Overview | |
---|---|
Service type | Overnight passenger train |
Status | Ceased |
First service | 3 December 1962 |
Last service | 28 November 1971 |
Successor | The Prospector |
Former operator(s) | Western Australian Government Railways |
Route | |
Termini | Perth Kalgoorlie |
Distance travelled | 611 kilometres |
Average journey time | 14 hours |
Service frequency | 6 x weekly |
Train number(s) | 85/86 |
Line(s) used | Eastern Eastern Goldfields |
The Kalgoorlie was a railway passenger service operated by the Western Australian Government Railways between November 1962 and November 1971.
Following the opening of the Eastern Goldfields Railway to Kalgoorlie in December 1887, passenger services from Perth commenced.
Although not officially named, the service was often referred to as the Great Eastern Express, [1] Kalgoorlie Express [2] or the Kalgoorlie Passenger. [3]
Following the opening of the Trans-Australian Railway in October 1917, the service's importance increased with the commencement of the Trans-Australian Express [4] from Port Augusta in South Australia. [5]
By May 1921, a separate overnight express (later named The Westland ) for interstate passengers and mail was introduced and it became the connecting train with the Trans-Australian Express. [6] [7]
The existing service remained to service intrastate passengers and was named The Kalgoorlie on 3 December 1962. Following the conversion of the Eastern and Eastern Goldfields lines to standard gauge, The Kalgoorlie was scheduled to be replaced by The Prospector . However delays in delivery of new rolling stock saw the existing narrow gauge service continue. [8] [9]
As it was the only narrow gauge train traversing the Northam to Merredin section of the Eastern line, it was diverted via the Goomalling to West Merredin railway line in October 1970 to allow the old narrow gauge line to close. The Kalgoorlie last ran on 28 November 1971. [6] [7] [10]
In the 1890s and early 1900s a coastal steamer in Australia was known as The Kalgoorlie. [11] [12]
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located 595 km (370 mi) east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includes the historic townsite of Boulder and the local government area is the City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder.
The Indian Pacific is a weekly experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – thus, like its counterpart in the north–south corridor, The Ghan, one of the few truly transcontinental trains in the world. It first ran in 1970 after the completion of gauge conversion projects in South Australia and Western Australia, enabling for the first time a cross-continental rail journey that did not have a break of gauge.
Southern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of state capital Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded in 1888 after gold prospectors Richard Greaves and Ted Paine during their October 1887 expedition successfully found gold, 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.
Merredin is a town in Western Australia, located in the central Wheatbelt roughly midway between Perth and Kalgoorlie, on Route 94, Great Eastern Highway. It is located on the route of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, and as a result is also on the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail.
The Eastern Railway is the main railway route between Fremantle and Northam in Western Australia. It opened in stages between 1881 and 1893. The line continues east to Kalgoorlie as the Eastern Goldfields Railway.
The Prospector is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. On this service, two trains depart almost at the same time in opposite directions, one travelling between East Perth and Kalgoorlie, and the other between Kalgoorlie and East Perth. The original vehicles ordered in 1968 for trains providing this service were replaced in 2004 with vehicles capable of reducing journey times to 6 hours 45 minutes.
Parkeston is a suburb of the city of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of the city centre. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 60, down from 69 in 2006. It contains the Ninga Mia Aboriginal community.
Zanthus is a remote and uninhabited outpost on the Trans-Australian Railway approximately 210 kilometres (130 mi) east of the regional city of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia.
The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the eastern states, the line is economically and strategically important. The railway includes the world's longest section of completely straight track.
The Eastern Goldfields Railway, historically also referred to as the Fremantle-Kalgoorlie Railway, was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.
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.
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.
Merredin railway station is located on the Eastern Goldfields Railway in Western Australia. It is in the town of Merredin.
Kalgoorlie railway station is the easternmost 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.
The Sydney–Perth rail corridor is a 1435 mmstandard gauge railway route that runs for 4352 kilometres (2704 mi) across Australia from Sydney, New South Wales, to Perth, Western Australia. Most of the route is under the control of the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
The Esperance Branch Railway is a railway from Kalgoorlie to the port of Esperance in Western Australia.
The Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Company opened in 1896 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and traded successfully until 1943, when it was taken over by the Swan Brewery, and its name was simplified to Kalgoorlie Brewing Company. The Brewery, known locally as the 'Big K', located at Porter Street, Kalgoorlie, was the last survivor of nineteen breweries that once traded in the Eastern Goldfields.
The Trans-Australian was an Australian passenger train operated by the Commonwealth Railways initially between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie on the Trans-Australian Railway line, and later extended west to Perth, and east to Port Pirie and Adelaide.
The WAGR WCA class railcars and WCE class trailers were built by Comeng, Granville for the Western Australian Government Railways in 1971 to operate the new Prospector service between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. At the time of their construction the WCA class units were the longest and fastest diesel railcars in the world.
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.
Media related to The Kalgoorlie at Wikimedia Commons