The ''Spirit of the West'' was a restaurant train operated by

South Spur Rail Services South Spur Rail Services was a Western Australian owned railway company that provides terminal operations and short haul rail services. In February 2006, it purchased Silverton Rail. In March 2007, it was sold to Coote Industrial, then in Ma ...

out of

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

from 2002 until 2008.

History

In 2001 the Midland Railway Company was formed by the

(SSRS), taking the name of the former Western Australian operator. On 18 October 2002 it commenced operating under the ''Spirit of the West'' brand with two services; the ''City to Port Indulgence'' and ''The Avon Experience''. The ''City to Port Indulgence'' operated on Friday and Saturday evenings as a dinner service from

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

via the Eastern Railway to Woodbridge before proceeding south via the Kwinana line to

Canning Vale Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...

and then north over the

Fremantle line The Fremantle line is a suburban railway and service in Western Australia that connects the central business district (CBD) of Perth with Fremantle. History The railway on which the service runs opened on 1 March 1881 as the first suburban rai ...

to Leighton. It ceased in 2005 after being vandalised on the Forrestfield to Cockburn section. ''The Avon Experience'' operated as a Sunday lunch service from East Perth via the Eastern Railway to West Toodyay. The service received two Gold Plate awards for Best Tourist Restaurant. It last ran on 31 May 2008.

Rolling stock

The service commenced with SSRS' K205 hauling a power van and three restored carriages hired from

Rail Heritage WA Rail Heritage WA is the local trading name of the Australian Railway Historical Society (Western Australian Division) Inc. History The Western Australian branch of the Australian Railway Historical Society was formed in February 1959. In the 19 ...

that had been restored for the Centenary of the Federation of Australia. A further three carriages were acquired between 2003 and 2005. All carriages had been built for the

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975. O ...

to operate on the '' Trans-Australian Express''. The SSRS owned stock was painted in a maroon and cream livery, the hired Rail Heritage WA stock brown and cream. All were of and were stabled at the

Midland Railway Workshops The Midland Railway Workshops in Midland, Western Australia, were the main workshops for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) for over 80 years. History The first railway workshops in Western Australia were located at Fremantle a ...

. The consist of the train usually involved a combination of the following: Due to the occasional motive power shortage, the ''Spirit of the West'' was sometimes hauled by another locomotive. Such rare workings included

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Federal, New South Wales and Victorian Governments) were combined with Freig ...

's Kewdale Freight Terminal shunter 8112, Specialised Container Transport's Forrestfield shunter H5, and other locomotives from the South Spur Rail fleet: D48, D49, K206, K210, KA212."News from Around the State" ''The Westland'' issue 234 July 2004 page 9 D48 was painted similarly to K205.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Spirit of the West website
Named passenger trains of Western Australia Railway services introduced in 2002 Railway services discontinued in 2008 Restaurants in Western Australia 2002 establishments in Australia 2008 disestablishments in Australia Discontinued railway services in Australia