James Harvey Biography
James (Jim) Harvey (1922- )
Born in 1922, Jim Harvey’s interest in ‘things railway’ dates back to his school days when he first dabbled in model railways. In 1943, he journeyed to the Top End of the Northern Territory as a solider and during the subsequent 14 months as an anonymous member of the military garrison, he traveled on and studied the local railway know officially as the North Australia Railway (NAR).
Jim became fascinated with this now abandoned railway and study of its history and changing fortunes became a life-long passion. A culmination of his research came in 1987 with the publication of his first book ‘The Never Never Line: the story of the Northern Australian Railway’. In 1992 he later wrote a book titled ‘Australia's forgotten volunteers’ in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the bombing of Darwin. This book was about the contribution made by the railwaymen to the maintenance of the military forces, their devotion to duty and their heroism.
During his research, Jim met many railwaymen from the state railway systems who volunteered to work on the NAR during the dark days of the war and he faithfully recorded accounts of their time spent in the Top End.
Jim joined the Australian Railway Historical Society in 1943 and was a founding member of its Victorian Division. He served on the governing council of the Division as Research Secretary. In 1974 he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Society. Over the years Jim has contributed articles to the society’s national journal, ‘ARHS Bulletin’ and the Victorian Division magazine ‘Newsrail’.
Source: Australia's forgotten volunteers, published by Australian Railway Historical Society of New South Wales, 1992.