South Western Railway, Western Australia
| South Western Railway, Western Australia | |
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Bunbury Bridge in 1930 | |
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| Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
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The South Western Railway is the main railway route between Perth Western Australia and Bunbury. Construction of this line began in 1891. It crosses the Swan River between East Perth and Rivervale, and subsequent rivers that cross the Swan Coastal Plain to Bunbury.
The Australind railway service travelled to the Old Bunbury station until 1985, since then the Transwa Australind travels to the new new Bunbury station.
History
It was constructed for the Western Australian Government Railways by various private contractors from 1891.[1] Among these was the engineer and magistrate William W. L. Owen.[2]
Construction was completed in two parts.[3] The first, East Perth to Pinjarra, was undertaken by William Atkins (former mill manager of the Neil McNeil Co. at the Jarrahdale Timber Station[4] and Robert Oswald Law (who built the Fremantle Long Jetty) from the end of 1891.[1] Work began in 1892 but was slowed by difficulties with building the bridge over the Swan River.[1][5]
The second phase of construction was also completed by Atkins and McNeil, starting at Bunbury and working north to Pinjarra.[3] The Bunbury railway station was opened by Sir John Forrest on 14 November 1894.[1]
Bridges
The Bunbury Bridge was the major bridge for the railway, it was demolished in 1996 and replaced by the Goongoongup Bridge.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gunzburg, Adrian; Austin, Geff (2008). "Table Construction of the W.A Government Railways network, 1879-1931". Rails through the Bush: Timber and Firewood Tramways and Railway Contractors of Western Australia. Perth, Western Australia: Rail Heritage WA. pp. 208–210. ISBN 978-0-9803922-2-7. OL 12330925W.
- ↑ Owen, William Lambden (1933). Cossack Gold. Angus and Robertson. OL 16795671W.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Perth—Bunbury Railway". The Inquirer & Commercial News (Perth, WA: National Library of Australia). 6 April 1892. p. 4. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ Thomas, W. C. (1938). "Mills and Men". Australian Timber Journal.
- ↑ "The South-Western Railway: Mr Neil McNeil's Picnic". The West Australian (Perth, Western Australia). 19 December 1892. p. 2. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
Further reading
- Affleck, Fred N. On track : the making of Westrail, 1950 to 1976 . Perth : Westrail, 1978. ISBN 978-0-7244-7560-5
- May, Andrew and Gray, Bill. A History of WAGR Passenger Carriages. Perth:The Author, 2006. ISBN 978-0-646-45902-8
- Quinlan, Howard & Newland, John R. Australian Railway Routes 1854-2000 2000. ISBN 978-0-909650-49-0