Esperance Branch Railway

Esperance Branch Railway
Overview
Termini Coolgardie
Esperance
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge Narrow gauge
Route map
Kalgoorlie
Eastern Goldfields Railway
Coolgardie
Original rail alignment (closed 1960s)
Widgiemooltha
 Norseman
 Salmon Gums
 Esperance

The Esperance Branch Railway is a railway from Kalgoorlie to the port of Esperance in Western Australia.

It was lobbied for by Esperance residents to be linked into the WAGR railway network to provide land transport to their region.[1][2][3]

In the strictest terms it was an extension of the Eastern Goldfields Railway.[4]

Originally it was the Coolgardie - Esperance railway, but following the Standard Gauge project in the 1960s it became the Kalgoorlie - Esperance railway, as Coolgardie was no longer connected by rail.

Sub-divisions/Sections

  • Coolgardie - Widgiemooltha - 51 miles 38 chains (82.8 km), completed in 1908.
  • Widgiemooltha - Norseman - 56 miles 59 chains (91.3 km), completed in 1909
  • Norseman - Salmon Gums - 58 miles 46 chains (94.3 km), completed in 1927
  • Salmon Gums - Esperance - 65 miles 56 chains (105.7 km), completed in 1925.[5]

Steam era water supplies

During the time the narrow gauge railway was in operation, due to the distances through dry country, dams and tanks were of importance to supply the steam engines in operation. Between Coolgardie and Esperance, water supply sources were from Water Supply Department (Coolgardie), Mines Department Dam (Widgiemooltha),and WAGR dams - WAGR annual reports took into consideration: Catchment area, Capacity, Pumped or gravitation collection of water, estimated loss by evaporation and absoprtion, and total amount of water stored.

Esperance Flyer

This passenger train started in 1932. It was 5 hours faster than the mixed goods train,[6] though averaging only about 35 km/h (22 mph).[7] Trains were speeded up by a further 1½ hours when diesels took over in 1954.[8] By 1967 a bus had replaced the train.[9]

Gauge and Route

It was originally built as narrow gauge, but with gauge standardisation of the main interstate railway in the late 1960s, it was converted to standard gauge to, so as not to become a gauge orphan. The route was also changed somewhat with standardisation, with a junction at Kalgoorlie replacing the junction at Coolgardie.

Selected stopping locations

Notes

  1. ↑ http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b2395637~S2
  2. ↑ http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b1891792~S2
  3. ↑ http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b1869671~S2
  4. ↑ Western Australian Government Railways (1954), Report of the Western Australian Government Railways Commission for the year ended, W.H. Wyatt, retrieved 5 July 2012 Appendix F, page 60 - 'Eastern Goldfields Railway'
  5. ↑ Alex Gibson and D. H. S. du Plessis (December 1947). "Report to the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the management, workings and control of the Western Australian Government Railways" (PDF). Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "BY RAIL TO ESPERANCE". West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954). 1932-12-20. p. 15. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  7. ↑ Fitch, Ron J. (2006). Australian Railwayman: From Cadet Engineer to Railways Commissioner. Rosenberg Publishing Pty, Limited. ISBN 9781922013095.
  8. ↑ "Westland will be nearly four hours faster". Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954). 1954-11-21. p. 6. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  9. ↑ "Week-end Bus Service for Kambalda". Beverley Times (WA : 1905 - 1977). 1967-12-01. p. 8. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  10. ↑ Railway Digest October 2009, p17

Further reading

  • Affleck, Fred N.(1978) On track: the making of Westrail, 1950 to 1976 . Perth: Westrail. ISBN 0-7244-7560-5
  • Quinlan, Howard & Newland, John R. (2000) Australian Railway Routes 1854-2000 ISBN 0-909650-49-7

Old photos - Esperance station, Esperance Flyer

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