Rail Heritage WA is the local trading name of the

Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foster an interest in the railways, and record and preserve many facets of railway operations. It had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT divis ...

(

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n Division) Inc.

History

The

n branch of the

was formed in February 1959. In the 1960s the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

placed its collection of historical items on loan, later donating the collection in 1992. In November 1974, a museum was opened on land donated by CSBP & Farmers. While its collection is primarily rolling stock that operated in Western Australia, it does have examples from other systems. It is the owner and manager of the Bassendean based

Western Australian Rail Transport Museum The Railway Museum, also known as the Rail Transport Museum, is situated in Bassendean, Western Australia. It is run by the Western Australian division of the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS), which is called Rail Heritage WA. In th ...

. It conducts annual RailFest's (some times designated "Steamfest" if locomotives are active) at the Bassendean museum. In the past the society conducted extensive rail tours - especially in the late 1960s in the final years of steam operation in Western Australia. It regularly produces materials that celebrate centenaries and other anniversaries for parts of the Western Australian railway network. It also has contracted consultants for submissions on railway heritage issues in Perth and Western Australia. The current President is Philippa Rogers, who took over the role from Brian Williams in early-2021.

Publications

It publishes books and pamphlets relative to Western Australian railway history. Recent publication by the organisation include: * Higham, Geoffrey (2007) ''Marble Bar to Mandurah, A History of passenger rail services in Western Australia'' * Gunzburg, Adrian (2008) ''Rails in the Bush'' * Gray, Bill (2010) ''Guide to the collection : The Railway Museum, Western Australia'' It has also published a regular magazine ''

The Westland ''The Westland'' was the name given in 1938 to the overnight train operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) with sitting and sleeping cars between Perth and Kalgoorlie, where it connected with the '' Trans-Australian'' se ...

'' (sometimes ''The Westland Express'' and ''The Westlander''.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Western Australian Rail Transport Museum
Rail Heritage WA
Rail transport preservation in Australia 1959 establishments in Australia Rail transport in Western Australia