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. [1] [lower-alpha 1]
The company went on to develop a mill and jetty at Lockville, 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) north-east of Busselton. [lower-alpha 2] [3]
The locomotive ordered for the mill railway, named Ballaarat, was the first steam locomotive to operate in Western Australia, and the first to be built in Australia for 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge. [4] [5] The railway was more commonly known as the Ballaarat Tramline. [6]
The W.A. Timber Company was liquidated in 1888 and its assets were auctioned. [7]
Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately 220 km (140 mi) south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton Port in 1972 and the contemporaneous establishment of the nearby Margaret River wine region have seen tourism become the dominant source of investment and development, supplemented by services and retail. The city is best known for the Busselton Jetty, the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.
The townsite of Wonnerup is located 219 kilometres (136 mi) south of Perth and 10 kilometres (6 mi) east of Busselton. It was gazetted a townsite in 1856, deriving its name from the nearby Wonnerup Inlet.
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 Flinders Bay Branch Railway, also known as the Boyanup to Flinders Bay Section ran between Boyanup and Flinders Bay, in South Western Western Australia. The section from Flinders Bay to Busselton has now been converted into a rail trail for bushwalkers and cyclists, called the Wadandi Trail.
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. Great Southern Rail operates the Indian Pacific.
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.
Witchcliffe is a small town in the South West region of Western Australia, located a few kilometres south of Margaret River on the Bussell Highway. The name originates from a cave in the area, Witchcliffe cave, that was recorded by a surveyor in 1900. It is believed the name was given by the Bussell family whose property, Wallcliffe, was established in the area in the 1850s.
The Adelaide Timber Company was a family saw mill company that had timber mills and timber railway lines across a number of locations in Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Millars' Karri and Jarrah Company (1902) Limited, commonly known as Millars, was a Western Australian focused timber and timber railway company.
Bunbury Bridge was a single-track, timber railway bridge in East Perth in Western Australia. The bridge crossed the Swan River near Claise Brook and was built for passenger and freight traffic to Bunbury on the South Western Railway.
The WAGR C class was a class of light axle load steam locomotives operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between 1902 and 1961. A total of 22 were built in two batches.
The WAGR E class was a two-member class of 2-4-4-2T double-Fairlie locomotives operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between 1881 and 1892.
The WAGR A class was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Beyer, Peacock & Co and operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between 1881 and 1955.
The Nannup Branch Railway, also known as the Wonnerup to Nannup Railway, was a branch line of the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between Wonnerup and Nannup.
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.
Mornington, also known as Mornington Mills, is the site of former timber saw mills and a community on the Darling Range in Western Australia. It was part of the operations of Millars Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited. At the 2021 census, the area had a population of 42.
Neil McNeil was a prominent Australian businessman who was significant in the development of railways across Australia along with Western Australia's timber industry.
The Ballaarat steam engine, built by James Hunt's Victoria Foundry in the city of Ballarat, Victoria in 1871, was the first 1067 mm gauge locomotive built in Australia. It was purchased by the Western Australian Timber Company, which was awarded one of only three milling concessions granted in the colony. The company had 181,500 acres to mill at Yoganup, near the town of Busselton.
The Northcliffe Branch, also known as the Northcliffe Section or Picton to Northcliffe Line, is the railway route between Picton and Northcliffe in Western Australia.
WAGR G class G233 Leschenault Lady is a preserved 2-6-0 steam locomotive, built in 1898 by James Martin & Co of Gawler, South Australia, for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR). It is the third oldest Australian-built steam locomotive still in operational order, after Victorian Railways Y class 112 and WAGR A class 15.