AS the world mourns the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the Western Advocate is looking back on the monarch's links to Bathurst.
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Just a few months ago, as Great Britain prepared to mark the Queen's platinum jubilee, Transport for NSW remembered royal journeys on the regional rail network - including from Bathurst.
Transport for NSW said the Queen travelled to regional NSW several times, including in 1954 and 1970 on transport provided by the NSW Government Railways.
Heritage specialist with Transport for NSW, Amy Keighran, said the Queen and Prince Philip made three regional journeys on the Royal Train in February 1954.
"The Royal Train took the Queen from Sydney to Newcastle on 9 February 1954, then Her Majesty returned from a visit to Wollongong by train from Bulli to Sydney on 11 February and from Bathurst to Sydney on 12 February," Ms Keighran said.
"They travelled in the Governor General's carriage, which was ornately decorated with timber, leather and gold and had been renovated to include air-conditioning."
IN OTHER NEWS AROUND BATHURST:
For the Bathurst to Sydney trip, a special fabric-covered timetable was produced, featuring the royal coat of arms and a railway locomotive wheel representing NSWGR.
It listed the stations along the route over the Blue Mountains, their height above sea level, distance from Sydney and the time the train travelled through them.
The Western Advocate's Yesterday, Today columnist Alan McRae has written previously about the Queen's visit to Bathurst on February 12, 1954.
According to Mr McRae, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Raglan by RAAF plane and the royal couple then made their way into the city.
"The royal LandRover travelled at eight miles an hour through crowds and slowed to two miles an hour when passing groups of children along the way," Mr McRae said in a column in 2019 about the special visit.
He said more than 25,000 people crowded into Kings Parade to welcome the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Australian Railway Historical Society chairman James Dalton, meanwhile, said the Queen's only train trip on the 1970 tour, in which she passed through Bathurst, featured less fanfare than in 1954.
"The Queen left Sydney late on 29 April and arrived in Orange the next morning," he said.
Transport for NSW said the Governor General's carriage, and one of the locomotives that hauled the Royal Train in 1954, are today at the Transport Heritage NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere.
The carriage forms part of the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
