MidlandJunctionStation WEFretwellCollection

The Midland Junction railway station was an important junction

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the Eastern Railway of Western Australia until its closure in 1966. Its history started on 1 March 1886 when Frederick Broome, then Governor of Western Australia, turned the

first sod Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

. It was the first railway station in Midland Junction and was replaced by the

Midland Midland may refer to: Places Australia * Midland, Western Australia Canada * Midland, Albert County, New Brunswick * Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick * Midland, Newfoundland and Labrador * Midland, Ontario India * Midland Ward, Kohima, Nagal ...

station west, across the tracks from the

Midland Railway Workshops The Midland Railway Workshops in Midland, Western Australia, were the main workshops for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) for over 80 years. History The first railway workshops in Western Australia were located at Fremantle and ...

Midland junction railway station platform

Junction era

Midland Junction was an aptly named locality and railway station, as it had the following services leaving from its platforms: * the Upper Darling Range Railway or

Zig Zag railway The Zig Zag Railway is an Australian heritage railway, situated near Lithgow, New South Wales. It was opened by the not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-op as an unpaid volunteer-staffed heritage railway in October 1975, using the alignment of th ...

to Kalamunda until 1949 * Mundaring (and

Mundaring Weir Mundaring Weir is a dam (and historically the adjoining locality) located from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. The dam and reservoir form the boundary between the suburbs of Reservoir and Sawyers Valley. The dam impounds the Hele ...

until 1952) until 1954 * Bellevue until 1965 * Chidlow until 1965 *

Midland Railway of Western Australia The Midland Railway of Western Australia (MRWA) was a railway company that built and operated the Midland line in Western Australia. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Although having its headquarters in London, it had no association ...

until 1963 It was in effect the point at which all rail services in the Western Australian network had to pass byexcept for the South West line to Bunbury. It was also a stopping point for

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 respons ...

Railway Bus Services until its closure. The

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

workshops and sheds were to the west on the area now developed with the Centrepoint Shopping Centre just south of the Midland Town Hall and original post office.

Eastern railway

In the 1890s following the construction of the Eastern Railway second route, Midland Junction had regular metropolitan passenger services running through on to Chidlow and Mundaring until 1954. Services ceased from the Mundaring Loop or "first route" at that date, but the line was not closed by Parliament until 12 March 1965. The second route continued until the closure of the Bellevue to Northam line, on 13 February 1966.

Station and yard

The conditions of the facilities at the station, and the station setup were at different times criticised as being poor and requiring attention.

Signal boxes

Due to the amount of traffic passing the railway station, the adjacent Midland railway workshops, marshalling yards and other services, there were two signal boxes either end of the railway station.

Following closure

The railway station buildings were removed, as well as surrounding fixtures, except the footbridge over the railway line to the

. In the 2000s the adjacent footbridge to the Midland Railway Workshops south of the site was removed when the Helena Street railway crossing was re-opened. The old platform has been utilised by photographers and railfans to watch mainline traffic pass.

Proposed 2020 station

In 2020 a commitment from the government was to replace the 50 year old station to the west, with the development of a new station very close to the location of the original Midland junction station.

Notes

References

* Watson, Lindsay ''The Railway History Of Midland Junction : Commemorating The Centenary Of Midland Junction, 1895-1995'' Swan View, W.A : L & S Drafting in association with the Shire of Swan and the Western Australian Light Railway Preservation Association, 995* Watson, Lindsay.''Midland Junction Railway Station'' Western rails, Vol 9, no.4(July 1987), p. 10-12 * Verney, Terry 'Thru Midland' ''The WESTLAND'' issue 218, March 2003 p. 4 {{coord, -31.8932, 116.0062, format=dms, type:railwaystation_region:AU-WA, display=title Disused railway stations in Western Australia Midland, Western Australia Eastern Railway (Western Australia) Rail junctions in Western Australia Railway stations in Western Australia Railway stations in Australia opened in 1886 Railway stations closed in 1966