The Tramway Museum St Kilda.

The Tramway Museum St Kilda. St Kilda Road. Open Sundays: 12 Noon until 5 pm.

  https://www.trammuseumadelaide.com/ 

-Start transcript- 

  In 1954, the South Australian branch of the Australian Electric Traction Association was formed. The A.E.T.A advocated for the retention and expansion of electric transport systems.

 In 1957, the South Australian branch of the A.E.T.A. formed the SA Branch Australian Electric Transport Museum. Later they incorporated as the Australian Electric Transport Museum (SA) Inc.- now better known as the Tramway Museum at St. Kilda.

  In 1958, the site of the former St Kilda Primary School became the storage home of Trams No. 1, 111, 192 and 42. In July 1962 the museum opened as a static display. 

 In 1972, the Salisbury Council, via government grant, built the tram line from the museum to St Kilda Beach, with volunteers building the overhead system. The tramway was officially opened in March 1974, with Tram No.1 leading the procession, the same tram used to open the Adelaide tramway in 1909. The museum currently has 26 trams, 5 trolly buses, two-horse trams, a horsebox and lots of displays showcasing Adelaide’s tramway history! The museum is run entirely by dedicated volunteers. T

he Tramway Museum is located on St Kilda Road, St Kilda, on the way to the St Kilda Playground. The facility is wheelchair accessible.

 Trams leave the museum for St Kilda Playground every half hour. Your admission into the museum gives you unlimited tram rides for the day, with three different trams running consecutively every session. 

The museum is open every Sunday from 12 noon until 5pm.

 -end transcript.

 Information sourced from the Tramway Museum website.

The Haunted Barossa Junction Motel

 

In 2014, my paranormal investigation team 'Eidolon Paranormal' were invited to conduct a paranormal investigation at a remarkable location, The Barossa Junction Motel. The motel was somewhat of an icon on the road between Nuriootpa and Tanunda, with its train carriage hotel rooms, and train-themed restaurant. It also contained a large motor vehicle-related museum.

The hotel was the idea of John Gordon, who was also behind the Buffalo Family Restaurant in Glenelg. Gordon set up the location in conjunction with his good friend Bruce Hoffman, after their winery, Hoffman’s Wines were purchased by Peter Lehmann.

The site of the motel was originally the Barossa Drive-in Theatre. The screen from which was incorporated into one of the large halls inside the museum.

Gordon and Hoffman sold the location to Eric Parker in 2003, but due to ongoing overheads and lack of interest, the site was sold in 2014. Woolworths purchased the property to extend their Dorrien Estate Winery which sat alongside the property. This led to most of the contents, old trains, cars and other memorabilia being auctioned off and removed.

The Barossa Junction Hotel had long been rumoured to be haunted. Legend had it that in the train carriages the spirit of a girl had been seen. She was said to be a young teen who could be seen inside the carriages, or sometimes walking between them in the yard. No-one could identify whom she might be, but there was speculation she either died by falling off a carriage or drowning in the onsite swimming pool. Another train of thought (pun intended) was that she may have died on one of the train carriages before they were converted into hotel rooms at the Junction. Either way, there is no proof of her history or her ghostly presence.

 

 We investigated the site the night before the auction. We were granted access to every location inside the property and made the most of it by investigating every train, room and vehicle we came across.

 The swimming pool which was located inside a building was also rumoured to be haunted. We entered late in the night to find the pool virtually empty. The room looked as though it had not been used in some time as cracks were starting to appear with plants in them. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere, and with our night vision lights reflecting off the remaining water, it created a spooky and creepy effect. Even though we had heard this area might also be haunted, on this night, no one came forward.

We came up with absolutely nothing. Not a thing from a train carriage, the pool area, or the car museum! This isn’t entirely unusual in investigating the paranormal, but we were granted the privilege of investigating a truly iconic location in the Barossa Valley!

After the auction, Mr Parker moved what was left of the collection to his museum in Greenock, located in the old Perry’s Electrical site. It is not known if the alleged ghosts moved with him.

 

 

Allen Tiller ALIAtech, DipFamHist is Australia’s most recognised paranormal investigator,
eminent paranormal historian, and star of the international smash hit television show “Haunting: Australia”.
Allen is also the founder of Eidolon Paranormal, South Australian Paranormal and the author
of book and blog, “The Haunts of Adelaide: History, Mystery and the Paranormal”.
Allen was awarded the 2017 “Emerging South Australian Historian of The Year Award” as presented by The History Council of South Australia. Employed as “Historian in Residence”
in 2016/2017 with the Adelaide City Council Libraries and employed by the City of Port
Adelaide Enfield Council to write the popular, “Ghosts of the Port Self-Guided Walking Tour”

You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller
www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia
https://www.facebook.com/

First published in MEGAScene Issue 18 2019

© Allen Tiller

A Haunting at the National Railway Museum

 Located in Port Adelaide, The National Railway Museum offers a glimpse into South Australia’s railway past. Within its many sheds sit old trains from all eras of our railway past, including Steam Trains, Diesel Engines, old Red Hens and even the old Callington Railway Station, but did you know, there are also claims the site is haunted?

