The Coffs Harbour Centenary of Rail is a not-for-profit incorporated group formed to commemorate the arrival of rail on the 30th August 1915. The group wil
Well-known Actor, Television Presenter and Rail Enthusiast Scott McGregor has been appointed
Patron of the Coffs Harbour Centenary of Rail.
He is leading the charge for the celebrations which will be held on 30 August 2015 and is excited by the opportunities offered in Coffs Harbour’s stunning harbour area which could see vintage planes, trains, automobiles and even boats.
“I’m tremendously excited to be a part of this celebration,” he said.
“The strategic harbour at Coffs has always been an important port on the North Coast but with the coming of the railway a century ago, Coffs’ place as a transport hub was secured. That milestone has been the inspiration for this event but now plans are literally taking off!”
Mr McGregor believes Coffs Harbour has the potential to create a hugely successful event with the organisers planning to take full advantage of Coffs Harbour’s unique ability to simultaneously host heritage rail, vintage vehicles, vintage machinery, tall ships and vintage aircraft all in close proximity.
“Other towns may have steam festivals, vintage car rallies, wooden boat festivals or air shows but
only Coffs Harbour can do all of this at the same time,” Mr McGregor said.
“NSW is ready for another major steam and heritage festival, the crowd pulling power of combining all of these events together is enormous. What Coffs Harbour can offer is a festival that will be popular to the general public and throughout Australia and the world to the enthusiast market.”
The Coffs Harbour Centenary of Rail is a not-for-profit incorporated group formed to commemorate the arrival of rail on the 30th August 1915. The group will celebrate the centenary on the date in 2015 which falls on a Sunday. There are plans to organise an ongoing festival following the same blueprint.
Centenary chairman Neil Manson outlined the committee’s vision of not only commemorating the significant changes to Coffs Harbour that occurred with the arrival of rail but to create an annual festival that would live on in future years as the “Smoke On The Water Festival”.
“We have had tremendous support, our simple philosophy is that Coffs Harbour has a long history of supporting visiting steam trains, tall ships, historic aircraft and vintage car rallies so that by combining all of these together we will create a very large and successful event,” Mr Manson said.
“We already have commitments from vintage aircraft charter companies, tall ship operators and rail societies. Once these groups have learnt about our concept they can see the potential we have and have all jumped aboard.”
Mr Manson said an event on this scale required professional management both in seeking grants and financial support but also in the running of the event.
“We have appointed 400 Management for our event management company and they will be
supported by our volunteer committee,” he said.
Coffs Harbour Chamber of Commerce President Leonie Kennedy has put her support behind the event.
“The committee is on a winning formula, many of us know first-hand how popular these attractions are when they are in Coffs individually. By taking the initiative of combining them all together is a logical extension of existing successful events, the combined effect will be enormous”.
“With Scott’s business expertise and worldwide contacts in heritage travel we have a perfect opportunity to both market the journeys to and from Coffs and Coffs Harbour itself.”
- Category:
- Travel/leisure