Inside Clarence Station sits the original Cootamundra Station clock, a heritage NSWGR Large Platform Clock that now serves as the centrepiece of the Zig Zag Railway’s shop. Visitors are encouraged to view the clock in action and ask staff about its history and significance.
Restoration Story – A Timely Resurrection
By Mattie Milroy
In October 2022, clock historian and maker Keith Potter visited Clarence to examine and restore the clock. Keith has worked extensively with Sydney Trains, the Powerhouse Museum, and other custodians of these rare timepieces. During his visit, the clock’s movement, weight, and pendulum were removed and taken to his Albury workshop.
While Keith worked on the mechanism, I took responsibility for the dial and hands. With “artistic liberty” in mind, I stripped and repainted the hands and re-designed the dial artwork using CAD and a vinyl cutter. Inspired by photos of a sister clock from Newtown (now at Central), I restored its proportions and style while preserving its Zig Zag identity. A final clearcoat finished the dial, and the station case also received a thorough clean and fresh paint with gold banding.
Meanwhile, Keith rebuilt the movement—fabricating a new pendulum suspension, repairing worn parts, and providing a proper winding crank. By mid-November, the clock was running successfully on his test stand, though flooding delayed its return.
On 10 December 2022, the day of the Zig Zag AGM, Keith brought the movement back to Clarence. After adjustments to the case, the dial and hands were reinstalled, and the gentle ticking returned to the station for the first time in decades. Using a Timetrax machine, Keith fine-tuned the pendulum to an accurate 3600 beats per hour. At 2:07 pm, the new winding crank was formally handed over to ZZR, marking the clock’s rebirth.
Historical Background
Research into these clocks is ongoing, as they carry no maker’s marks. Movements likely came from England, while cases were built in New South Wales. Surviving records suggest around 44 were made, though estimates vary from 30 to 60. Today, 25 complete examples and several partial ones are known. Many have been reconstructed from mixed parts since their withdrawal from service in the mid-1970s.
The Clarence/Cootamundra clock (asset no. 10) was installed at Cootamundra Station around 1870 and served for about a century. Its original wall bracket remains visible in the brickwork there. Acquired by Zig Zag Railway in 1979, it was stored for two decades before being installed at Clarence in the early 2000s. The trunk portion of its case did not survive, so a new case was built, though not identical to the heavy original that once hung entirely from a station wall.
Today, this 200 kg, three-foot-dial clock stands restored, keeping time once more as a functional symbol of railway heritage.
