Albert Arnold
One of the more unusual archives in our collection is this red ribbon rosette . It was worn by train driver, Albert Arnold, who drove the first train over the Sydney Harbour Bridge after opening on 19 March 1932.
What a great honour!
Of interest, is that we also found Albert Arnold's digitised Personal Railway History Cards, via a quick name search in Collection Search.
The cards reveals that Albert was born in 1877 and started working for the railways as a "boy labourer" in 1896. Other positions listed are cleaner and fireman before becoming a train driver in 1909. A stamp dated 14 Aug 1917 states he was dismissed for taking part in the 1917 General Strike. By 1924 he is listed as Instructor and worked several more years before retiring in November 1939.
View the cards in Collection Search »
Finding railway cards in the collection is easy - use the search box on our homepage to find more railway history cards.
We wonder if Albert might be in one of the two attached photos that show the first train test, carrying some privileged passengers, over the bridge on 19 January 1932.
