H Class 0-6-0 Locomotive
In 1889 two small 0-6-0 tank engines arrived in Western Australia from Nielson & Co. of Glasgow in Scotland. They were classified H & were numbered 17 & 18. H.17 went to Bunbury & was stored, while H.18 entered service on 6 July, 1889 on the Eastern Railway. By the time the Bunbury to Boyanup Railway was opened on 17 March, 1891, H.18 was also in Bunbury, & H.17 had been renumbered H.22
By 1895 H.18 was back in Fremantle, working on the construction of the Fremantle Harbour South Mole, completed in 1897. About 1903 it was hired to the Goldfields Water Supply Administration for use on the Mundaring Wier line, & this administration purchased the loco outright on 17 September, 1904. However, it was found that the Mundaring Wier line was being operated in breach of the Government Railways Act, so it was taken over by the WAGR on 15 September, 1909, along with H.18 & the rolling stock.
In November, 1911 H.18 was sold to the WA Public Works Department for shunting on the North Quay at Fremantle Harbour, & later at Esperance. Around 1926 it found itself back at Bunbury again working on the breakwater construction, then shunting on the jetty. By July, 1961 the little engine was out of use & in storage at Bunbury Loco Depot, being presented to the ARHS in July, 1962. It stayed at Bunbury till the Rail Transport Museum development was under way & it arrived at Bassendean in 1971.