Jarrahdale to Rockingham railway lineMain locations
8km 5miles
Rockingham
3
Mundijong
2
Jarrahdale
1
The Jarrahdale to Rockingham railway line was a private timber railway line connecting the timber mill at Jarrahdale with the port at Rockingham. It was the second railway line to operate in Western Australia, opening in 1872. From 1893, it connected to the South Western Railway at Mundijong. The section from Mundijong to Rockingham was removed in 1950 but the Jarrahdale to Mundijong section remained in operation until 1962.
As a solution to the financial difficulties the Western Australian timber industry suffered during the 1860s, the state's governor, Frederick Weld, proposed awarding large timber concessions on attractive terms to attract investment from the eastern states of Australia.[1]
Of the three timber concession made by Weld, the one at Jarrahdale was the largest, at 500,000 acres (2,000km2). As part of the concession to a syndicate from Ballarat, Victoria, it was agreed that a mill would be established at Jarrahdale, a port at Mangles Bay and a railway line to connect the two. The mill started operations in May 1872 and the railway line opened in November that year.[1]
The Governor Weld became the second steam locomotive to operate in the colony of Western Australia, after the Ballaarat, which had been in use at Wonnerup since 1871, and it became the first locomotive to operate in the Perth metropolitan area. A rubber-tyre steam traction engine, the first used in the colony, hauled the Governor Weld overland to Jarrahdale but the locomotive proved too heavy for the line and caused damage to the rail. Consequently, until a lighter locomotive arrived in 1874, teams of horses were used to haul timber to the coast.[1] The original rails were made from timber and replaced with steel ones in 1878.[2]
Three jetties for the timber export were constructed in Rockingham, the first deep water one in 1872, a second one in 1882, east of the existing one, and the third one in 1898. By the 1930s, the first two jetties had degraded considerably. Only one of the three jetties was retained and reconstructed in 1950, after the removal of the rails and a shift to tourism in Rockingham. This final jetty was eventually removed in 2009.[2]
The railway line made Rockingham Western Australia's main timber port in the 1880s, and its efficiency allowed it to survive a slump in the state's timber industry during the mid-1880s. In its first two decades of operation, the timber operation experienced three changes of ownership and fluctuating profits. In the 1890s, the Jarrahdale operation expanded considerably under manager Alex Munro and the third jetty was built at Rockingham to allow for a large export order of jarrah sleepers to South Africa. Additionally, timber was also exported to cities in Britain, which used it for hardwood paving blocks.[1]
Fierce competition between the eight largest timber operators in the 1890s eventually resulted in the merger of the eight into Millars' Karri and Jarrah Co. in 1902. The opening of the South Western Railway in 1893, connecting Perth to Bunbury, meant the two lines interconnected at Jarrahdale Junction, now Mundijong. This allowed timber to be transported directly to Perth, which now became the main market for the Jarrahdale mill, while exports were now handled by the port at Bunbury and supplied by other operations.[1][3]
In the 1880s and, again, in the 1920s as part of the Peel Estate scheme, it was proposed to build a railway from Fremantle to Rockingham, where it would connect to the existing line to Jarrahdale, a scheme never carried out.[4]
This arrangement caused the Rockingham line to decline in importance and the last shipment of timber from there took place in 1908. When the state's timber industry experienced another boom in the 1920s, timber from Jarrahdale was shipped through Bunbury. The line to Rockingham did however remain in use for firewood supplies, allowing Millars to retain the rights to operate the railway. The final firewood train to Rockingham operated in 1940 and the line from Mundijong to the port was removed in 1950.[1] In 1950, the state government purchased the railway line for £A 350, to pull it up and build roads and drainage in its corridor.[5]
The Jarrahdale to Mundijong section was retained longer, finally ceasing operations in November 1962, after 90 years. This made it the longest-operating timber railway in Western Australia.[1]
A new railway line, to transport bauxite from Jarrahdale to Kwinana, was built to replace the timber railway and follows the old line in many places.[1]
Legacy
At the Rockingham end of the former railway, no visible remains are preserved but the pathway of the former line is still visible. At the Rockingham foreshore, the final run up to the jetty was on what is now Railway Terrace. The City of Rockingham's heritage list includes the sites of the three timber jetties and the timber railway site.[2][6]
The Peel region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located on the west coast of Western Australia, about 75 km (47 mi) south of the state capital, Perth. It consists of the City of Mandurah, and the Shires of Boddington, Murray, Serpentine-Jarrahdale and Waroona.
