Australian Society of Section Car Operators

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ASSCO was founded in 1999 by a group of railway motor section car enthusiasts based in South Australia.

Most of the founding members have been operating cars for many years, including the meets organised on behalf of Steamtown (Peterborough, South Australia, now defunct), in the late nineties. These meets, the first of their kind in Australia, were run successfully, giving motor car owners the opportunity to run their cars legally for the first time, in an organised fashion.

Prior to the Steamtown meets, access was obtained either illegally or through negotiations with the various groups. More recently, owners have been running their cars under the accreditation of other groups, usually an "access for work" type arrangement. Something that has, historically, worked well for both the owner and the host.

This situation was identified as less than ideal, and the scope of running outside of these groups was limited without accreditation as an operator, but the amount of track available, extensive. An approach to Transport SA's Rail Safety Section gave positive feedback, and thus from that point the idea of a group specialising in section car operation was feasible, and the idea moved on.

A meeting in late 1999 led to the foundation of the group as an incorporated body, and from there, the group has grown. ASSCO completed its audit for accreditation as an operator under the Rail Safety Act June 29, 2000 and was issued a certificate of Accreditation on April 9, 2001.

The group completed its first run during Easter 2001, on the NRG railway line
ASSCO completed negotiations with Mary Valley Heritage Railway, and accessed this track on March 23, 2003. This was the first time the group has accessed track outside South Australia, and under its certificate of accreditation issued by Queensland Transport. We also completed negotiations with Queensland Rail and successfully ran the Kingaroy Line in April 2003.

Operations were suspended for 14 months following a sharp increase in the cost of public liability insurance. In June 2004, the group sourced insurances through a pooled premium scheme in South Australia. We recommenced operations in early September, 2004, when our members accessed the Kingaroy Line in Queensland.

ASSCO has continued to run meets in Queensland, usually every two months. Unfortunately, the number of runs in South Australia has dropped significantly. ASSCO continues to grow into a position of strength as a responsible, safe rail operator. ASSCO acheived a major goal in 2006 of accessing the Forsayth Branch (Mutchilba to Forsayth) and the Normanton to Croydon railway.

ASSCO 2007 Meet calendar