This series consists of copied large format paper plans acquired by donation or request from private and interstate rail operators. These plans in this series were collected as a source of ideas for both the civil and mechanical engineering staff to draw upon when designing new installations or rolling stock. Many rail features in Tasmania have their design origin in other states or rail systems and were copied either in whole or part. Plans are on paper and drafting film. All are copies, mostly blue prints and other wet printing processes. The alphabetical prefixes used derive from the states and private rail operators where the drawings came from. CR = Commonwealth Rail, COR = Commonwealth Oil Refinery, QLD = Queensland Rail, EBR = Emu Bay Railway

The specific links between these drawings and those drawn by the Tasmanian Government Railway, Transport Commission Railway Branch and Australian National Railway Commission, Tasmania are not now known. At the time of the transfer of these drawings to National Archives the Civil and Mechanical Engineering staff of AN Tasrail advised that they were acquired and extensively used by them to save time and also to incorporate the latest design features into their work. The circulation of designs amongst the various railway operators within Australia was common. Other sources of ideas for designs that were used extensively are the journals of the civil and mechanical engineers in the UK.

These records are part of the holdings of the Tasmanian Archives