Eastern Goldfields Railway

Eastern Goldfields Railway

The Prospector at Kellerberrin with the Goldfields water pipeline in the foreground & the CBH grain receival point in the background
Overview
Termini Northam
Kalgoorlie
Operation
Owner Public Transport Authority
Operator(s) Brookfield Rail
Events
1 July 1894: opened Northam to Southern Cross 1 July 1896: opened Southern Cross to Boorabbin
1 January 1897: opened Boorabbin to Kalgoorlie
February 1966: Bellevue to Northam added gauge and changed route
1968: Northam to Kalgoorlie, added standard gauge, making it dual gauge and changed route
Technical
Line length 373 kilometres
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
dual gauge
Old gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)

The Eastern Goldfields Railway was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.[1]

History

Eastern Goldfields Railway
Legend
 Northam
 Grass Valley
 Meckering
 Cunderdin
 Tammin
 Bungulla
 Kellerberrin
 Doodlakine
 Hines Hill
 Merredin
 Booraan
 Burracoppin
 Carrabin
 Bodallin
 Moorine Rock
 Southern Cross
 Koolyanobbing
 Bonnie Vale
 Kalgoorlie

The Eastern Railway opened in stages from Perth to Northam in the 1890s, and the Eastern Goldfields Railway extended this line through semi-desert to the Eastern Goldfields.[2][3]

It opened in stages between 1894 and 1897.[4]

The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme pipeline was later constructed along the railway line. The chief engineer for both the railway and the pipeline was C. Y. O'Connor.

In October 1917, the Commonwealth Railways' standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta was completed through to Kalgoorlie, making it a break-of-gauge station.

Branches

At Kalgoorle lines branch off north to Malcolm and Leonora; and south to Esperance via the Esperance line. The Malcolm-Laverton branch was last used in 1957 and closed in 1960.[5][6][7]

Gauge conversion

As part of the Federal Government's program to build a standard gauge line across Australia, and the passing of the Railways (Standard Gauge) Construction Act 1961 work commenced on gauge converting the line to dual gauge with a new alignment further north of the existing line built between Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie.

The new alignment, as well as being shorter and more favourably graded, provided access for the iron ore deposits at Koolyanobbing, which were shipped by rail to Kwinana, near Perth, to supply Australian Iron and Steel's blast furnace.[4][8][9][10]

The first official standard gauge iron ore train from Koolyanobbing arrived at Kwinana on 10 July 1967. On 3 August 1968 the Koolyanobbing-Kalgoorlie section opened for freight trains and on 4 November 1968 the first through freight train from Port Pirie arrived in Perth.[11][12]

Upgrades

In November 2005, funding was announced to extend eight crossing loops to accommodate 1,800 metre long trains at Bodallin, Darrine, Wallaroo, Lake Julia, Grass Valley, Bungulla, Booraan and Seabrook, and replace the final 76 kilometres of timber sleepers with concrete sleepers.[13]

Services

Transwa's MerredinLink and Prospector services from Perth to Merredin and Kalgoorlie traverse the line[14] as does Great Southern Rail's Indian Pacific to Sydney. Other named trains to previously use the line were The Westland, The Kalgoorlie and the Trans-Australian.

Intrastate and interstate freight services are operated by Aurizon, Mineral Resources, Pacific National and SCT Logistics. CBH Group operate grain trains.

References

  1. ↑ Souvenir brochure 60th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the railway to Coolgardie 23 March 1896, [Coolgardie], 1956, retrieved 5 March 2012
  2. ↑ Searle, M. J (January 1983), "The Eastern and Eastern Goldfields Railways [Series of parts] Part 1: construction and opening", RIM: Western Australian Railways Institute Magazine, 80 (Jan 1983): 3–8, retrieved 5 March 2012
  3. ↑ Searle, M. J (February 1983), "The Eastern and Eastern Goldfields Railways [Series of parts] Part 2. - Constructions of extensions-", RIM: Western Australian Railways Institute Magazine, 80 (Feb 1983): 2–3, 5–6, retrieved 5 March 2012
  4. 1 2 Newland, Andrew; Quinlan, Howard (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 63, 67. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.
  5. ↑ "Railways (Cue-Big Bell and Other Railways) Discontinuance" (pdf). State Law Publisher. Perth, WA: Department of the Premier and Cabinet. 1960. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Station Master's House (fmr), Laverton". inHerit Our Heritage Places. Perth, WA: State Heritage Council. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Brookfield Rail Network Map Brookfield Rail
  8. ↑ Webb Report 1976 Australian Transport Research Forum
  9. ↑ History of Rail in Australia Department of Infrastructure & Regional Development
  10. ↑ Carpenter, Alan John (24 November 2005). "BHP Billiton (Termination of Agreements) Agreement Bill 2005". Hansard. Perth, WA: Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "Standard Gauge Railway Project Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR)" (pdf). Perth, WA: State Library of Western Australia. 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  12. ↑ Brady, Ian (June 1971). "A Brief History of Standard Gauge in Australia". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. Australian Railway Historical Society. XXII (404): 98–120.
  13. ↑ Western Australia to Receive Additional Australian Government Rail Funding Federal Minister for Transport 24 November 2005
  14. ↑ Timetables Transwa

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