The Railway Picnic – Bulla Bulling

RAILWAY EMPLOYEES ANNUAL  PICNIC.

The rendezvous for the above this year was Bulla Bulling, the historic place from which the navvies used to come. At Kalgoorlie a start was made with 12 carriages, loaded down to Plimsoll mark, and to the lively strains ,of a detachment of the Workers Band, the day’s fun commenced.
At Coolgardie three more carriages were requisitioned, and they, too, were speedily occupied. A second engine was attached or tied on behind, and Bulling was reached shortly behind time.

Bulla Bulling cannot by any cruelty to imagination be called a suitable spot for a picnic. There’s not enough shade, not enough grass, and nearly all the ladies said there were too many grubs; but a common man don’t worry much about insects. Why should he?

View on the grounds Railway Picnic Bulla Bulling, 1902                                                                          Western Argus Tuesday 29 September 1903, page 20

The sports committee got to work energetically, and made up a lot of time. The programe comprised foot-racing, bike-racing, tug-of-war, boys and girls races, single ladies and married ladies races, and enough other events to keep the ball rolling and the committee grafting till the whistle blew at 5 o’clock for the return trip. Then there was a rustling and a bustling, and many a mother was heard asking for Tommy and Billy and Kitty and Mary. The writer has reason to believe that most of the children were sorted out properly, and that each family got its own, but would not be surprised to hear that a few were left behind or taken to the wrong places.

The band played at intervals under the shade of a spreading Kurrajong tree, near which the dance-floor, carried bodily from the Rock Hotel, was very much in requisition. The bandsmen, in their beautiful silver and grey uniforms, were universally admired and much applauded for their playing during the day. Drinks were free (and plenty of them). One praiseworthy feature was that certain men, wishing to earn an honest penny at the “three-card-trick,” “Yankee-swat,” “thimble-and-marble,” and similar innocent games, were put off the train.

The whole outing was conducted with no hitch, and the pleasure hunters were all safely landed at their respective stations in good time, Kalgoorlie platform being reached at 8 p.m. The day was beautiful, and the railway workers and their wives and families can safely say that their annual holiday was well spent.

Decorated Engine Railway Picnic Bulla Bulling 1903                                       Western Argus Tuesday 29 September 1903, page 20