The National Railway Museum started originally on Railway Terrace, Mile End in 1963 and was run entirely by volunteers, who not only restored and preserved old trains but wrote and published books about them too.
 In 1988 the volunteers sought a new site where their trains could be kept undercover to keep them out of the weather, and in pristine condition. After a Government grant and help from the History Trust of SA, a new site was purchased.

 The Port Dock Station Railway Museum was opened in 1988. In 2001 a new facility was opened within the existing one that featured exhibits from the Australian National Railways and the Commonwealth Railways. With the new exhibit came a new name for the site, one that remains today “The National Railway Museum Port Adelaide”.

The original railway station stood where the Port Adelaide Police Station now sits and was opened in 1856. This was one of the first lines in South Australia and the mainline to the ports. The station closed in 1981, but the goods sheds and railway yards remained, which is now the site of the museum.
 Within the complex are a series of sheds containing many displays of railway related items, including a miniature train set and old steam train carriages one can walkthrough. There is also the original 1878 Port Dock Station goods shed on the eastern side of the complex, and the old Callington booking office, which was built in 1951 in the town of Callington, near Murray Bridge. The building was taken from Callington in 1991 and re-erected in Port Adelaide in 1994.
 The museum also has in its collection an original coffin trolley used until 1982 the Adelaide Railway Station to transport coffins by hand through the terminal.

 My father worked in the railways, as did both his parents, so trains were a big part of my life growing up. My wife and I, and my Mother-In-Law had investigated the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre in 2011, and had some great experiences, so when we were invited to join Lyon Paranormal, Paranormal Spectrum and The Ghosts Within to investigate the National Railway Museum for paranormal activity, my whole team made themselves available for the opportunity!

 There had been ongoing reports of spooky thing happening at the site, including reports of a shadow person, and of phones ringing when they are not plugged into the wall.
 It is thought that one of the trains, the “Y 12” may, in fact, be the very train that was involved in Australia’s first terror attack, at Silverton, near Broken Hill. On New Year’s Day 1915, two Turkish men opened fire into the carriages this locomotive which was hauling, a picnic train, killing a number of passengers. It is believed by some parties that the spirits of those deceased may linger near the locomotive.
 Other deaths onsite include railway workers killed while working in the rail yard shunting trains. There is also an unconfirmed story of a man who fell asleep on the rails whilst very drunk and was run over by a train.

 

We investigated as many carriages and trains as we could enter on the night, but for us, it seemed the spirits did not want to communicate. However, Paranormal Spectrum’s investigators did manage to collect an EVP during their sessions.

The National Railway Museum Port Adelaide is located at 76 Lipson Street Port Adelaide – you can find more information about exhibits and the train via their website at: http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/

 

Allen Tiller is the Australian star of the international hit television show “Haunting: Australia” and author of “The Haunts of Adelaide – History, Mystery and the Paranormal” as well as being a historian, lecturer, poet, musician, Tour Guide, blogger and podcaster. Allen is also a volunteer for many different associations and groups.

You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller

www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia

https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide

First published in MEGAscene issue 6 2016

© Allen Tiller

Ghost Trains: Saddleworth, Hawker, Marree.

Saddleworth Ghost Train:

Many years ago, the Saddleworth train station was a busy railway facility in the mid-north of South Australia. A transport hub for wheat and other grain to travel by train interstate, or to Port for international shipments.

As time went by, the station saw less and trains stopped, and eventually, the station became abandoned. It stood abandoned for many many years, visited only by graffiti vandals, Trainspotters...and a resident ghost.

Many people reported seeing strange glowing lights coming from the old station. They seemed to emanate from within the building, but upon closer inspection by witnesses, they would vanish into thin air. With no living soul present, in the building upon inspection, one has to wonder what the lights were – unfortunately, in 2011, the local government took it upon themselves to allow the demolition of the train station... the station is now a memory, as are its ghosts.

Hawker Ghost Train: 

At Hawker, about 365 km north of Adelaide, people report hearing the blare of an old train horn, and the clicking of tracks as an invisible train flies by...the really strange thing is, the tracks were pulled up years ago!

Marree Train Station Ghost: 

Further north (over 600kms from Adelaide ) sits the Marree Train Station. The small town, home to Australia's first Mosque, is very remote and has a population of fewer than 60 people. The train station, long abandoned, features old trains, husks of their former selves.

It has long been reported that the train station is haunted, with people hearing phantom footsteps that shadow their own. A man, possibly a train driver, is sometimes seen in one of the old trains, that sit rusting in the harsh environment.

Have you visited any of these locations and seen a ghost...please visit us on Facebook and tell us your story!

https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide
© 2015 - Allen Tiller