The Esperance Branch Railway is a railway from
Kalgoorlie to the port of
Esperance in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
It was lobbied for by Esperance residents to be linked into the
WAGR railway network to provide land transport to their region.
In the strictest terms it was an extension of the
Eastern Goldfields Railway
The Eastern Goldfields Railway was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.
History
The Eastern Railway opened in stages from Perth to Nort ...
.
, but following the Standard Gauge project in the 1960s it ran from Kalgoorlie to Esperance, as Coolgardie was no longer connected by rail.
Sub-divisions/Sections
* Coolgardie –
Widgiemooltha – , completed in 1908.
* Widgiemooltha –
Norseman – , completed in 1909
* Norseman –
Salmon Gums – , completed in 1927
* Salmon Gums – Esperance – , completed in 1925.
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 absorption, and total amount of water stored.
Esperance Flyer
This passenger train started in 1932. It was 5 hours faster than the mixed goods train, though averaging only about . Trains were sped up by a further 1½ hours when diesels took over in 1954. By 1967 a bus had replaced the train.
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
*
Grass Patch
*
Scaddan
*
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
– 1800m crossing loop built 2009.
Railway Digest
''Railway Digest'' is a monthly magazine, published in Sydney, covering contemporary railways of Australia.
Overview
The magazine's publisher is the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS), NSW Division. The first issue was published in ...
October 2009, p17
*
Esperance
Notes
Further reading
*
* Quinlan, Howard & Newland, John R. (2000) ''Australian Railway Routes 1854-2000''
{{coord missing, Western AustraliaExternal links
Old photos â€
Esperance stationEsperance Flyer
Railway lines in Western Australia
Goldfields-Esperance
Standard gauge railways in Australia