This photo was one of seven recently donated to Fryer Library, each depicting railway related history from Queensland. The elephants belonged to Wirths' Circus, which travelled Australia by train from the earliest days of the railways in the 1880s up until the circus' demise in 1963.

Established in the late 1800s, the depression of the 1890s sent the company overseas for seven years, touring South Africa, South America, India and the United Kingdom. On the way back to Australia in 1900, Wirths' picked up the first of their many elephants.

In addition to providing entertainment in the ring, the elephants served a practical purpose. Up until the 1950s, they were also used for loading and unloading the circus wagons (pictured in the centre of this photo) from the train, and hauling them to the site where the circus would set up. The train shown at far right is likely the circus train; the carriage on the back of the train resembles photos held elsewhere showing the specially modified carriage the elephants travelled in.

This photo is believed to date from around 1917, and was taken somewhere on the North Coast Line. The matt surrounding the photo is labeled 'Acme Studio, Nambour', and a scribbled caption on the back reads 'Nambour (before 1913)', but the photo does not appear to show Nambour station. The State Library of New South Wales holds a similar photo, probably taken a few minutes after ours.

If you know anything further about this photo, or can identify where it was taken, we would love to hear from you. You can email fryer@library.uq.edu.au, or telephone 07 3365 6236.

Further information on the history of Wirths', the elephants and the circus trains can be found in Circus: the Australian story and Jim Fogarty presents the wonder of Wirths.

-- Penny Whiteway