1881 to Hotham Valley Railway | Other
1881 to Hotham Valley Railway
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24.01.2022 Simon Barber said many of his most pleasant days trackside have been spent on the branch lines which span the Wheatbelt in Western Australia. On a spring day in September 1999, two friends and himself found themselves following this train into Quairading. P2005 was seen ambling along, approaching the end of its journey with a short grain train. Those with keen eyes will notice that the consist includes Worsley Alumina XF wagons. It was once a practice of Westrail to use m...ineral hoppers for grain transport when they were not needed for their original purpose. Sadly, train services on this branch were suspended in October 2013 following a derailment during the previous month. Substantial amounts of grain now need to be trucked to Cunderdin and York to be loaded onto rail. P2005 is now numbered P2505 in the Aurizon fleet. http://goo.gl/maps/6itRk Simon Barber 14th of September 2014
17.01.2022 Remember waiting for your train at Perth station and the chit chat and city noises were broken by a large diesel locomotive or two such as XB 1027 Marangal (Noble) beginning it's journey to Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Bunbury, Busselton, Albany and dozens of others towns serviced by The Western Australian Government Railways since the 1800s on trains named The Mullewa, The Albany Progress, The Kalgoorlie ,The Midlander, The Bunbury Belle, The Shopper, The Albany Weekender, The Wes...tlander and The Spirit of the West train. Today only the South West is serviced by The Australind leaving Perth station twice a day for Armadale Byford Mundijong Serpentine North Dandalup Pinjarra Waroona Yarloop Cookernup Harvey Brunswick Junction Bunbury Passenger Terminal Providing a window to those with no car or unable to drive from the above towns, with an adult fare for just $68.30 to Bunbury, it's a vital public asset to nurture. Although the timetable doesn't lend itself to a day trip from Perth to Bunbury, accommodation is available at The Lord Forrest for as little as $140 a night, it's a good couple of days away with no need for a car. The schedule from Bunbury to Perth does allow shoppers from the South to come to the big smoke arriving at Perth station as early as 830am with a late departure at 555PM to return home to their home town. Today, services provided by The Links to Northam or Merredin are all that remains of what was a comprehensive passenger service plus the familiar Prospector to Kalgoorlie with return tickets starting at just $93.70 return! With a massive investment in Northam, Narrogin and Katanning, one proud West Aussie has supplied 5 star lodgings on The Great Southern Railway such as The Premier Mill Hotel - Katanning and Farmers’ Home Hotel - Northam appointed to please anybody wishing to alight at the nearby train station and appropriate the towns amenities. Whilst I feel public opinion is for the government to reinstate country services is high with everybody focused on holidays in Western Australia due to Covid , a problem remains that once we get to popular destinations, hire cars are unavailable for travelers to continue their tour away from the train. What are your thoughts of future services to be reintroduced and memories of train travel back in the day? See more
14.01.2022 When visiting Nannas over many years from 1964, we'd sometimes take a slightly longer run past this station which I don't have any recollection of. Opened in 1885 and becoming a junction the following year, it would have been a busy point until the opening of the Avon Valley line in 1966. Although the line remained open for the passage of iron ore, the buildings and infrastructure were removed by 1981 with just the station masters house still in place. Can you name this station and do you have any memories of it?
12.01.2022 It's been months since we saw an Indian Pacific train at East Perth but it will be back soon I hope. Here we see CL11 leading after June 11 1971 at East Perth Terminal opened 1969. Of the 17 CL Class built, just one has been scrapped after an accident indicating a quality locomotive. CL11 is owned privately now and stored at Goulburn NSW. Did you ever have the pleasure f a trip behind a CL ?
