Yorky Coffee Carriage up for grabs

It's a testament to country ingenuity and an icon of the town, and it's up for grabs.

Yorky's restaurant operates out of a couple of rail carriages on the banks of the Avon River.

The rail compartments lend the place a quirky, old-worldly atmosphere, but they're not just for show.

"It's on a floodplain - when the river comes up the whole lot goes underwater," owner Jenny York said.

"So we thought we could put a railway down and when it floods put it on the back of the tractor and pull it up the hill."

Michael and Jenny York have run the place for almost 19 years and have moved it about nine times.

"Our first flood we left it too late," Mrs York, 64, said.

"Mike was about waist deep trying to get things sorted, hooking it up on the tractor, there was a big York gum and the lowest limbs were in the way and about two in the morning he had the chainsaw going trying to get it clear. People asked 'what was that chainsaw at 2am', 'oh, that was us'."

The eatery started life as an addendum to an archery and canoeing park, which never gained much traction.

But despite it's slightly out of the way location, the restaurant side of things took off, evolving from a menu of pies and pasties to juicy T-bone steaks and signature-meal fish and chips.

"Some people say, 'do you catch the fish out of the river' and sometimes we do lead them on and say 'yes'," Mrs York said.

Mike and Jenny have watched the town grow along with their clientele.

"I have seen kids growing up and now they're bringing down their own children," Mrs York said.

Elders York real estate agent Brian Woolcock said the bistro might suit buyers who "wanted a tree change more than a sea change". "It provides comfortably for the people who run it," he said.

Inquiries can be directed to Mr Woolcock on 0417 184 785.