Train Coach

Vehicle

A coach of many uses

This AL 59 railway carriage acted as travelling accommodation for railway inspection officials from the 1950 to the 1980s and came complete with shower, kitchen, sleeping accommodation and work areas. Apparently the train driver was instructed to slow the train when more important railway officials were served soup, lest they spill their entrée. The carriage started its life as a passenger carriage, built in 1895 for Oldbury Carriage and Wagon Company in the United Kingdom for Western Australian Government Railways. It arrived in Australia at the height of the colony’s gold rush, and ferried thousands of hopefuls to the Goldfields with dreams of striking it lucky. Later, it was moved to suburban use in the city but likely returned to Northam during WWII to transport soldiers to Northam’s army camps. In 1951, it was converted to its current format for use as a railway inspection vehicle.

Available at:

Northam Heritage Centre: Northam and Districts Historical Society and Northam Army Camp Heritage Association

Historic railway station captures Northam’s history

Northam’s old railway station remains in such good condition that it’s easy to imagine it as it was from its earliest days in 1900. The station formed part of the Eastern Goldfields Railway which, at...

Address:

425 Fitzgerald St
Northam WA 6401
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9621 1739

Email:

genoefa@westnet.com.au

Open Hours

7 days 11am - 3pm

Return to collection to read more

Northam Heritage Centre: Northam and Districts Historical Society and Northam Army Camp Heritage Association Overview

Migrant Trunk

Fleeing war-ravaged Europe with dreams of a brighter future

As Europeans battled the fallout of World War II in their homelands, many fled the continent with dreams of a brighter future. Of the millions who left, some 30,000 landed at Fremantle between 1945...

Cup and Saucer

Fancy a cuppa?

This cup and saucer set bear the markings of the Western Australian Government Railways, which traded as Westrail from 1975. They formed part of the crockery served aboard train carriages ferrying...