12.01.2022 Well researched presentation by Gordon of the railway to Pickering Brook with great detail. \\http://www.pickeringbrookhistory.com/railway2.html
11.01.2022 It has now been 10 years since trains ceased running south of Bunbury. Woodchip haulage by rail out of the Diamond mill near Manjimup commenced in 1976. By the late 1990s, it was the only rail traffic to be using the line. During March 2005, the transport of woodchips to Bunbury was switched totally to road. In November 2004, ARG locos 2303 and 2306 are seen working an empty woodchip train south. They are travelling through the vicinity of Brookhampton, south of Donnybroo...k. Both members of the DBZ class, they regained the alphanumeric numbering after ARG was sold to QR National. Woodchip haulage by rail does continue however at Albany. Simon Barber 2nd of May 2015
11.01.2022 The holding of the America's cup yacht regatta in Fremantle during 1987 caused quite a frenzy in an already frenetic period for the state of Western Australia. The port city received a lot of restoration works in the period leading up to the cup challenge. The MTT of Perth, which morphed into Transperth during 1986, decided to get into the act and operate a train service along the ocean front south of Fremantle, three new stations being constructed. For a special regatta ho...sted early in 1986, and the cup events of 1986 -7, steam specials were run to serve these new stations. W class locomotives were hired from the Hotham Valley Tourist Railway, along with a set of former Tasmanian coaches of the SS / SSD / SSS type which HVTR had purchased some years earlier. Diesel suburban railcars were also used to supplement this operation. On 25 October 1986, W903 has just arrived at Robb Jetty yard with one of these specials. After running around, it will head back north to Fremantle. This scene has now changed greatly. The Robb Jetty yard and sheds have now been totally removed, and the area on the left (north) side of the picture is now occupied by high-density housing. Separate standard and narrow gauge pass through the area now, and they join to form dual gauge track near where the housing starts. Simon Barber 16th of August 2014
09.01.2022 This is the Flying Scotsman and Pendennis Castle in WA together at Swan View on 30 September 1989. They were in the early stages of their long trip in tandem to Kalgoorlie, which incorporated an overnight stop at Merredin. The children farewelling the train are perhaps a little too close to the tracks for comfort. It was quite intriguing to see these two classes paired on the tours. GWR 4079 Pendennis Castle was one of the two members of its class swapped between the LNER and GWR to compare its performance against the Gresley A1s. The Castles proved the superior, which led to modifications being done to the LNER locos. Later, the A1s were rebuilt into the A3 class, 4472 being one such to receive this treatment. Simon Barber
08.01.2022 In November 1988, a four car Transperth suburban ADK / ADB set is seen leaving Claisebook at the start of its journey to Armadale. It will soon be crossing the Bunbury Bridge over the Swan River. I spoke about the demise of manual signal boxes on the WAGR network. The box seen in the background was active at the time, but in a few years was to become redundant with new signaling associated with the Perth urban electrification project. Its functions were incorporated into t...he urban control centre at the nearby Westrail headquarters building, and the box was closed and removed. The 10 ADK railcars and their companion ADB trailers operated in Perth from 1968 to 1992. Displaced by electrification, they found a new home on the Auckland suburban system (one ADK remained in Perth). For a second occasion, they have now replaced by new electric railcars. A reprieve on this occasion seems unlikely, though New Zealand does have several tourist railways on both major islands which may possibly be interested in acquiring a set. Simon Barber 6th of Decemeber 2014
07.01.2022 A revisit to the Australind train - the original that is! From 1947 to 1987, the WAGR (later Westrail) ran a locomotive hauled train between Perth and Bunbury each day from Monday to Saturday. Day visits to the south-west became possible on the timetable, and indeed were encouraged at one stage by discount return excursion fares being offered on selected days. In December 1982, X1023 Kariera hauls a northbound Australind working through Kenwick. Being school holidays, the... usual dedicated coaches for the service have been augmented by a suburban coach (in orange livery) and a ZJA brakevan on the front. In the background of the photo can be seen the tracks leading to the freight railway connecting Forrestfield with Fremantle and Kwinana. In 1987, a new Australind set consisting of diesel railcars was introduced, and the locomotive worked version was consigned to history. Simon Barber
04.01.2022 Today’s featured closed railway is the former WAGR line to Jarrahdale. This was the second railway to serve Jarrahdale, the first being built to serve a Millars timber mill. The WAGR operation was to serve Alcoa bauxite deposits in the Darling Range east of Mundijong. A brief summary of operations is given below. 1962. The Millars railway was closed, and construction began on the WAGR Jarrahdale line. ... 1963. The WAGR railway was completed and opened to traffic. Its sole revenue traffic was bauxite for the Alcoa refinery at Kwinana. 1968. The line was extended to a new loading site. (Jarrahdale Number Two.) 1998. A change in mining locations saw the final bauxite trains running down the scarp, with loading operations now located at Calcine, near Pinjarra. 1999. The final train ran on the line, a special passenger train organised by Hotham Valley. Since closure, some of the line infrastructure has been removed such as the points connecting the branch to the main line at Mundijong, a bridge span over the South Western Highway and some trackage in the vicinity of the second loading point. DB1588 is seen with a loaded bauxite train on 21 February 1998, approaching the site of the first loader. This area was rehabilitated and later named Langford Park, becoming a picnic venue for patrons of tour trains. Simon Barber 20th Sept 2020
02.01.2022 Semaphore signalling and manually operated signal boxes were an important part of railway safeworking on the Western Australian Government Railways. Advances in technology led to their gradual demise as more modern signalling techniques were employed. When Westrail (WAGR) was sold into private hands during 2000, only three such cabins remained. They were at Forrestfield, West Kalgoorlie and Kwinana. Only Kwinana retained semaphore signals into the 2000s. In March 2002, S2...102 is seen leaving Kwinana yard for the Alcoa siding with a load of bauxite. Both semaphore and colour light signals are in view, with the signal box being visible on the left side behind the road bridge. Since then, progress has occurred with the box having been closed, the semaphores removed and the functions performed by the box now being done remotely at the train control centre at Picton. S2102 was one of eleven locomotives supplied by Clyde / EMD during 1998. They turned out to be the final new locos purchased in the Westrail era. Originally numbered S2101 to 2111, they now carry road numbers S3301 to 3311. Simon Barber
