The Old Railway Barracks.

Now that we have moved to the farm full time , we have  begun to join  a few of the local organizations and volunteer groups that do such a wonderful job on many projects  around the town.
One of these groups that we have joined is the  Rail heritage  group that have restored and  Maintain the old railway barracks.

It was originally constructed in about 1925  to service the steam train drivers  after they had competed a shift to eat and sleep and bathe  before beginning their return journey.
Binnaway was a thriving   rail town with approx 20  steam locomotives per week  through the town.
With this comes a need for repiar, servicing, water, housing, storage and accommodation.
With the  move to diesel locomotives, the need for all the associated infrstructure was no longer required and a lot of these buildings were either demolished or fell into total disrepair.

A few of the existing rail pieces have been used in the main street  and add a certain character to our quaint  little town, and these areas are maintained by   various volunteer groups.
The old pump house on the river (adjacent to the "Pumphouse Camping ground" used to  pump the water up to the  huge elevated holding tanks which are still located up near the Barracks building.

This wonderful team of volunteers, worked tirelessly and with  grants from various government and other sources and sheer determination  , stripped the asbestos  roof and replaced it with corrugated iron, stripped and refitted the kitchen, and repainted the entire building in heritage colour scheme.
After all this hard work they   produced really great   budget accomodation  that was desperately needed in the town.
There are now 11  air conditioned  rooms,each with twin single beds, a communal hallway,  shared bathrooms,that are wheelchair friendly.

There is also  a communal kitchen, where guests  enjoy a light breakfast ,communal dining and lounge area.

They also restored to working order the beautiful old  coal fired  cooker that  used to supply many a hot meal to weary  railway men.

This is a really dedicated group of people who have worked so hard to get this project up and running  and do  whatever they can to keep  this brilliant accommodation  open for   locals and travelers  alike who often  make use of  the facilities.
A recent grant plus a lot of fundraising saw a great new outdoor  barbeque  added to the  barracks for the convenience  of the guests.
One of our upcoming fundraising occasions  will be to supply  morning tea, refreshments and BBQ lunch at the  wonderful" Bilby Blooms"  native nursery  open day located  just out of Binnaway. on Saturday 26th September. The managers  of this great  business are also  dedicated volunteers  to our group. This day will help with much needed funds for the barracks.

So if you happen to be in the area, or passing through or looking for a night away,  please don't hesitate to support our  wonderful Binnaway Heritage Railway  Barracks as with out  all the  lovely people that stay in these  lovely old  restored heritage buildings, they will fade into history and that would be such a terrible shame.

With my blog and facebook page, I rarely recommend , advertise or push any product or service, but this is some thing I truly believe in and we  must maintain and support  these wonderful  NON PROFIT orginizations  and projects   and do what we can to  help.
Please keep us in mind if ever you are in the area,
So until we meet again,
Please take care,
Cheers,
Jane.