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Museum's History |
Steam Locomotives |
Diesel Locomotives |
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Archives & Library The Society maintains an archive of historical material relating to Western Australian Railways. Materials include photographs, maps, plans, printed material such as annual reports and weekly notices. The library has books on Western Australian railways as well as books and journals of general railway interest. Access to the materials in the library and archives is available to members of the society. Enquiries regarding information by non members should be directed to archives@railheritagewa.org.au Move photographic material from other web site
Steam Locomotives The Rail Transport Museum
holds a varied collection of locomotives from Western Australia.
The bulk of the collection are locomotives that once ran on the
WAGR. Other locomotives however are representative of locomotives
that ran on the Midland Railway of WA and private timber lines as
well as mines in the goldfields of Western Australia.
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| Rail Transport Museum The Rail Transport Museum at Bassendean, Perth Western Australia is Western Australia's premier museum devoted to railway history. The collection is the highly significant as it is the only such one in Western Australia that aims to tell the story of all railways across the state. Other collections focus on one aspect or a region. The majority of the collection is from the Western Australian Government Railways. There are also items representative of the extensive timber lines and gold mines that operated in the state as well as the private lines such as the Midland Railway Company. The collection spans the whole spectrum of railway history. From Katie which was placed in service in 1881 when the Fremantle to Guildford Railway was built through to more modern diesel locomotives. Therefore whether you are interested is the heavy freight V class steam locomotives or the tiny 20 inch gauge mine locomotive 'Freudie' there is something to interest you at the museum. Four different railway gauges are exhibited. Live steam is a feature of the annual RailFest day – usually in October. Various passenger carriages and freight wagons that formed an integral part of the railway scene can also be appreciated. A number of these date back to the 19th century. The 1947 ‘Australind’ buffet car is loved by children when hired for their own private birthday party. The exhibition building houses an extensive collection of railway
artifacts and photographs telling the story of railways in Western
Australia. VALE: David Beazley,
7 February 1953 - 4 December 2006 MUSEUM
LOCATION OPEN TIMES
ADMISSION
Museum's History In the 1960s the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) had a small but significant collection of historical items that it displayed each year at the Royal Show. This collection was given on permanent loan to the ARHS for display in a future museum. The Society ran rail tours to raise funds and in 1969 serious work commenced to develop a museum to display the collection of locomotives, rollingstock and items of railway memorabilia that had been collected over the years. There were no structures available but the WAGR assisted by laying rail trackage and loaning items for display. The Museum was opened in November 1974 on land generously donated by CSBP & Farmers in recognition of their ties with railways in WA. In 1979 the Exhibition Building with its comprehensive display of photographs and ephemera was opened. The building also had a small office and archives / library. The collection continued to grow beyond the early vision e.g. the founders had not considered that one day diesels would be preserved. Further land was obtained at the rear of the property – some by donation and another area was vested by the crown from a POS allocation. However the biggest problem was the exposure of the collection to the elements.
In 1991, using funds from the commercial lease of a locomotive purchased by the Society, the first section of roof cover for locomotives and rollingstock was constructed. In the following ten years three more stages were added but less than half the collection was undercover. Further roof cover for ‘as is’ vehicles was built in 2003 and 2004. In 1992 Westrail (WAGR) made a formal donation to the ARHS of all items on permanent loan. This included some items at Boyanup Museum as well. With the donation was a sum of $30,000 which was to be used to provide roof cover for the special service carriages. There are several heritage structures relocated to the museum. These structures would otherwise have been destroyed and could not be left in situ. In 2005 a new entry building was opened – formerly an apprentice classroom at Midland Workshops, the front has been altered to look like a railway station. This is an attractive and functional addition to the museum. The museum relies entirely on the voluntary efforts of the membership of the Australian Railway Historical Society to undertake the massive task of restoration of exhibits and running the museum. You are welcome to assist in the preservation of the unique rail
heritage of Western Australia by becoming
a member of the society.
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