Byford is a suburb on the south-eastern edge of Perth, Western Australia, within the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale. The town has its origins in a township that was gazetted under the name "Beenup" in 1906. In 1920, the name of the township was changed to Byford.
Mundijong is an outer suburb of the Western Australian capital city of Perth.
Kirup, originally named Upper Capel, then Kirupp, is situated between Donnybrook and Balingup on the South Western Highway, 228 kilometres (142 mi) south of Perth, Western Australia in the upper reaches of the Capel River valley.
Jarrahdale is a small historic town located 45 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Range. The name is derived from its situation in a jarrah forest. Established in the late 1800s as the state's first major timber milling operation, it played a key role in the development of Western Australia through the exportation of jarrah around the world. At the 2016 census, Jarrahdale had a population of 1,192. Since 2001, the historic precinct has been managed by the state's National Trust organisation alongside private residential and tourism-oriented developments.
Rockingham railway station is a railway station in Rockingham, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It is on the Mandurah railway line, which is part of the Transperth commuter rail network. It has two side platforms, linked by a pedestrian overpass accessed by stairs, a lift, and escalators. Services run every 10 minutes during peak, and every 15 minutes between peak. The journey to Perth railway station is 43.2 kilometres (26.8 mi), and takes 34 minutes. The journey to Mandurah railway station is 27.6 kilometres (17.1 mi), and takes 17 minutes. The station has a bus interchange with twelve bus stands, and 14 regular bus routes.
Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and a number of private companies. Today passenger rail services are controlled by the Public Transport Authority through Transperth, which operates public transport in Perth, and Transwa, which operates country passenger services. Journey Beyond operates the Indian Pacific.
The South Western Railway, also known as the South West Main Line, is the main railway route between Perth and Bunbury in Western Australia.
The network of railway lines in Western Australia associated with the timber and firewood industries is as old as the mainline railway system of the former Western Australian Government Railways system.
Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day. It is located adjacent to the city of Fremantle, in the Perth metropolitan region.
The H class was a class of two steam locomotives operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) introduced in 1889.
W.A. Timber Company was a syndicate of Victorian investors granted a timber concession of 181,500 acres on Geographe Bay in the south west of Western Australia in 1870.
Rockingham is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 47 km south-south-west of the city centre. It acts as the primary centre for the City of Rockingham. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of Cockburn Sound. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and Henderson. Offshore to the north-west is Australia's largest naval fleet and submarine base, Garden Island, connected to the mainland by an all-weather causeway. To the west and south lies the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park.
The Ballaarat Tramline, also known as the Lockville – Yoganup Railway, was the first railway in Western Australia, constructed in 1871 by the Western Australian Timber Company. The railway was used to transport timber from forests in the South West to the company's jetty at Lockville using the Ballaarat steam engine.
The Kwinana freight railway lines are a network of railways predominantly servicing the heavy industrial areas at Kwinana Beach south of Perth and to provide for the transport of freight servicing Fremantle Harbour, Kewdale Intermodal Facility and other freight destinations in Perth. While some lines were constructed in the 1900s, most of the network was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Rockingham Hotel was a historic hotel and pub in Rockingham, Western Australia, its origins dating back to 1886, when Rockingham was an important export location for Western Australian timber.
The Baldivis Tramway, also referred to as the Peel Estate Tramway or Peel Tramline, was a short-lived tramway, originally planned to be operating from Jandakot railway station to Karnup, in Western Australia. The line was constructed to support the post-World War I Group Settlement Scheme at the Peel Estate in Baldivis but was never fully completed, only reaching as far as Wellard. The line existed from 1920 to 1925 and was designed to transport supplies to the settlement scheme and to carry harvested timber on the return journey.
The Kwinana Grain Terminal is a grain terminal in East Rockingham, Western Australia. Built from 1969 onwards and operated by the CBH Group, the facility consists of a jetty, two horizontal storages, three silos, and four open bulk heads. Grain is transported to the site by rail, stored, and eventually loaded onto ships for export.
Mundijong railway station is a station on the South Western Line in Western Australia served by the twice daily Australind which operates between Perth and Bunbury.
The Hopetoun to Ravensthorpe railway line was a state government-owned and WAGR-operated railway line in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, connecting the coastal town of Hopetoun to Ravensthorpe, located inland. The line, 55 kilometres (34 mi) long, was stand-alone, not connecting to any other railway line in the state.
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