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Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 History  





2 Branches  





3 Gauge conversion  





4 Upgrades  





5 Services  





6 References  





7 Further reading  














Eastern Goldfields Railway






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Eastern Goldfields Railway
The ProspectoratKellerberrin with the Goldfields water pipeline in the foreground & the CBH grain receival point in the background
Overview
OwnerPublic Transport Authority
Termini
  • Kalgoorlie
  • Service
    Operator(s)Arc Infrastructure
    History
    1 July 1894: opened NorthamtoSouthern Cross1 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, replaced narrow gauge with standard gauge and changed route
    Technical
    Line length373 kilometres
    Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
    1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
    dual gauge
    Old gauge3 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 GoldfieldsatCoolgardie and Kalgoorlie.[1]

    It is part of the interstate standard gauge railway between Perth and the rest of Australia.

    History[edit]

    Eastern Goldfields Railway

    Northam
    old

    Northam
    new

    Northam-Goomalling railway

    Seabrook

    Grass Valley

    Meckering

    Waeel

    Cunderdin

    Wyola

    Livesey Crossing

    Tammin

    Bungulla

    Kellerberrin

    Woolundra

    Doodlakine

    Hines Hill

    Bruce Rock-Merredin railway

    West Merredin

    Merredin-Wyalkatchem railway

    Merredin

    Narrogin-Kondinin-Merredin railway

    Booraan

    Burracoppin

    Carrabin

    Bodallin

    Nulla Nulla

    Moorine Rock

    Southern Cross-Wyalkatchem railway

    Southern Cross

    Lake Julia

    Koolyanobbing

    Koolyanobbing East

    Wallaroo

    Bonnie Vale

    West Kalgoorlie

    Kalgoorlie

    Leonora Branch Line

    The Eastern Railway opened in stages from PerthtoNortham 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[edit]

    At Kalgoorlie, 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.[7][8][9]

    Gauge conversion[edit]

    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.[when?] From Northam to Southern Cross, the railway was also realigned to reduce the number of road crossings, increase the minimum radius of curvature and lower the ruling gradient to 1:150.

    The new alignment, as well as being generally straighter and more favourably graded, provided access to 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][10][11][12]

    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.[13][14]

    Upgrades[edit]

    In November 2005, funding was announced to extend eight crossing loops to accommodate 1,800-metre-long (5,900 ft) trains at Bodallin, Darrine, Wallaroo, Lake Julia, Grass Valley, Bungulla, Booraan and Seabrook, and replace the final 76 kilometres (47 mi) of timber sleepers with concrete sleepers.[15]

    Services[edit]

    Transwa's MerredinLink and Prospector services from PerthtoMerredin and Kalgoorlie traverse the line[16] as does Journey Beyond's Indian PacifictoSydney. 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[edit]

    1. ^ Souvenir brochure 60th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the railway to Coolgardie 23 March 1896, [Coolgardie], 1956, retrieved 5 March 2012
  • ^ 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
  • ^ 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
  • ^ a b Newland, Andrew; Quinlan, Howard (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 – 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 63, 67. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.
  • ^ Referred to as the 'Yilgarn railway' "The Northam-Yilgarn Railway". Central Districts Advertiser and Agriculture and Mining Journal. Vol. 1, no. 21. Western Australia. 14 April 1894. p. 3. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  • ^ "BOORABBIN". Western Mail. Vol. XII, no. 576. Western Australia. 8 January 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  • ^ "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.
  • ^ "Station Master's House (fmr), Laverton". inHerit Our Heritage Places. Perth, WA: State Heritage Council. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  • ^ Brookfield Rail Network Map Brookfield Rail
  • ^ Webb Report 1976 Australian Transport Research Forum
  • ^ History of Rail in Australia Department of Infrastructure & Regional Development
  • ^ 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.
  • ^ "Standard Gauge Railway Project Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR)" (PDF). Perth, WA: State Library of Western Australia. 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  • ^ Brady, Ian (June 1971). "A Brief History of Standard Gauge in Australia". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. XXII (404). Australian Railway Historical Society: 98–120.
  • ^ Western Australia to Receive Additional Australian Government Rail Funding Federal Minister for Transport 24 November 2005
  • ^ Timetables Archived 2 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine Transwa
  • Further reading[edit]


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Goldfields_Railway&oldid=1230644605"

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