10/09/2026
For almost a century and a half, Perth’s railway story has depended on places most passengers never saw. Away from the platforms were the workshops, running sheds and depots where generations of fitters, boilermakers, blacksmiths, turners, carpenters, electricians, cleaners and apprentices kept Western Australia moving.
The story reaches back to Fremantle. Temporary government railway workshops operated there from the late 1870s, and with the opening of the Fremantle–Guildford railway in 1881, workshop operations moved to Phillimore Street. By 1886, larger purpose-built workshops had been established near what is now Elder Place.
The railway network expanded enormously during the gold-boom years, and Fremantle became too cramped for the task ahead. During the remarkable era of C. Y. O'Connor and the development of Western Australia's great public works, the decision was made to establish the main railway workshops at Midland Junction, where there was space for something on an entirely different scale.
In 1904, the Midland Railway Workshops took over from Fremantle as the WAGR's principal workshop complex. Midland could build, repair and overhaul locomotives and rollingstock, but its importance went far beyond trains. It became one of Western Australia's great training grounds for skilled trades. At its peak, more than 3,200 people worked there, including almost 600 apprentices.
For 90 years, generations passed through those gates. Steam locomotives arrived for major overhauls, rollingstock was constructed and repaired, and during the Second World War the skills of the Midland workforce were also directed towards wartime production.
Closer to Perth was another essential part of the system — East Perth Loco. From around 1917, East Perth Locomotive Depot became the working home for many of Perth's steam engines. Unlike Midland's enormous heavy engineering operation, East Perth dealt with the daily needs of locomotives returning from service. Engines were coaled and watered, cleaned, inspected and repaired before being prepared for another day's work.
It must have been quite a sight: steam drifting above the sheds, coal smoke over East Perth, hot oil and machinery, and locomotives quietly simmering while crews prepared them for their next run.
Then dieselisation began changing the railway forever. By October 1968, Perth's suburban passenger network was completely diesel railcar operated. East Perth Loco closed around this period, and the old depot eventually disappeared as the precinct was redeveloped.
The new railway age was represented by Claisebrook, established beside Claisebrook station around 1968–69. Instead of maintaining a fleet dominated by steam locomotives, the emphasis increasingly moved towards railcars. Claisebrook continues that role today, with facilities for storage, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment and repairs.
Then came a day many railway families have never forgotten.
On 4 March 1994, the gates of the Midland Railway Workshops closed after 90 years. This was more than the loss of another industrial workplace. Generations of families had worked there, Midland itself had developed a powerful identity around the railway, and thousands of Western Australians had learned trades within those buildings. Those present have remembered the final day as deeply emotional.
Railway maintenance, of course, didn't end. The technology and the places simply changed.
A major new chapter began at Nowergup in 2004. About 40 kilometres north of Perth, the new railcar depot was built principally for the B-series electric trains. Completed in May 2004, the complex included inspection and maintenance buildings, cleaning facilities, a train wash and kilometres of railway track. It became an essential support facility for the Joondalup — now Yanchep — and Mandurah railway corridors.
Nowergup seen in the video of February 2022, is still evolving. A major 2020 expansion increased both maintenance and stabling capacity and included provision for the newer C-series trains.
Its future now takes Perth railway maintenance into another technological generation. From 2026, B and C-series trains require Automatic Train Control equipment as part of the High Capacity Signalling project. A purpose-built railcar modification facility at Nowergup will allow that equipment to be fitted, with access to the trains' roofs, underframes and interiors. Once that program is completed, the new shed is intended to continue serving as a rollingstock maintenance facility.
So there is a remarkable line connecting Fremantle, Midland, East Perth Loco, Claisebrook and Nowergup.
A railwayman working beneath a steam locomotive with an oil can a century ago would probably struggle to recognise the computerised systems and electronics of today's C-series trains. Yet the job at the heart of it all remains surprisingly familiar: inspect them, repair them, keep them safe and have them ready when Perth wakes up tomorrow.
When we remember Western Australia's railway history, perhaps we should look beyond the famous locomotives and stations. The railway was also built by thousands of people working behind workshop doors.
From the hammering of the old Fremantle and Midland workshops to the modern equipment of Nowergup, theirs is one continuous 145-year railway story.
Railways of Western Australia — remembering not only the trains, but the people who kept their wheels turning.
