Kalamunda Zig Zag

Kalamunda Zig Zag
Kalamunda Zig Zag
	G class on the Zig Zag in 1937
Overview
Status	Converted to a public road
Coordinates	31°56′44″S116°03′00″E / 31.945674°S 116.049896°E
Termini	Ridge Hill; Gooseberry Hill ;
Service
Type	Zig Zag railway
System	Western Australian Government Railways
Technical
Line length	3 kilometres
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

Last updated August 30, 2024

The Kalamunda Zig Zag was a zig zag rail line that was part of the Upper Darling Range Railway line in Western Australia, opening in July 1891 and closing in July 1949. Most of it was converted to a public road in 1952, part of which is now a tourist drive called Zig Zag Scenic Drive that offers views of Perth from the hills.^[1]

History

Gradient profile map

The Kalamunda Zig Zag was completed in July 1891, as part of the Upper Darling Range Railway line in Western Australia, which was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company from a junction with the Midland line at Midland Junction to Canning Mills to transport railway sleepers to Perth's growing railway system. On 1 July 1903, the line was taken over by the Western Australian Government Railways.^[2]^[3] To overcome a steep gradient up the Darling Scarp, a zig zag was built between Ridge Hill and Gooseberry Hill stations, being cheaper to build than a continuous gradient line. The Kalamunda Zig Zag closed on 22 July 1949 along with the rest of the line. In 1952 the track was removed and most of the Kalamunda Zig Zag converted into a narrow bitumen road.

Part of this road is now a tourist drive called Zig Zag Scenic Drive, with the zig zag section that descends down the Darling Scarp being one-way in the direction of descent with a speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph) and, as of May 2022^[update], closed to motor vehicles between the hours of 8:30 pm and 11 am.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] This section of road was closed to motor vehicles completely by the City of Kalamunda in May 2020 due to reports of anti-social behaviour at night including hooning, drug use and cruelty to wildlife.^[1]^[6] After more than 12 months of closure, the road reopened in July 2021 on a 12 month trial basis, with motor vehicle access limited to between 11 am and 8:30 pm.^[7] In May 2022, City of Kalamunda councillors voted to keep the road open permanently with the night and early morning motor vehicle curfew to continue, despite concerns about the ongoing cost to do so.^[8]

Sections

The sections of the railway that made up the zig zag were:

Ridge Hill (lower section of Kalamunda Zig Zag)
Number 1 Points
Number 2 Points Statham's Quarry known also as Perth City Council Siding from 1920
Number 3 Points
Number 4 Points (upper section of Kalamunda Zig Zag)

The gradient is as steep as 1 in 27 with an average of 1 in 38.^[2]

Events

Every year the City of Kalamunda holds a "Zig Zag Walk" event, in which the zig zag section is closed to all but pedestrians, providing people with the opportunity to admire the views and see the area's wildflowers; Zig Zag Scenic Drive is a part of the Darling Range Regional Park. The Zig Zag Walk occurs around early October every year.^[9] On the last Sunday of October each year, there is a community arts festival called the "Zig Zag Festival" held in Stirk Park, Kalamunda.^[10]

The zig zag is also used as a stage in the Targa West Rally. The road is closed to all traffic and the stage is run in reverse road direction, from the bottom to the top.^[11]

Related Research Articles

Gooseberry Hill National Park is a national park in Western Australia, in the locality of Gooseberry Hill, 21 km east of Perth. It is at the southern side of the mouth of the Helena Valley on the Darling Scarp. Statham's Quarry is located within the park boundary.

John Forrest National Park is a national park in the Darling Scarp, 24 km (15 mi) east of Perth, Western Australia. Proclaimed as a national park in November 1900, it was the first national park in Western Australia.

The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to the south of Pemberton. The adjacent Darling Plateau goes easterly to include Mount Bakewell near York and Mount Saddleback near Boddington. It was named after the Governor of New South Wales, Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling.

Kalamunda is a town and eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the Darling Scarp at the eastern limits of the Perth metropolitan area.

