Pinjarra to Narrogin railway

The Pinjarra to Narrogin railway was a 153 kilometre cross-country railway line built between the towns of Pinjarra and Narrogin in Western Australia.

Pinjarra to Narrogin railway
Remnants of a bridge of the former line at Congelin, Dryandra Woodland
Overview
Owner	Western Australian Government Railways
Termini	Pinjarra Narrogin
Service
Operator(s)	Western Australian Government Railways
History
Opened	in stages between 1910 & 1927
Technical
Line length	153 km (95 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Pinjarra to Narrogin railway Main locations 45km 30miles Narrogin 5 Dwarda 4 Boddington 3 Dwellingup 2 Pinjarra 1
Route map km 0 Pinjarra South Western Railway 00.02 Alumina Junction Alcoa Refinery 8.9 Meelon 010.2 Isandra 11.2 Brookdale 13.4 13km Bridge 15.1 Bergining 15.9 16km Bridge 19.6 Marrinup Millars Mill 20.3 Millars Tramway 22.1 Ballast Pit 023.8 Dwellingup Hotham Valley Rwy. Railway Department Tramway (Banksiadale) State Saw Mills Tramway 27.1 Holyoake 28.9 Millars Tramway 30.4 Davis Brook 032.2 Etmilyn 33.8 Plavin's Plavin's Tramway 36.8 Inglehope 40.4 Amphion Public Works Department Tramway 41.7 Chadoora 47.4 Pindalup 49.9 Wuraming 50.2 Railway Department Tramway 55.2 Hotham ALCO Tramway 59.3 Westwood Millars Tullis Mill Tramway 61.8 Tullis 62.1 Tullis Bridge 65.5 Farmer's Crossing 070.8 Boddington 73.4 Ranford 76.6 Mooliaman 83.3 Crossman 88.3 Waitemata 093.0 Dwarda 093.0 Dwarda 94.4 Hotham River 98.0 Hotham River 102.7 Ballast Pit 105.5 Mooterdine 118.6 Congelin 128.0 Contine 136.3 Minniging 145.6 Yorlok Collie-Narrogin Line 152.7 Narrogin Great Southern Railway Narrogin-Wickepin-Merredin Narrogin-Yilliminning-Merredin

History

The line was opened in stages between 1910 and 1927 (with construction being delayed by the onset of the First World War) to service the booming timber industry as well as rural and fruit-growing establishments between the two termini. Pinjarra and Narrogin are located on the Western Australian Government Railways' South Western and Great Southern main lines respectively, and as such the Pinjarra to Narrogin railway provided an important link between the two, providing a rail transport link to towns and mills along the way, such as Dwellingup and Boddington, both of which continue to be significant settlements in the region.

The Pinjarra-Marrinup Railway Act 1907, an act by the Parliament of Western Australia assented to on 20 December 1907, authorised the construction of the railway line from Pinjarra to Marrinup. The Pinjarra to Dwellingup and Dwellingup to Holyoake sections of the rail the railway were both approved for construction in December 1908, with the former officially opened on 28 February and the latter on 1 July 1910. Both sections were constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD).

The Dwellingup–Hotham Railway Act 1911, assented to on 16 February 1911, authorised construction of the railway line from Dwellingup to Hotham.

Construction of the Holyoake to Dwarda section of the railway line was awarded to the PWD on 12 February 1910 and the line was opened on 8 August 1913.

In 1912, two more acts concerning this railway were passed, the Hotham–Crossman Railway Act 1911 and the Hotham–Crossman Railway Extension Act 1912, assented to 9 January and 24 December 1912.

The Pinjarra-Dwarda Railway Extension Act 1914 was assented to on 18 February 1915 and authorised the construction of the railway line extension from Dwarda to Narrogin. The final section Dwarda to Narrogin was not awarded for construction to the PWD until 24 July 1925, and officially opened on 18 September 1926.

In 1954, the state government of Western Australia had compiled a list of loss-making railway operations, of which the Pinjarra to Narrogin line was one. Figures were reported for two separate sections of the line, split at Dwarda. The section from Pinjarra to Dwards had a total expenditure of almost five times its earnings in the financial year to June 1953, £A 58,436 expenditure versus earnings of £A 12,316. Figures for the Dwarda to narrogin section were far worse, with and expenditure of £A 12,198 while earning just £A 915.

The Railways (Cue-Big Bell and other Railways) Discontinuance Act 1960 officially closed the Boddington to Narrogin section of the line, which was assented to to on 12 December 1960. This act affected a number of Western Australian railways, officially closing 13 lines in the state.

The Railways Discontinuance and Land Revestment Act 1975, assented to on 18 September 1975, closed the Dwellingup to Boddington section of the railway line.

The closing of many of the local timber mills led to a gradual decline in traffic on the line and, accordingly, commercial services were withdrawn progressively until cessation of the last remaining service in 1984. However, the Hotham Valley Railway has operated a heritage railway over a thirty-two kilometre section of the line as far as Etmilyn from 1974 onwards and continues to do so.

Legacy

Only the section of the railway line from Pinjarra to Dwellingup is still shown as operated by third parties on contemporary railway maps.

At the western terminus of the former line, the Pinjarra Railway Yards is on the Western Australian State Register of Heritage Places, as is the Narrogin Railway Station at the eastern end of the line, also both predate the establishment of the Pinjarra to Narrogin railway.

The Pinjarra to Boddington railway route was assessed for heritage value but found to be not significant enough to warrant inclusion in the Shire of Murray's heritage list. However, in the neighbouring Shire of Boddington, the railway line precinct from Boddington to Dwellingup is on the shire's heritage list.

At Congelin, in the Shire of Williams, the site of the former railway siding is on the shire's heritage list but only earthworks now remain for the former siding.

Further reading

• Sallis, Roger W. (2009). The Pinjarra–Narrogin Railway: A History of Western Australia’s Hotham Valley Line. Salisbury, SA: Roger W. Sallis. ISBN 9780646510224.
• "News 2008". Hotham Valley Railway. Retrieved 25 August 2020.