Regular services on the Bombala line ceased south of Queanbeyan with the withdrawal of the Canberra Monaro Express in September 1988.

[1] Following a bridge carrying the line over the Numeralla River at Chakola being declared unsafe, freight services south of Queanbeyan ceased in May 1989.

[2] However a steam special did operate through to Cooma a few weeks later, albeit without passengers over the bridge in question.

It set about negotiating a lease on the Bombala line from Cooma to Chakola with the State Rail Authority.

In 1994, it purchased three CPH railmotors and an accompanying trailer from the Mountain High Railway, Tumut, and restoration at the former locomotive shed at Cooma commenced.