Mundaring is a suburb located 34 km east of Perth, Western Australia on the Great Eastern Highway. The suburb is located within the Shire of Mundaring.

The Zig Zag Railway is an Australian heritage railway, situated near Lithgow, New South Wales. It was opened by the not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-op as an unpaid volunteer-staffed heritage railway in October 1975, using the alignment of the Lithgow Zig Zag line that formed part of the Main Western line between 1869 and 1910. The line climbs the western flank of the Blue Mountains, using railway zig zags to gain height.

Bellevue is an eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia in the local government areas of the City of Swan and the Shire of Mundaring. It is at the foot of the slopes of Greenmount, a landmark on the Darling Scarp that is noted in the earliest of travel journals of the early Swan River Colony.

Greenmount is a locality and a geographical feature in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia, on the edge of the Darling Scarp. It is a vital point in the transport routes from the Swan Coastal Plain into the hinterland of Western Australia.

The Upper Darling Range Railway was a branch railway from Midland Junction, Western Australia, that rose up the southern side of the Helena Valley and on to the Darling Scarp via the Kalamunda Zig Zag. At the time of construction it was the only section of railway in Western Australia to have had a zig zag formation.

The Railway Reserves Heritage Trail – also on some maps as Rail Reserve Heritage Trail or Rail Reserves Historical Trail, and frequently referred to locally as the Bridle Trail or Bridle Track – is within the Shire of Mundaring in Western Australia.

The Mundaring Weir Branch Railway was constructed from Mundaring, Western Australia to the site of the Mundaring Weir, and opened on 1 June 1898.

The Mundaring Branch Railway is a historical section of the original Eastern Railway main line across the Darling Scarp in the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) system.

Mundaring Weir is a concrete gravity 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.

Swan View is an eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its local government areas are the City of Swan and the Shire of Mundaring. It is 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Perth in the Perth Hills on the edge of the Darling Scarp, just to the west of the John Forrest National Park, east of Roe Highway and north of the Great Eastern Highway.

Gooseberry Hill is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Kalamunda. It is the site of Gooseberry Hill National Park.

The Midland Junction railway station was an important junction station on the Eastern Railway of Western Australia until its closure in 1966.

Kalamunda Road is a minor arterial road linking the historic suburb of South Guildford with the Darling Scarp suburb of Kalamunda, in Perth, Western Australia.

Statham's Quarry is the site of a quarry on the Darling Scarp on the southern side of the entrance of the Helena River valley on to the Swan Coastal Plain in Perth, Western Australia. It is located in Gooseberry Hill and is within the bounds of the Gooseberry Hill National Park.

Midland is a suburb in the Perth metropolitan region, as well as the regional centre for the City of Swan local government area that covers the Swan Valley and parts of the Darling Scarp to the east. It is situated at the intersection of Great Eastern Highway and Great Northern Highway. Midland is almost always regarded as a suburb of Perth, being only 16 km (10 mi) away from the city centre.

References

1 2 "Historic Perth Zig Zag road closed amid concerns about drugs, violence and animal cruelty".
1 2 3 Bromby, Robyn (1988). Australian Rail Annual 1988. Sutherland: Sherbourne Sutherland Publishing. pp. 115–120. ISBN 1-86275-004-1.
1 2 History of the Railway Pickering Brook Heritage Group
↑ Kalamunda Zig Zag Trail Rail Trails
↑ "Zig Zag Scenic Drive". City of Kalamunda. 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
↑ "Zig Zag Scenic Drive".
↑ "The Breathtakingly Scenic Zig Zag Drive In The Perth Hills Will Reopen Next Month".
↑ "Perth's Zig Zag Scenic Drive to stay open with night-time curfew, but Mayor wants WA government to pay".
↑ "Walk the Zig Zag". Shire of Kalamunda. 2016. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
↑ "Zig Zag Festival". Shire of Kalamunda. 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
↑ "Stage Maps". Targa West. 2017. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

External links

Media related to Kalamunda Zig Zag at Wikimedia Commons
Zig Zag Community Arts Festival page

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[abc-1] 1 2 "Historic Perth Zig Zag road closed amid concerns about drugs, violence and animal cruelty".

