Belmont railway line, Western Australia

Belmont Railway Line
to Perth
Bayswater
to Midland
Whatley
Swan River
Belmont

The Belmont Railway Line was a branch railway in Western Australia that extended from the Midland Railway Line at Bayswater to Belmont near the Ascot Racecourse. The line closed in 1956.

History

Shortly after the completion of the Eastern Railway between Fremantle and Guildford in 1881, a proposal was submitted by James Dobson for the construction of a railway from the existing line at Bayswater to Busselton, via Canning, Serpentine, Pinjarra, and Bunbury.[1] The proposal was abandoned following the announcement of the construction of the South Western Railway in 1891 which provided a more direct route bridging the Swan River further to the south, but not before portion of the railway was constructed to the Swan River.[2]

In 1897 the line was extended across the Swan River, and a new station built on the southern side of the racecourse.[3][4] The new station was opened on 21 October 1897.[5]

The railway service to Belmont was suspended in 1926 following floods.[6]

Consideration of closing the railway had been publicly discussed as early as 1930.[7][8]

The Belmont branch line was closed in 1956 following a fire on the bridge crossing the Swan River, and the bridge, line and stations were removed in 1957.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ 1886/044, cons 1067, WAS 4410, State Records Office of Western Australia(SROWA)
  2. ↑ City of Bayswater Municipal Heritage Inventory
  3. ↑ Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John R; Australian Railway Historical Society. New South Wales Division (2000), Australian railway routes 1854 to 2000, Australian Railway Historical Society – New South Wales Division, ISBN 978-0-909650-49-0 page 66 WN 36
  4. ↑ History of stations on the Midland line Right Track
  5. ↑ City of Belmont (Heritage) Inventory 2012 page 32
  6. ↑ "Belmont Service Suspended". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 22 July 1926. p. 10. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "BELMONT RAILWAY BRIDGE". The Daily News. XLIX, (17, 180). Western Australia. 29 May 1930. p. 9 (HOME FINAL EDITION). Retrieved 27 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "BELMONT RAILWAY BRIDGE". The West Australian. XLVI, (8, 737). Western Australia. 24 June 1930. p. 5. Retrieved 27 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ West Australian Newspapers (1957), Partly demolished Belmont Railway Bridge looking towards Bayswater, retrieved 27 July 2017
  10. ↑ West Australian Newspapers (1957), Workers demolishing the Belmont Railway Bridge, retrieved 27 July 2017
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