Railways in the development of Western Australia

The story of Western Australia's development cannot be told without realising the role that railways have played. There is much to tell about our state's railway history and we have a wealth of information available on this site, and at the Railway Museum.
For materials relating to the Australian National Curriculum, or background material, or school visits - we are here to help.

WA railways and the National Curriculum

The Railway Museum at Bassendean is regularly visited by school groups. Our museum is a valuable supplement to studies of Society and Environment, and Technology and Enterprise.
Please contact us to discuss a visit:

Thanks to recent assistance from Lotterywest, we now have professionally prepared materials relating to the new National Curriculum. These materials can assist teachers with study plans, and show how a visti to the Railway Museum is a vital follow-up to that.

Upper primary school

(years 5/6/7) studies - see here for materials

We also have questionnaire sheets prepared in conjunction with the National Curriculum materials to maximise benefit from a visit to the Railway Museum. Quiz One here and Quiz Two here.

For younger primary school

(years 2/3) - professionally prepared materials will be available by second semester 2013.

Excursion management plan

A draft Excursion Management Plan has been prepared for primary school visits, please feel free to use or adapt.

Read the PDF file here or download the Word DOC file here.

Secondary and tertiary students

A visit to the Railway Museum can be very informative in history, economics, trade and engineering students. We don't have specific materials here - the range would be too wide - but we will always try to help.
The displays we already have may help with your questions, please do ask: .

Railways in Western Australia

Would you like to know more about the role of railways in Western Australia's foundation, or the role they play now? Here are some background materials:

Map of WA railways in 1938 (the maximum extent before motor cars!). This map is also for sale in our shop as a wall poster.

How railways have changed through WA's history - a series of annotated maps here.

Public Transport Authority site with information on government railways in WA, particularly the growing role of electric rail in Perth's urban transport.

Look at our video (left) explaining how a steam locomotive works. Although the steam locomotive is now only found on tourist railways, it was the major tool for developing Western Australia's wheat and mining industries.

Group visits in school holidays

We also welcome school or other young groups in school holidays. We have less formal materials to help you entertain your group - ask our volunteers on site for quiz sheets for different age groups, or colouring-in sheets for the very young, for example. If you are bringing a group by bus, let us know in advance so we can open the gates for your bus to drive in.

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