Railways and Tramways of Australia

4-6-2 steam locomotive P508, Bassendean Railway Museum, Western Australia, 11 October 2009.

Bassendean Railway Museum

David Matheson

 25 February 2025

Bassendean Railway Museum has a collection of locomotives and rolling stock, mostly from the former Western Australian Government Railways. It also has exhibits from private railways within Western Australia. Railway artefacts and photographs are on display. It is open on Wednesdays and Sundays, and is located approximately 10 km north-east of Perth.

Some exhibits of particular interest at Bassendean Railway Museum are:

• Western Australian Government Railways 1881 0-6-0 steam locomotive Katie. Two locomotives were ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company to operate the first railway in Perth, which opened from Guildford to Fremantle in 1881. They were built at Newcastle-on-Tyne in England and arrived in Fremantle by ship. During their first year of service they required repairs to correct poor workmanship during their construction, and to fit fuel bunkers to store firewood. In 1885 they were designated as the C Class. From 1890 they were relegated to shunting and light duties at Perth and Fremantle. C1 was sold in 1899 to Westralia Jarrah Forests Ltd, which later became part of Millars’ Karri and Jarrah Company. In 1906 it was rebuilt and given the name Kitty, but this became Katie the following year. It continued in service until 1940. After many years of storage, it was donated to Western Australian Government Railways in 1956 and placed on public display. Katie is the oldest locomotive in the collection.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1880 A Class 2-6-0 steam locomotive A11. This engine was built by Beyer Peacock and Company in England and imported to Western Australia in 1885. Over its working life A11 was based at Bunbury, Geraldton, Northam, Fremantle and Kalgoorlie, and also operated briefly on the isolated Port Hedland to Marble Bar railway. It was withdrawn from service on 2 January 1955 and was on display at Perth Zoo until 1969 when it became a museum exhibit.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1903 Es Class 4-6-2 steam locomotive 308. The E Class express passenger locomotives commenced service in 1902 and commenced operating between Perth and Kalgoorlie. A total of 65 engines were in service by 1912. From 1924 they were superheated and reclassified as Es Class. No. 308 entered service on 23 February 1903 and withdrawn on 28 July 1960 after travelling approximately 1.25 million miles (2 million km) in operation.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1913 Fs Class 4-8-0 steam locomotive 460. Fs460 commenced service on 19 July 1913 as F407. The F Class were heavy freight engines that began operating on Western Australia’s main lines. In 1937 No. 460 was superheated and reclassified as an Fs Class member and then in 1949 it was renumbered Fs460. Following the Second World War the Fs engines were displaced from mainline working by the larger S and V Classes. Fs460 last saw service as a shunting engine at Collie before being withdrawn on 10 August 1971.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1925 P Class 4-6-2 steam locomotive 508. The P Class express passenger locomotives were introduced in 1924 to replace older engines that were then hauling these trains, with a total of 25 entering service. Following the Second World War they themselves were replaced by newer locomotives on express passenger trains, and during the 1960s the P Class were relegated to freight train service. No. 508 entered service as P448, was renumbered P508 in 1947 and withdrawn in 1969.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1947 S Class 4-8-2 steam locomotive 549. Designed and built in Western Australia, the first three S Class engines emerged from Perth’s Midland Workshops in 1943, with a further seven following the Second World War. Designed for mixed traffic, the S Class locomotives were larger than other engines then in use. S549 Greenmount commenced service on 9 October 1947 and remained in service until the end of regular steam services in Western Australia, working the state’s final timetabled mainline train to be steam-hauled from Picton to Collie on 24 December 1971.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1897 R Class 4-4-0 steam locomotive 174. A total of 24 R Class locomotives were built by Dübs and Company in Glasgow, with all entering service between 1897 and 1899. They were used for hauling the major express passenger trains in the state until displaced by new engines. Most were converted from their original 4-4-0 wheel arrangement to 4-4-2, with the addition of an additional carrying axle creating a lighter axle load that enabled them to operate on lighter branch lines. No. 174 was one of the converted engines but it was later re-converted to its original 4-4-0 wheel arrangement. In March 1907 it was called upon to haul a special train from Northam to Southern Cross: an Italian miner Modesto Varischetti had become trapped in a flooded mine at Bonnie Vale and the train carried divers and rescue equipment. Varischetti was trapped in an air pocket for nine days before he was safely rescued. No. 154 was written off on 29 May 1953 and was on display at Midland from 1956 until 2011 when it was moved to the Railway Museum at Bassendean.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1952 W Class 4-8-2 steam locomotive 953. Built by Beyer Peacock and Company in England, the first of 60 members of the W Class entered service in 1951. Designed to burn Collie coal, they featured a self-cleaning smokebox, a self-emptying ashpan and SKF roller bearing axle boxes. They were used in a range of duties, including fast passenger trains and branch line goods services. W953 entered service on 21 March 1952 and operated in different parts of Western Australia. It was condemned on 14 August 1972 but entered the Bassendean Railway Museum on 2 December that year.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1956 V Class 2-8-2 steam locomotive 1220. The V Class were the last steam locomotives to be purchased by the Western Australian Government Railways and the final member of the class, V1224, was the last steam new steam locomotive to commence working in the state. Although designed and built by Beyer Peacock and Company, construction work was subcontracted Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns. They were obtained for hauling coal trains from mines in the Collie area to Perth and Fremantle, but their service was later extended to Albany and other locations. V1220 commenced service on 25 June 1956 and was withdrawn in 1971, but operated a ‘Farwell to Steam’ tour from Brunswick Junction to Collie on 25 June 1972.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1953 Y Class Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotive 1101. The Y Class locomotives were one of the earliest diesels to be used in Western Australia, with class leader Y1101 entering service on 28 October 1953, only two weeks after Z1151, the first diesel locomotive in service with Western Australian Government Railways. Built by British Thomson-Houston in Rugby, England, they were used for shunting but also saw some branch line service.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1954 X Class 2-Do-2 diesel-electric locomotive 1001 Yalagonga. Western Australia was the last state in Australia to introduce mainline diesel locomotives to its government railways. Museum exhibit X1001 Yalagonga was the first to enter service when it commenced running on 8 March 1954. The X Class featured an unusual 2-Do-2 wheel arrangement, which provided eight driving wheels on a rigid frame in the middle and a four-wheel non-driving bogie at each end. They were built in England and featured 1105 hp (824 kW) Crossley engines. On 4 May 1954 units X1001 and X1002 worked the first diesel-hauled train from Perth to Kalgoorlie, completing the journey almost four hours faster than the time allocated for steam-hauled trains. The use of diesels in remote areas of the state was a great advantage over steam locomotives, which required stops for coal and water. X1001 made its last run in regular service on 28 March 1983.

