The Great Southern Railway was a railway company that operated from

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...

to Albany 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 ...

between 1886 and 1896. In 1896 the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

took over the company, and kept the name for the route.

Land development

The Great Southern Railway project was directly tied in with developments of lands related to agriculture.

Construction

The first sods for the gauge railway were turned on 20 October 1886. This occurred simultaneously at Beverley and Albany by Lady Broome and the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Sir Frederick Broome respectively. The final spike was driven on 14 February 1889, north of Albany. The official opening of the line was on 1 June 1889. The construction of the railway was significant for the development of economic activity in the region and led to the establishment of grain and sheep grazing, along with the development of towns such as Katanning, Broomehill, Tambellup, Cranbrook, Mount Barker and Woodanilling. There was some initial debate over where the railway line should be placed. In the end, the link was made from an existing line ending at Beverley because it was the cheapest option. This devastated residents of the town of Kojonup, who initially hoped the line would pass through their town and follow the

Albany Highway Albany Highway links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its oldest settlement, Albany, on the state's south coast. The highway travels through the southern Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions, and is designated State Route ...

Conversion to diesel

Steam locomotives were withdrawn from mainline work in Western Australia in 1971the process of removing steam from the Great Southern line had serious economic effects upon the towns of Narrogin and Katanning where extensive barracks and services relative to steam operations were closed down after this date.

Present

Currently the line is managed by Arc Infrastructure. The majority of movements are CBH grain trains out of the Albany and Wagin depots.

Aurizon Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...

currently operates a woodchip train between Albany and Redmond.

References

* * Quinlan, Howard & Newland, John R. ''Australian Railway Routes 1854-2000'' 2000.

Notes

External links

* Defunct railway companies of Australia Great Southern (Western Australia) Railway lines in Western Australia Railway lines opened in 1889 Agricultural land development schemes 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia {{WesternAustralia-rail-transport-stub