1908
Twelve tons of rabbits
Twelve tons of rabbits. That was a load leaving Bungendore station in 1908, according to the National Library’s description of this photograph. Its catalogue calls it the first rail shipment.1, 2
It’s a fairly different picture of Bungendore from the one you get driving through today. The railway had opened on 4 March 1885, and the yards handled much more than passengers. Stockyards followed in 1887; goods traffic continued until 1989.1, 2
A photograph like this leaves plenty of questions. Who supplied the rabbits? Where was this particular shipment heading? And whose families depended on that trade? The catalogue gives us the year and the weight, but not those names.1, 2
Did anyone in your family trap rabbits around Bungendore, or work at the railway? If you’ve got a name, an old photo or a story passed down, we’d love to add it to the picture.1, 2