ONE of WA’s stationary railway vehicle dining experiences was The Carriage, Fremantle, which opened on Fremantle’s Esplanade park in 1980.

ZA 9343, a goods brakevan with two second-class compartments, entered service for the Western Australian Government Railways on December 21, 1912. 

The first ZAs, built by the Oldbury Carriage & Wagon Co entered service in 1902 and a second batch was built by the Ashbury Railway Carriage Co, entering service in 1903. 

No 9343 was one of a batch built at the WAGR’s Midland workshops. 

The Carriage Cafe back on July 29, 1983, before the additions were made to the site. Photo by David Whiteford

This batch had the guard’s compartment in the centre and had no end platform, unlike the earlier batches with an end platform adjacent to the guard’s compartment.  

A 1940 re-numbering saw 9343 become ZA 196.

As the need for passenger brakevans diminished, withdrawals began in earnest in 1962. 

No 196 was converted to a workman’s van in 1968, becoming VW 5117 and was subsequently written off on April 13, 1978. 

It was purchased by Swiss-born town planner Ralph Hoger who removed some partitions to provide a kitchen and seating for 16. 

The Carriage Coffee Shop was opened in 1980, providing both seated and take-away service. 

• In its heyday the Carriage even scored its own postcard, courtesy of Auscape Prints. Photograph by Bernice Carter.

It was taken over by Western Resorts Ltd in 1986. This company operated the then-new and close by Esplanade Hotel.

An outdoor seating area with permanent cover was subsequently developed and the interior of 196 was then wholly used for food preparation and sales.

By 2008 the now-named Carriage Café was owned by Kel Smith but a City of Fremantle draft master plan for the Esplanade recommended moving the café to the edge of the park.

Majestic

It was set under some majestic Norfolk pines and Moreton Bay figs, features of the park, but the draft plan said that the café had damaged trees and grass and blocked residential views. 

Mr Smith commenced a campaign to prevent its move or closure and by March 2009 he had a petition signed by more than 10,000 people to present to Fremantle council. 

In April the council voted to save the café at its existing site but offered Mr Smith a lease of only five years instead of his desired 20-year term. 

However, in 2023 Mr Smith said Trying to run the business and deal with the tactics [of Fremantle Council] and stress over 11 years as owners of the Old Carriage Cafe took its toll on our heath and we had to sell it back in 2015.

New owner Zeynap Erturk then sold the business to David Furness in May 2017. 

Mr Furness faced an end of the lease in April 2019 and had been told it wouldn’t be renewed, with the council instead looking to build and lease a $700,000 restaurant to George Kailis’s new venture Park Burgers. 

But councillors had a change of heart and in October deferred a decision on ditching the carriage. 

“I must admit I’ve got a soft spot for the Carriage Cafe, but it’s clearly not in the right location,” said then-mayor Brad Pettitt. 

“I’m open to relocating it and keeping it part of Fremantle’s story.” 

However, the recommendation to approve the burger bar (actually Kailis had wanted a large tavern and outdoor music venue) also went through. 

The WA Planning Commission eventually ruled that was an inappropriate use of an A class reserve and the plan was cancelled.

In August 2021 the café was open only on Sunday, Monday and Tuesdays 7.30am – 3.30pm and was advertising for a new barista, but by the end of 2022 it had closed with Mr Furness claiming the council had placed restrictions on his trading hours. 

In 2023 the council fenced off the site.

In 2024, with no set plan for the site, Fremantle director of city business Matt Hammond confirmed that the Carriage Cafe had ceased trading and the owner, who had tried unsuccessfully to sell the business, was yet to proceed with removal from the council-managed park. 

“Retaining the empty building on a busy public reserve is not a desirable outcome for the city or the community,” Mr Hammond said.

After a further two years of the Fremantle City Council seeking removal of the Carriage, it arranged for its demolition and work began on June 29, 2026. 

The council will restore the area as part of The Esplanade parkland.

by DAVID WHITEFORD