The Eastern Railway
Darlington station platform today
The Eastern Railway - Mundaring Loop
The Eastern Railway, the first line built across the Darling Scarp to link Perth with Kalgoorlie and eventually the eastern states. Two route would eventually be followed, the First Route, known as the Mundaring Route, was opened on 11 March 1884. The line ascended the escarpment around Greenmount Hill passing through Boya, Darlington, Glen Forrest, Mundaring and Sawyers Valley before turning north to White's Mill.
It soon became apparent that this route was too steep for the increasingly heavier trains and engines required for the route. As a result, another route was quickly devised in the 1890s.
After the completion of the Second Route, this line became known in Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) records as the Smith's Mill Branch, then the Mundaring Branch, and later as the Mundaring Loop.
Passenger traffic ceased between Boya and Mount Helena on 24 January 1954 and the route was closed from Koongamia - Mount Helena on 12 March 1965, after which they tracked were pulled up. It was eventually made into part of the Railway Reserve Heritage Trail.
Railway bridge on the Parkerville Deviation in John Forrest National Park
The Eastern Railway - Parkerville Deviation
The second route, called the Parkerville Deviation, via Swan View, John Forrest National Park, Hovea, Parkerville and Stoneville, through to Mount Helena opened on 1 July 1896, within a decade after the First Route. Its grades were less strenuous and the line didn't suffer from the more serious problems of the first route. The line was originally only a single track and featured Western Australia's first (and only until 1990) railway tunnel. As traffic increased the newer route was duplicated, with the second track bypassing the tunnel, resulting in a slightly longer journey for trains heading across the Darling Scarp. The Second Route eventually closed on 13 February 1966 upon the completion of a dual gauge (Stevenson standard gauge and Anglo Cape 3' 6" narrow gauge) line further north through the Avon Valley.
Swan View Railway Tunnel
The Eastern Railway - Mahogany Creek Deviation
There was confusion in the naming of the Mahogany Creek Deviation. The Mahogany Creek Deviation was the incorrect name for the new line that followed the line of the Jane Brook to Mount Helena. It was a deviation on the second route of the Eastern Railway (Parkerville Deviation) constructed in the early 1890s, and it passed through the Swan View Tunnel, well to the north of the original Mahogany Creek stopping place and the creek itself.
The Eastern Railway alignments today
Most of the Eastern Railway alignments on the Mundaring Loop, Parkerville Deviation and Mahogany Creek Deviation still survive today. Much of them have been converted to well maintained shared paths used for cycling, horse riding and walking. Over 80 km remain as a path, all the way from Bellevue near Midland right through to Clackline. A few railway station platforms remain, butall tracks have been removed.
South Beach station
America's Cup defence
In 1987 the America's Cup was defended at Fremantle - and a number of stations were created on the 1906 era line to Robbs Jetty and Spearwood line. These were Esplanade, Success Harbour, Robbs Jetty, South Beach and Spearwood. The line reverted to freight traffic only after the America's Cup defence. the stations have not been removed but are not in use.
Canning Park Spur Line
Established in 1868, Canning Park Racecourse at Maddington was one of Western Australia's major racetracks. After the Perth - Armadale line was built, a short spur line was built from Maddington station to the Racecourse. The spur was north of the station alongside Canning Park Avenue.
The line was closed at the beginning of World War II and taken over by the Army as a fuel dump and machinery store. Following the closure of Canning Park Racecourse in 1952, any ideas of re-opening the line for passenger transport were abandoned. In the late 1960s a 100 metre section was reopened for a few years as an acceptance point for blue metal from Swan Quarry in Orange Grove, for use by the WAGR as track ballast. By 1975, all the tracks had been pulled up.
The Armadale line was opened on 2 May, 1889. The original stations were Perth, Kelmscott and Armadale. Cannington and Welshpool opened later in 1897 and 1898 respectively.
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Mundaring Weir Branch Railway
The Mundaring Weir Branch Railway was constructed from Mundaring to the site of the Mundaring Weir, and opened on June 1, 1898. Orne of the rail lines built by the Public Works Department in the early 20th century - this line was specifically built for the construction of the weir. The line incorporated a zig zag. Stops on the line were Mundaring Weir; Kardo Mordo (adjacent to the Mundaring Weir Hotel); Portagabra (near the current roundabout intersection turnoff to the Kookaburra Outdoor Cinema); Gugeri's Siding (location of the 1895-1899 Adelaide Timber Company mill); O'Connor (next to where Pumping Station Number 2 was located); Wonyil (west along the track where the line formation separates from Mundaring Weir Road).
Site of O'Connor platform. The trees provided the only shelter for passengers waiting for the twice weekly train
The branch was a popular picnic and excursion line to the weir in the 1930s and 1940s. Due to the steep grades down to Mundaring Weir, a limited range of locomotives were permitted to be run on the line. Due to lack of any scheduled activity on the line in the early 1950s it was closed in 2 December 1952. The services on the connecting line, Mundaring Branch Railway, ceased traffic in January 1954. Different proposals to resurrect the railway line as a tourist attraction have not materialised.
