Burlong Pool [1] is a section of the Avon River in Western Australia between Spencers Brook and Northam. [2]
Burlong Pool was a former railway stopping place, which was used as a location for drawing water into the water trains [3] [4] to the Eastern Goldfield locations prior to the completion of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. [5]
During dry weather in the late 1890s up to five separate water trains per day would be drawing water from the pool and travelling between Northam and the goldfields. [6]
Following the completion of the Goldfields water supply pipeline the water was no longer extracted from the pool, but the location was notable for being used as the Northam swimming carnival location, [7] swimming location [8] and rail excursions, [9] and the site of drownings. [10] [11]
As a long deep pool that was well watered in summertime, the location was known to the Noongar as a place where the Wagyl had a summer resting place. [12] [13]
Burlong Pool was owned by the Western Australian Government Railways. It was leased by the Australian Army during World War II. During the 1940s and 1950s it was the location for training for water crossings, bridge building and water obstacles. Many bridge parts and tools are believed to lie on the bottom of the pool. [14] A rock river crossing allowed access from the rear of the Northam Army Camp to Burlong and Spencers Brook Roads.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Interpretive signs along with restoration of the natural environment and promotion of Nyungar culture have been instigated at Burlong Pool near Northam
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(help)Charles Yelverton O'Connor,, was an Irish engineer who is best known for his work in Western Australia, especially the construction of Fremantle Harbour, thought to be impossible, and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.
Northam is a town in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about 97 kilometres (60 mi) east-northeast of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2016 census, Northam had a population of 6,548. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region. It is also the largest inland town in the state not founded on mining.
Toodyay, known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-east of Perth. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding in the 1850s, the townsite was moved to its current location in the 1860s. It is connected by railway and road to Perth. During the 1860s, it was home to bushranger Moondyne Joe.
Southern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of state capital Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded by gold prospectors in 1888, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shire of Yilgarn. At the 2016 census, Southern Cross had a population of 680.
Spencers Brook is a waterway, locality and a district located within the Avon Valley in Western Australia.
Coolgardie is a small town in Western Australia, 558 kilometres (347 mi) east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 850 people.
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.
The Mundaring Weir Branch Railway was constructed from Mundaring, Western Australia to the site of the Mundaring Weir, and opened on 1 June 1898.
Mundaring Weir is a dam located 39 kilometres (24 mi) from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. The dam and reservoir form the boundary between the suburbs of Reservoir and Sawyers Valley. The dam impounds the Helena River.
The Westland was the name given in 1938 to the overnight train operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) with sitting and sleeping cars between Perth and Kalgoorlie, where it connected with the Trans-Australian service to Adelaide.
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was commissioned in 1896 and completed in 1903.
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Kalgoorlie railway station is the most eastern attended station in Western Australia, located at the eastern terminus of the Eastern Goldfields Railway. It serves the city of Kalgoorlie. Beyond Kalgoorlie, the line continues east as the Trans-Australian Railway.
Clackline is a locality in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) east-north-east of Perth.
Broad Arrow is a ghost town in Western Australia, located 38 km north of Kalgoorlie and 633 km east of Perth. It is on the Kalgoorlie to Leonora Road.
In the latter part of the nineteenth century, discoveries of gold at a number of locations in Western Australia caused large influxes of prospectors from overseas and interstate, and classic gold rushes. Significant finds included:
Credo is a former pastoral lease located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Coolgardie in the Goldfields of Western Australia.
Boorabbin was a location on the narrow gauge Eastern Goldfields Railway in Western Australia. It was half way between Southern Cross and Coolgardie.
Railway dams and reservoirs were used to supply water to an extensive railway system that ventured into low rainfall, and poor water quality areas of the inner regions of Western Australia in the 1890s.
Yerbillon, Western Australia was the location of Number 5 Pumping station on the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, and is the location of the current pumping station number 11 on the pipeline. It was also located on the Eastern Goldfields Railway.