The Yarloop Workshops was a railway and timber mill machinery workshop, situated in the town of

Yarloop, Western Australia Yarloop is a town in the South West of 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 workshops operated from 1901 to 1978. Originally built by Charles and Edwin Millar on the site of the first timber mill in the area, the operations expanded to become the support facility for

Millars Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited Millars' Karri and Jarrah Company (1902) Limited, commonly known as Millars, was a Western Australian focused timber and timber railway company. Millars' Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited was a public company incorporated in London in July 1897 w ...

's 26 timber mills and the rail network that connected them. The workshops hand-crafted most of the parts necessary to maintain the equipment rather than experience delays in obtaining parts from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. After suffering extensive damage from Cyclone Alby in 1978, Millars moved their operation to a site just outside the town on the

South Western Highway South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about long. Route description Perth to Bunbury ...

. The site then changed ownership several times until it was bought by

Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, West ...

in 1983.

History

In 1895 the Millar brothers built a timber mill (?) on the site and as production increased the need to maintain equipment meant that the place was expanded to incorporate the various machinery workshops until 1901 when the site's sole function was for the maintenance of Millars equipment. During both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the workshops were converted to manufacture armaments. In the 1930s the timber industry in the region peaked with Millars operating 26 sawmills and an extensive private railway system to support them. The workshops became the centre of the operations employing over 100 people. The workshops included a foundry making the parts as necessary; as part of this is the largest collection of wooden patterns were made and are still retained on site in the workshops.

2016 fire

On 7 January 2016 the workshop, along with most of the townsite, was destroyed by the

2016 Waroona bushfire The 2016 Waroona-Yarloop bushfire started in the east in the forests of the Darling Scarp before reaching the Swan Coastal Plain and continued westwards until it reached the Indian Ocean. It started as a lightning strike that caused two fires ...

Rebuilding

In January 2022, it was announced that the workshops would be rebuilt, with the first stage focusing on rebuilding the steam workshops.

References

External links

Yarloop Workshop Inc.
{{coord, -32.9593, 115.9004, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Shire of Harvey Economic history of Western Australia Railway workshops in Western Australia Forestry museums Steam museums Railway museums in Western Australia Defunct forest products companies of Australia Technology museums in Australia 1901 establishments in Australia 1978 disestablishments in Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the Shire of Harvey Defunct railway workshops of Australia