Buckland Collection

The Buckland Collection brings to life John Buckland’s passion for Australian railways, featuring an extensive array of photographs, manuscripts, memorabilia, and books. A dedicated railway enthusiast, Buckland travelled across Australia to document steam locomotives and railway operations, building a remarkable archive of Australia’s railway history.

Transport

Key items in the collection

Highlights from this collection demonstrate its historical significance and variety.

The Buckland Collection is one of the largest publicly owned collections of Australian railway photos, with about 25,000 photographs. The collection includes both black-and-white and colour photos, mainly from the 1930s to the 1980s, though some are older. Many were taken by Buckland himself, while others were sent to him by friends. The collection covers a wide range of railway topics, such as steam and diesel locomotives, stations, tracks, bridges, accidents, and various types of trains and lines, including industrial, coal, and sugar tramways.

The collection of manuscripts and personal papers, covering the years 1936 to 1989, is organised into the following categories:

Correspondence
Writings by Buckland
Writings by others
Subject files
Press cuttings and printed material
Rolling stock diagrams
Maps, signalling diagrams
Miscellaneous items
Notebooks

The subject files are the largest group and mainly focus on Victorian Railways. They also cover other state railways, railway companies, private lines, tramways, locomotives, locomotive builders, railway disasters, and many other topics.

The bequest includes a small collection of books, pamphlets, and publications related to Australian railways. These include tourist guides, instruction books, handbooks, operating instructions, and regulations, mostly from the Victorian Railways.

About John Buckland

Early life and education

John Leonard Buckland (1915–1989) was born in Camperdown, Victoria, to a family with notable connections—his father was a barrister, and his uncle was S.M. Bruce, Prime Minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929. Buckland attended Melbourne Grammar School and developed an early interest in railways.

Career

Buckland began his career working on a coastal steamer before joining the Victorian Railways Public Relations Department as a cadet journalist. During World War II, he served as a photographer with both the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Australian Army. After the war, he worked for the transport publisher Frank Shennan and in 1954, joined the Australian Government Department of Trade as a journalist. In 1970, he transitioned to the Australian Conservation Foundation, where he worked until his retirement in 1975.

Passion for railways

Buckland’s lifelong passion for railways started in his childhood, when he was a member of the Victorian Model Railway Society. In 1937, he played a key role in the promotional campaign for the inauguration of the Sydney–Melbourne express train, Spirit of Progress. In his retirement, he dedicated most of his time to his railway interests, becoming an original member of the Australian Railway Historical Society and later serving as president of its Victorian Division. He was also a member of the Light Railway Research Society of Australia.

Buckland was highly knowledgeable about Australian steam locomotives and wrote numerous articles on the subject. He travelled extensively throughout Australia, inspecting and photographing steam locomotives and railway operations.

Legacy

Buckland co-authored Steam locomotives of the Victorian railways. Published posthumously by the Australian Railway Historical Society in 2002, cementing his legacy as a leading authority on the subject.

Background to the collection

Buckland visited the Library in 1979 and subsequently lent many of his photographic negatives for copying. He bequeathed his railway photographs and papers, memorabilia and books relating to railways to the Library. The collection was received from his executors in 1989.

The photographs in the Buckland Collection are housed in the Pictures Collection. They are mainly organized by geographical area, with the largest group being Victorian photographs. The rest are sorted by locomotive classes and types of rolling stock. A list of categories can be found in the Special Collections Reading Room. The photographs are being progressively catalogued and some items digitised.

The manuscripts and personal papers are held in the Manuscripts Collection. Use the finding aid.

The printed material has been catalogued individually and integrated in the general collection.

This guide was prepared using these references: