Upper Darling Range Railway

For the Upper Darling region of NSW and Queensland, see Darling River.
Upper Darling Range Railway

G118 at the Kalamunda Historical Village on the site of Kalamunda station
Overview
System Western Australian Government Railways
Status Dismantled
Termini Midland Junction
Karragullen
Operation
Opened July 1891
Closed 22 July 1949
Technical
Line length 35 kilometres
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

The Upper Darling Range Railway (also known as the Upper Darling Range Branch) 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.

History

Completed in July 1891, the Upper Darling Range Railway line was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to supply railway sleepers to Perth's growing railway system. It ran from Midland Junction railway station through to the Darling Ranges and up into Kalamunda. It was later extended to Canning Mills and in 1912 to Karragullen.[1] From Pickering Brook, a line branched off to Bartons Mill.[2][3]

On 1 July 1903, the line was taken over by the Western Australian Government Railways and became known as the Upper Darling Range Branch. The last service ran on 22 July 1949 with the line formally closed with the passing of the Railways (Upper Darling Range) Discontinuance Act in 1950 and dismantled in 1952.[2][3][4][5]

Upper Darling Range Railway
to Perth
Guildford
Forrestfield freight line
to Northam
Bushmead
Ridge Hill
Statham's Quarry
Kalamunda Zig Zag
No 1 points
No 2 points
No 3 points
No 4 points
Gooseberry Hill
Kalamunda
South Kalamunda
Walliston
Bickely
Carmel
Pickering Brook
to Barton's Mill
Canning Mills
Karragullen

Stopping places

Gradient profile map

Named stopping places and locations on the line included:[6]

Name Previous name(s) Distance from Perth Height above sea level
Midland Junction station Helena Vale 15 km 9.3 mi 15 m 49 ft
Bushmead (now under Roe Highway) Waterhall 17 km 11 mi 26 m 85 ft
Rifle Range 23 km 14 mi 104 m 341 ft
Poison Gully Creek (scene of 1904 crash)
Number 1 Points Ridge Hill (lower section of Zig Zag) 27 km 17 mi
Number 2 Points Statham's Quarry Perth City Council siding from 1920 28 km 17 mi
Number 3 Points
Number 4 Points (upper section of Zig Zag) Possibly known as The Knoll
Gooseberry Hill 30 km 19 mi 242 m 794 ft
Kalamunda Stirk's Landing 32 km 20 mi 242 m 794 ft
South Kalamunda Guppy's Siding 35 km 22 mi 283 m 928 ft
Walliston Wallis's Crossing 37 km 23 mi 311 m 1,020 ft
Bickley (named Heidelberg between 1904 and 1915) 38 km 24 mi 318 m 1,043 ft
Carmel Green's Landing 40 km 25 mi 286 m 938 ft
Pickering Brook Pickering Junction 42 km 26 mi 282 m 925 ft
Canning Mills Canning Timber Station 48 km 30 mi 254 m 833 ft
Karragullen50 km 31 mi 300 m 980 ft

References

  1. ↑ Upper Darling Range Extension Act 1911 Government of Western Australia 9 January 1912
  2. 1 2 Bromby, Robyn (1988). Australian Rail Annual 1988. Sutherland: Sherbourne Sutherland Publishing. pp. 115–120. ISBN 1 86275 004 1.
  3. 1 2 History of the Railway Pickering Brook Heritage Group
  4. ↑ Railways (Upper Darling Range) Discontinuance Act Government of Western Australia 29 December 1950
  5. ↑ Complaints About New Railway Bill The West Australian 1 December 1950 page 4
  6. ↑ Part of this table is sourced from:- Slee, John (1979) Cala Munnda pp.55-56

Further reading

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