Bob the Railway Dog: Ron examines the history of this icon of the Mid North region of South Australia
Previously on Postcards, we’ve caught up with Mary and Eldon Zimmermann - two lovers of all things Lilliputian. In their Peterborough workshop, this husband and wife team pursues their penchant for the pint-sized.
Here Eldon continues working on his labor of love - a scaled down version of the original Petersburg Railway Station - built long before the town's name was changed to Peterborough and it's heritage railway station was flattened in the name of progress.
And next door, Mary brings to life, the characters who once inhabited this mid-north town and it's historic transport hub. But there's one character she has a particular fondness for - a very mobile mutt who became a legend of the South AustraIian Railways.
Mary Eldon: “Bob the Dog came up with a group of dogs in 1885 to go rabbiting in Carrieton, but a local chap called Ferry took a liking to him and kept him. He kept him as a pet initially but then he started travelling on the railway engine and even when Mr Ferry stopped travelling on the trains the dog kept travelling.”
"Bob - The Railway Dog" certainly got around. It's said he traveled all over the country. This legend of the line became a favourite with the enginemen who eventually immortalised his travels in leather, with his collar now one of the more curious exhibits on show at Port Adelaide's National Railway Museum.
John Evans, National Railway Museum: “A few of the railway folk got together and had a collar made and inscribed so that in the future he wouldn't be considered or taken as a stray. The inscription says ‘Stop me not but let me jog for I am Bob the Drivers' Dog'.
“He often traveled up behind the driver in the coal tender. He traveled as far afield as Oodnadatta, Moonta, Coburn and Broken Hill on the old narrow gauge line up the Barrier Ranges, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and so forth.
“He basically jumped from train to train. He was very adept at travelling from one moving train to another. He was a celebrity and he died in august 1895.”
For a time Bob was pressed into service as a sheep dog for a mid-north farmer, who made the mistake of taking his kidnapped canine within eyesight of a country train station.
“One day the dog saw the railway station and the engine and thought well that's where I belong and back up on the cart and away he went again. He was the Littlest Hobo!”
A model of Bob the Railway Dog is on show at Meldonfield in Peterborough along with Mary and Eldon's other marvels in miniature. The workshop is open daily. Bob's legendary collar is on show at the Railway Museum at Lipson Street, Port Adelaide. It's open daily. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
National Railway Museum
Lipson Street South
Port Adelaide
$29 per family
Open daily from 10 am to 5pm
Meldonfield
Lloyd Street
Peterborough
Contact Eldon on 8651 2122Published 17th May 2009
