In every centre across Australia where a railway museum exists and the Footplate Padre is travelling nearby on Mission, he will inevitably make a detour to visit, introduce himself to the museum volunteers and personnel.
This is precisely what occurred in Perth when M V Tronson called in and introduced himself and the Museum volunteers were delighted that he made himself known and graciously showed him around.
As an author of sixteen books on railways, Footplate Padre Mark Tronson is conversant with things railways and so was able to converse knowledgeably with the personnel.
M V Tronson was given a personal tour of the carriage that was designed and constructed for Royal visits which boasts the Royal Coat of Arms on the carriage outside panels.
The story associated with this carriage was that the 'Royal Bath' inside the carriage was so large there was no way it could have been eased in through a door.
In fact, the carriage was built around the 'Royal Bath' and the last Royal personage to have used this Royal carriage was the late Queen Mother, who travelled from Perth to Bunbury, but no one was able to report whether the bath was actually ever put to use.
The carriage's livery was the traditional Western Australian Government Railways dark green and white trim and the carriage is a highlight of the Railway Museum for visitors and tourists alike.
There were numerous Western Australian Government Railway carriages on display at the railway museum. All were in the original dark green and white trim all of which formed the major passenger train fleets right through to the seventies.
These were Western Australian Government Railways trains that from Perth as the State's railway hub, ran south to Bunbury and Albany, north to Geraldton and east to Kalgoorlie and elsewhere throughout the southern areas of Western Australia.
In 1979 the Footplate Padre travelled by train from Sydney to Perth which by then had the Transcontinental and the Indian Pacific running on the recently laid standard gauge through Kalgoorlie to Perth, so he never had the opportunity to take the original sleeper carriages.
However, he did ride in these old green sitting carriages while in Perth in a suburban train which were in the process of being replaced with diesel rail motor passenger trains. These sitting carriages sported two designs, the open carriage with seating not unlike XPT sitting cars, and the compartment carriage design with seating of eight passengers in each compartment.
The Royal Carriage on the other hand was quite different, as it was open with large plush lounge chairs, tables and chairs, a complete palace of the iron road.