Like most Australians, I buy nearly all my food from my local supermarket. I know that I ought to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and with the Queen Victoria and South Melbourne markets within walking distance I’ve really no excuse. Further afield, Victoria is home to numerous farmers’ markets and farm shops.
A few weeks ago Channel 9 TV’s Postcards programme featured a farm shop with a difference, Benton Rise Farm. What’s special? The site is now home to a 1955 W-class Melbourne tram and a 1910 ‘Red Rattler’ train carriage which houses the farm shop.
752 W-class trams were built by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) between 1923 and 1956, the majority at the MMTB’s Preston Workshops. Tram 1005 entered service April 1955, then was stored from 2000 to 2009 when it was returned to service, to be permanently withdrawn from service in 2015. In 2019 it was moved to its current site and is set up for children to play in.
Wooden-bodied Tait carriages, 623 in total, were built from 1910 in preparation for the electrification of Melbourne’s suburban railways. Initially they were steam hauled. Between 1917 and 1922 they were converted to run on electric power. They were progressively withdrawn from 1974, the longest-serving (including this one, 256M) lasting to 1984-85, a service life of around 70 years. They’d been banned from the City Loop from 1982 due to the fire hazard presented by their wooden bodies, so spent most of their final years on the Port Melbourne, St Kilda and Sandringham lines.
Both train and tram are – and I’m sure the owners won’t mind me saying this – in poor condition, badly needing some TLC. Hopefully they’ll get it before too long.
As for the farm, there’s a good café where I enjoyed banana bread and coffee. As said above, the railway carriage is home to the farm shop with lots of local produce on offer; I came away with locally-sourced honey and marmalade. Outside, children will enjoy seeing the sheep and goats, and there’s a playground and space to have a picnic.
Farm address: 150 Coolart Rd, Tuerong VIC 3915






