Riding the Coffee Pot in the Flinders
Some railway vehicles are famous because they were once the most powerful of their kind. Others are famous because they were fast. A select few become legends because they are delightfully unconventional.
If you’ve ever admired the famous Galloping Geese of Colorado’s narrow-gauge railways, you’ll immediately understand the appeal of South Australia’s Coffee Pot. Although separated by an ocean and built for entirely different railways, both vehicles represent the same railway philosophy: how do we move a small number of passengers economically without running a full train? The result in each case was a quirky hybrid vehicle that look unlike anything else on rails.
The Coffee Pot
Officially Steam Motor Coach No. 1 entered service in 1906 on the South Australian Railway and it still looks like it escaped from a children’s storybook. It is actually a purpose-built steam locomotive and passenger carriage built as a single unit, where everything needed for passenger service is contained within one vehicle. Historically, it was used extensively on services between Quorn and Hawker, and lives on the line it served. Like the Galloping Goose, the Coffee Pot is one of a kind.
What Is Included on a Coffee Pot Day?
One aspect that surprises many visitors is that today’s Coffee Pot operation is not simply a train ride. Running only four times a year, it is a unique heritage experience open to a handful of people annually. With that in mind, I was quite lucky that a close friend had an extra ticket and invited me along.
The train carries a maximum of 22 passengers, making it one of the most exclusive railway journeys in Australia. Passengers depart Quorn at noon and spend approximately four and a half hours aboard.
The ticket currently includes:
- Welcome champagne on arrival
- Canapés before departure
- Return travel aboard the Coffee Pot through the Pichi Richi Pass
- A fully catered three-course lunch with drinks
- Flybys… We had three. In the middle of nowhere, we were invited to detrain, and the Coffee Pot would back up to the horizon, presenting movie and photo opportunities that would not be possible onboard.
- Optional guided tour of the AG Williams Maintenance and Restoration Workshop upon return to Quorn. We had about two hours in the workshop, and we were invited to continue the ride on the train from the station into the workshop.
As you can tell, the Coffee Pot experience is designed as a premium event. The fare reflects that, as does the level of hospitality. The current fare is $320 AUD ($225 USD, £169 GBP, Gs1,387,878) per passenger. As you can see, depending on your exchange rate, you might expect to see a millionaire on board. @Korm 
A Journey Through Living Railway History
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Coffee Pot is not its age. Many preserved locomotives are older. It is that the vehicle is still performing the task on the same line for which it was designed more than a century ago.
…And much like the Galloping Goose in Colorado, the Coffee Pot proves that some of the most beloved railway vehicles are not the biggest or the fastest. They’re simply the ones with the most personality.
I’ll be posting some pictures soon.
