Bunbury’s Honeymoon Train

A Bunbury tradition for newlyweds heading off to Perth and beyond on their honeymoon upset locals in 1927.

The day after Valentine’s Day, the South Western Times reported the many complaints about the time-honoured tradition of train crews “making weird noises on the whistle” as the midnight train drew out of the station, with honeymooners on board.

The majority of wedding festivities in Bunbury terminated at the railway station somewhere about 11 pm when friends of the newlyweds indulged in the custom of affixing old boots to 'the carriage door of the reserved' compartment, and chalked the luggage with elaborate inscriptions informing the world at large that the “turtle doves in such and such a carriage were happily married”.

On many occasions the train crew joined in the excitement by making noises on the whistle as the Midnight Horror slowly left the station – “that is, of course, when the engine has a sufficient head of steam to enable it to whistle in addition to pulling its load”.

Apparently, when a railway worker was the groom, in addition to a whistle solo, “fog signals are brought into requisition and the subsequent detonations resemble a miniature bombardment”.

The correspondent noted that these festivities and signs of enjoyment are taken as part of the ceremony by those immediately concerned, but there are others who strongly object.

Due to the complaints a letter was sent to the station master who replied that the matter of the "unnecessary whistling of engines is receiving attention.”