There is a stamp on the plan showing it was received in the Department of Main Roads plan room but the stamp is undated.The plans were originally produced by the Public Works Department during the Bridge's construction (except for three that were produced by the New South Wales Railway Department). The plans are arranged in an alphanumerical system and some supersede earlier plans (although these earlier superseded plans do not appear to be part of State Rail's collection).Many of these are rolled plans and may require conservation assessment prior to access.Custody HistoryFrom 1955 until 2000 the State Rail Authority of New South Wales maintained an in house archives consisting of the archival records of the Authority, its predecessor agencies and the private railway companies taken over by the government. The date ranges of the records were from 1849 until 2000. When the decision was made to close the State Rail Archives the parts of the collection that were required as State archives were transferred to the State Records Authority of NSW. Those record series were incorporated into the State Records series system of archives control and were re-numbered.This series was formerly part of the State Rail Archives collection where it was identified as series R195. It may have been viewed in the State Rail Archives as series R195 and could have been previously cited as such in notes by researchers at State Rail Archives or in publications or unpublished works.The 12 plans in NRS-16621-3 were received as estrays.