• Mount Newman Mining Company 1978 M636 Class Co-Co diesel electric locomotive 5499. The establishment of large iron ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region in the 1960s lead to the construction of heavy-haul railways to transport the ore from mines to ports. The Mount Newman Mining Company built a railway from its mine at Mount Whaleback to Port Hedland. No. 5499 is a M636 Class locomotive built by Commonwealth Engineering at Granville in Sydney, and commenced service in 1978. After its withdrawal from service it was donated to the Torres Strait Islander people to honour them for their work in constructing the Mount Newman Railway line. The Torres Strait Islander people agreed for it to be put on display at the Bassendean Railway Museum.

• State Electricity Commission 1924 Bo-Bo electric locomotive SEC1. Although suburban electric train services did not commence in Perth until 1991, an industrial electric railway operated at East Perth Power Station from 1924. SEC1 was used for shunting wagons from the main railway line into the power station. Built by the Metropolitan Vickers Company of Manchester, England, its four 150-horsepower (112-kW) motors were powered by 600 volts DC collected from overhead wiring. The power station as converted to oil-firing in 1969, making SEC1 redundant.

• Western Australian Government Railways 1950 ADF Class diesel-electric railcar 495. A fleet of new diesel railcars commenced service in 1949 for service on country branch lines. All were named after wildflowers found in Western Australia. ADF495 entered service on 24 June 1950 and was the last of its type to commence running. In the 1960s it was one of three that were refurbished for use on the Bunbury Belle and The Shopper services between Perth and Bunbury. It was withdrawn from service in 1975.

• Western Australian Government Railways Inspection Car No. AL4. This carriage was built as a 1st Class Sleeper No. AQ413 in 1918 by the Westralia Ironworks, North Fremantle, but rebuilt into a Vice Regal Sleeper No. AN413 in June 1920, being used by the Prince of Wales in his tour that year. On 5 July 1920 the carriage derailed and tipped onto its side while carrying the Prince between Pemberton and Bridgetown in south-west Western Australia. The prince was uninjured. In 1958 it was rebuilt as an inspection car and renumbered AL4. It was presented to the Bassendean Railway Museum in 1993.

References

Gray, B, Guide to the collection: the railway museum Western Australia¸ Rail Heritage WA, Perth, 2010.

Gunzburg, A, WAGR locomotives: 1940–1968, Australian Railway Historical Society, W.A. Division, Perth, 1968.

Oberg, L, Locomotives of Australia: 1854 to 2007, 5th edn, Rosenberg, Sydney, 2010.

Australian Steam–Preserved Steam Locomotives Down Under <www.australiansteam.com>.

Rail Heritage WA <www.railheritagewa.org.au>.