The chairman said vandals smashed the three NSW Railways built CPH class railmotors with rocks, damaged control areas and trashed the interiors.

The class of railmotors were first used in 1923 making them close to 100 years old and are maintained by the volunteer organisation. They were housed in Orange.

"Coming from a position where the society has has zero income since January because of COVID and the bushfires, for us to get to a position to restart operations and to have this happen on the eve of our first operation back is a kick in the guts," Mr Jackson said.

"They have huge significance within regional NSW, because this was the first fleet that serviced the small communities that people like Tim grew up in, that's one of the reasons he selected them to be part of his funeral."

Mr Jackson said early estimations predicted it could cost upwards of $20,000 to repair the trains as the construction methods used by the master craftsmen and carpenters who built the trains were no longer in use.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"Having to dismantle them to replace parts is not an easy process," he said.

The group have set up at paypal account, which can be found on Lachlan Valley Railway's Facebook page, where people can donate to the repair efforts.

"It's going to take a bit to recoup the lost money after nearly ten months non-operational," he said.