Kalamunda zig-zag
Upper Darling Range Railway
The Upper Darling Range Railway was a branch railway from Midland Junction, that rose up the southern side of the Helena Valley and on to Kalamunda in the Darling Scarp via a Zig Zag up Gooseberry Hill. At the time of construction it was the only section of railway in Western Australia to have had a zig-zag formation.It was later extended to Pickering Brook and then on to Karragullen. From Pickering Brook, the line was also run to Bartons Mill.
Completed in 1891, the Upper Darling Range Railway line was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to supply railway sleepers to Perth's growing railway system. In 1903 the line was taken over by the Western Australian Government Railways and became known as the Upper Darling Range Branch. I ran until 1949 when it was closed because of the lack of custom.
A few remnants of the line remain. Thse include the Kalamunda Railway station complex (now a museum), and the Gooseberry Hill zig-zag between what were Top Points and Bottom Points stopping places, which is now a roadway.
Kalamunda zig-zag today
Ascot Racecourse Spur Line
The path taken by the power lines (above) where they crossed the Swan River follows that taken by the Ascot Racecourse spur line
Until 1957 there was a spur line off the Midland railway line to Ascot Racecourse. The single track spur branched off the main line where Whatley Crescent curves around at its eastern end into Newton Street near where Tonkin Highway intersects with Guildford Road.
The spur line, built in 1885, followed what was then Belmont Road to the Swan River, which it crossed. All that remains today of Belmost Road is a small section that is now the end "elbow" of Wright Crescent. After crossing the river, the spur line continued for a short distance parallel to the northern end of Epsom Avenue before veering right, continuing alongside Mathieson Road. The Ascot Racecourse station, at end of the line, terminated about 50 or so metres from Grandstand Road at the end of Hardey Road.
Whatley Railway Station was located halfway along the Belmont Spur line immediately south of where Higgins Way meets Wyatt Road. The line was closed in January 1957 after the bridge over the Swan River was damaged by fire. No doubt it provided the perfect excuse to close the line.
The line had an interesting history. The section from Bayswater to the river was part of the surveyed route for the original line to Bunbury which was to start at Bayswater. Before being built, the route was changed to the more direct one joining the Eastern railway at East Perth.
Records are unclear as to whether the line from Bayswater to the river was built before the change in route and a new use for it (ie extend it across the river to the Racecourse) was found, or whether the line was purpose built to serve the racecource. The former seems the more likely scenario.
The section of the line from the junction at Bayswater to just past the point where the line became a single track was reatained as a storage siding for a number of years. It was used to store the Midlands steam loco fleet before they were scrapped. Part of it is now a cycleway.
Very little evidence of the line remains today apart from pieces of timber and concrete on the southern shoreline of the river that were part of the bridge. The formation betwen that point and Guildford Road is now under the embankment of Tonkin Hwy. The emabankment for the railway bridge across the river has disappeared. More photos
Closed Railway Stations
The site of Leighton railway station
Leighton: closed 28 July 1991. This station closed when the North Fremantle railway station was relocated further north of its original position. It was named not after a suburb, but after Leighton Beach. In the mid 1960s the WA Government Railways built an extensive standard gauge marshalling yards near Leighton Beach and this station serviced it. The yard closed in 1991, all that remains is the traffic control box and one of three light towers. The area is planned for redevelopment by the State Government into a coastal urban village and recreational area, known as North Port Quay, so it may lead to the re-opening of a station here.
Stokely: situated on the Armadale Line between Maddington and Gosnells at the Albany Highway crossing. It was a split platform station, the Armadale Platform was the Gosnells side of Albany Hwy and the Perth Platfrom was the Perth Side of the railway crossing. All evidence except the carpark has been removed.
Tredale: located on the Armadale/South-West Main line, between Armadale Station and Wungong Siding. It was constructed for the convenience of the Armadale High School, how ever when partonage dropped and rationalisation of the railways, the services to Tredale ceased in the mid 1980s. Today there is no remains of this station or it's yard.
Naval Base: this train station served the factory workers for the Alcoa Alumina Refinery.
Lathlain: a station on the Armadale Line, it was opened in May 1959 in part to service demand for the newly-built Lathlain Park, to which the Perth Football Club had moved. It was closed from 3 February 2003 and replaced by the new Victoria Park station; Lathlain station was demolished.
Renamed Railway Stations
Higham: opened in 1968 on the Armadale Line between Cannington and Kenwick at William Street, was renamed Beckenham around 1970. Due to its proximity to the original Cannington Train Station, the latter was moved to a new site near Cecil Avenue during the upgrade of the rail line from Diesel to Electric as there needed to be further distances between stations.
West Perth: a station on the Fremantle line, it was renamed City West.
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