Public Transport – The Public Transport Corporation Photographic Collection Online

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The photographic collection of the former Public Transport Commission (VA 2984) consists of images created by agencies responsible for public transport in Victoria during the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection consists of black and white, colour, glass-plate and transparency negatives.

The collection includes depictions of trains, stations and other facilities, documents such as timetables and tickets, events such as royal visits and railway accidents and assorted publicity pictures. The large variety of subject matter in this collection is a reflection of the diverse activities of the railways and an insight into over 100 years of life in Victoria.

Images accessible online are from the ‘H’ sequence of the Public Transport Commission (PTC) photographic collection (VPRS 12800). Find out more by reading the series description for VPRS 12800.

Accessing the PTC Photographic Collection

Go to the database index to search for images from the photographic collection. If you are reading this document as a hardcopy:

· Launch the PROV website: www.prov.vic.gov.au and click on Access the Collection.

· Click on the underlined text: PROV's digitised records and online indexes.

· Under the heading Transport and Infrastructure, click on the underlined text: VPRS 12800/P1 Photographic Collection Alpha-Numeric Railway Negative Systems.

· Use the fields provided to search the database. Only use the Item Number field if you know the Item number of the image you require. The numbers range from H1000 to H5568.

· From the search results page, left-click on an image thumbnail to see a larger, higher resolution image.

Searching Hints

· When searching, start with a broad term and then narrow your search by adding terms; for example, steam returns 300 results, whereas steam engine returns 19.

· If the returned number of records is too few or zero, go back and refine the search by using a broader or alternative term. For example, Ballarat Station retrieves six results, but 79 images containing the railway workshops at Ballarat can be retrieved just by using the term Ballarat.

· The names of individuals who appear in some images are, generally, not recorded on the original photographs and therefore have not been indexed.

· Railway asset class numbers can be used as a search term eg. C Class Locomotive.

· Do not use non-character symbols: “/”, “&” and words such as “and”, “in”, “the” etc.

· Searching for dates: not all images are dated and the date can refer to the date that the image was taken, or the date of the content in the image.

· Do not use boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).

This is the result of the above search using the term “clunes”, a town in central Victoria:

Further Information

· Indexes to other areas of the PTC photographic collection can be accessed at the Victorian Archives Centre Reading Room, 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne.

· Selections of Images from the PTC photographic collection are also available through the online exhibition Transported Back., the online image database Picture Australia, and the Museum of Victoria website.

Using PTC Images

Images can be downloaded from PROV’s website and used for personal research.

If you wish to publish an image, please read PROVguide 25 Copyright for Researchers.

If you would like to purchase high-resolution copies or hard copies of an image you can email PROV’s Helpdesk with your contact details and the item numbers of the images you require. PROV will then send you an order form.

See PROVguide 2 Copying Services for more information about copying services available at PROV.

For Help with Using the PTC Photographic Collection Online Contact PROV’s Helpdesk

Tel: 1800 657 452 (toll free in Australia)

Email: ask.prov@dvc.vic.gov.au