Tony Madden is one of only two living members of the organisation’s founding committee who were still with the society.

He will be part of the 40th anniversary celebrations this Sunday.

“Member Number One” Mr Madden called the public meeting which took place in Wollongong in December 1971.

The result was the foundation group formed in February 1972, and further down the track the current ILRMS site was leased from Shellharbour City Council in February 1974.

“We didn’t have a premises (when the group first started),” he said.

“Council gave us about four acres of land. It was just a tea-tree swamp behind a block of land.

“It was about five years before we had any undercover workshop and we’ve gradually added to it over the years.”

Mr Madden, who served as secretary for the society’s first nine years and is now operations manager said it had been plenty of hard work, but rewarding.

“In the early days, (the highlights were) the comradeship and the pioneering of building a new railway, and scouring for supplies. Local industries helped us a great deal.

“We’ve got lots of help from everywhere, and still do. People donate stuff or give us a discount.”

Mr Madden’s working knowledge of railways was spawned from his father, a railway engineer.

Mr Madden, now 72, later joined the British Army and worked in a military railway workshop.

“It takes its toll on families, personal relationships and jobs sometimes,” he said of his 40 years with the society.

“You have to have a certain amount of perseverance or single-mindedness.”

He also thanked the efforts of the society’s many volunteers throughout the years. “We wouldn’t have got anywhere without all the people who have helped us,” he said.

Mr Madden will be joined at the celebrations by workshop manager Brian Holmes, the other founding member still with the organisation.

The celebrations will run from about 10.30am-4pm and feature live jazz music from Mr Madden’s band the Illawarra Flame Three.

Two steam locomotives, the Cairns and Kiama, will be in operation.

There will also be a special commemoration presentation at 1pm.

The museum is located at 48a Tongarra Rd, Albion Park Rail.