[RBromby-2] 1 2 3 Bromby, Robyn (1988). Australian Rail Annual 1988. Sutherland: Sherbourne Sutherland Publishing. pp. 115–120. ISBN 1-86275-004-1.

[PickeringBrookHeritage-3] 1 2 History of the Railway Pickering Brook Heritage Group

[4] Kalamunda Zig Zag Trail Rail Trails

[cok22-5] "Zig Zag Scenic Drive". City of Kalamunda. 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.

[cok-6] "Zig Zag Scenic Drive".

[tul-7] "The Breathtakingly Scenic Zig Zag Drive In The Perth Hills Will Reopen Next Month".

[abc0522-8] "Perth's Zig Zag Scenic Drive to stay open with night-time curfew, but Mayor wants WA government to pay".

[9] "Walk the Zig Zag". Shire of Kalamunda. 2016. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

[10] "Zig Zag Festival". Shire of Kalamunda. 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

[11] "Stage Maps". Targa West. 2017. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

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v t e Railway lines in Western Australia
Main lines	Eastern Goldfields Eastern Railway Great Southern Railway South Western Railway Trans-Australian Railway
Goldfields–Esperance	Hopetoun–Ravensthorpe ^† Kalgoorlie–Esperance Kalgoorlie–Gnumballa Lake ^† Kalgoorlie–Kanowna ^† Kalgoorlie–Leonora Malcolm–Laverton ^† Kambalda–Redmine
Great Southern	Donnybrook–Katanning ^† Elleker–Nornalup ^† Katanning–Pingrup ^† Tambellup–Ongerup ^†
Mid West	Avon Yard–Mullewa ^† Cue–Big Bell ^† Dongara–Eneabba ^† Geraldton–Ajana ^† Geraldton–Mullewa Karara Meekatharra–Wiluna ^† Millendon Junction–Narngulu Mullewa–Meekatharra ^† Mount Magnet–Sandstone ^† Upper Chapman Valley ^†
Peel	Waroona–Lake Clifton Pinjarra–Narrogin ^†
Pilbara	Fortescue Goldsworthy Hamersley & Robe River Marble Bar ^† Mount Newman Roy Hill
Perth	Airport Armadale Belmont ^† Fremantle Kalamunda Kwinana freight Mandurah Midland (country) Midland (suburban) Morley–Ellenbrook Mundaring Mundaring Weir Spearwood–Armadale ^† Thornlie Upper Darling Range Yanchep
South West	Boyanup–Flinders Bay ^† Brunswick Junction–Narrogin ^† Donnybrook–Katanning ^† Picton–Northcliffe ^† Pinjarra–Narrogin ^† Wonnerup–Nannup ^†
Wheatbelt	Amery–Kalannie Avon Yard–Mullewa ^† Brookton–Corrigin ^† Brunswick Junction–Narrogin ^† Burakin–Bonnie Rock ^† Goomalling–West Merredin ^† Lake Grace–Hyden Merredin–Narrogin ^† Merredin–Yilliminning ^† Pinjarra–Narrogin ^† Wyalkatchem–Southern Cross ^† Toodyay West–Miling Wagin–Bowelling ^† Wagin–Newdegate York–Bruce Rock ^†
Tourist & heritage railways	Bennett Brook Hotham Valley
Timber railway lines	Ballaarat Tramline Jarrahdale–Rockingham
Trams & tramways	Baldivis Tramway Broome Tramway Carnarvon Tram Trams in Fremantle Trams in Kalgoorlie Trams in Perth
Approved by Parliament but not constructed	Boyup Brook–Cranbrook Brookton–Dale River Manjimup–Mount Barker Southern Cross southwards Yarramony eastward
^† Denotes railway is closed, partially closed or has been removed See also: Agricultural railways ♦ Wheatbelt railways