Crossing the vast, semi-arid Nullarbor Plain, The Trans-Australian Railway has a unique stop. The Wildflower Stop allowed passengers to admire blooms unique to the region while the train was inspected and serviced.

The stop was so popular that in 1931 railway cars were added to accommodate the hundreds of extra passengers buying tickets to Western Australia to study its unique wildflower season. 

A special brochure, containing a colour-plate was released by the railways and the Tourist Bureau to entice visitors to the golden west. These booklets were so popular in the east that urgent requests were made for further supply.

Remarkable specimens 

The extension of the railway to Kalgoorlie also meant that flowers grown along the various sections of the railway could be collected and used for exhibition. 

The initial exhibits, collected by railway employees were displayed to great acclaim in the windows of the Melbourne Tourist Bureau. Such were the size of the crowds that they blocked pedestrian traffic in the busy Melbourne CBD.

Due to the initial exhibition’s success, a second consignment of flowers was shipped to Melbourne for another display at the Tourist Bureau. Flowers were also displayed at Melbourne bookstore Robertson and Mullens, as well as in Gill and Searle’s Department Store window. 

Additional consignments were then sent to New South Wales to create a window display at David Jones. These exhibitions furthered the cause of the Trans-Australian Railway and West Australian tourism.

Preservation in ice 

Examples taken from the 5000 varieties of West Australian wildflowers were frozen into rectangular blocks of ice to make the journey by rail and sea to exhibitions overseas. In 1934, over 6 tonnes of wildflowers, preserved in ice were dispatched to the UK, with Selfridges agreeing to show the flowers in their windows. 

The flowers were collected by the many employees of the civil engineers branch of the Australian Railways. The Government Botanist, Mr. C.A. Gardener, lauded the collection of wildflowers as the best possible advertisement for Western Australia.

Later, when transported to America, the flowers were reported to have arrived in San Francisco in perfect condition, arousing widespread delight: 1934 'W.A. WILDFLOWERS', The Daily News, 31 August, p. 8. (LATE CITY). 

Closer to home, in Western Australia, the Spring wildflowers were labelled both astounding and beautiful. They were considered a truly representative collection – having been gathered from all parts of Western Australia by the permanent way gangs of the WA Railways Department.

The Wildflower exhibition at Kalgoorlie in 1952 saw attendance of 3000 adults and 2000 children. As well as advancing the reach of the Commonwealth Railways, the displays raised money for local hospitals and the inland mission.