The Dongara–Eneabba railway line is a disused railway line in the

Mid West The Mid West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia, about north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to east of W ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It branches off the Midland railway line at Dongara and runs for to Eneabba. It opened in 1976 and closed in 2013, and was solely used to haul

mineral sands Heavy mineral sands are a class of ore deposit which is an important source of zirconium, titanium, thorium, tungsten, rare-earth elements, the industrial minerals diamond, sapphire, garnet, and occasionally precious metals or gemstones. Heavy mi ...

from a mine at Eneabba to Geraldton Port.

Description

The Dongara–Eneabba railway line was constructed with a

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges ...

, conforming with Western Australia's

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

network. The

ruling gradient In railroading, the ruling grade is steepest grade on the rail line between two locations. Climbing the steepest part of the line dictates the minimum motive power needed, or how light the train must be, in order for the run to be made without ...

is 1 in 200 and the

rail weight The rail profile is the cross-sectional shape of a rail as installed on a railway or railroad, perpendicular to its length. Early rails were made of wood, cast iron or wrought iron. All modern rails are hot rolled steel with a cross secti ...

is . The line is long. The town of Eneabba is at the mark and the town of Arrowsmith is at the mark. The alignment roughly parallels

Brand Highway Brand Highway is a main highway linking the northern outskirts of Perth to Geraldton in Western Australia. Together with North West Coastal Highway, it forms part of the Western Australian coastal link to the Northern Territory. The highway i ...

. Half the route travels through privately held farmland and half travels through

crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

. The line crosses the

Irwin River The Irwin River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It was named on 9 April 1839 by the explorer George Grey, while on his second disastrous exploration expedition along the Western Australian coast. Grey named the river aft ...

and the

Arrowsmith River The Arrowsmith River lies within the Mid West region of Western Australia. The explorer George Grey found the river on 11 April 1839, on his second expedition along the west coast. He named it after the distinguished English cartographer John ...

History

Construction

The construction of the railway was triggered by the discovery of substantial deposits of

near Eneabba. It was also envisioned that the railway could haul grain, livestock, oil, and

superphosphate Superphosphate is a chemical fertiliser first synthesised in the 1840s by reacting bones with sulfuric acid. The process was subsequently improved by reacting phosphate coprolites with sulfuric acid. Subsequently, other phosphate-rich deposits suc ...

. It was planned that there would be six return trips per week, using

WAGR D class The WAGR D class was a class of 4-6-4T tank locomotive operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) between 1912 and 1964. History In 1911 the WAGR placed an order with the North British Locomotive Company for twenty 4-6-4T lo ...

locomotives hauling

hopper car A hopper car () or hopper wagon () is a type of railroad freight car that has opening doors or gates on the underside or on the sides to discharge its cargo. They are used to transport loose solid bulk commodities such as coal, ore, grain, a ...

s. The

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parl ...

passed the Dongara–Eneabba Railway Act in 1974, and it was given

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 23 October 1974. The railway was constructed and owned by the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways 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 respon ...

(renamed in 1975 to Westrail). Earthworks commenced in February 1975. During the construction of the Dongara–Eneabba railway line, the Midland railway line was realigned through Dongara, causing the demolition of the Dongara railway station, which had been built in 1894 by Gustave Liebe. The new alignment was shorter than the original alignment and it opened on 1 June 1975. The route of the Dongara–Eneabba railway line travelled through the Dongara Roman Catholic Cemetery, located on the southern side of Brand Highway, so the remains there were re-interred in the Dongara Cemetery. The Dongara–Eneabba railway line opened to traffic on 20 April 1976, but it was officially opened by the

premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive br ...

Charles Court Sir Charles Walter Michael Court (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was an Australian politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 8 April 1974 to 25 January 1982. A member of the Western Australian Liberal Party, Liberal Par ...

, on 30 April 1976.

Potential extension to Gingin

In 1982, a report was released analysing the potential to extend the railway line south to Gingin, a distance of . This would have shortened the distance by rail between

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

by , bypassing much of the Midland railway line and allowing for a lower ruling gradient. The estimated cost of this was $25.25million in 1980, or $ million in . The report analysed seven potential routes that could use the extension: *Western Ti Mineral Sands from Eneabba to Capel *CRA Bauxite from Chittering Valley to Geraldton *Allied Eneabba–Bauxite from Eneabba to Narngulu *Allied Eneabba Coal from Capel to Narngulu *CRA Coal from

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many type ...

to Geraldton *Western Ti Coal from Capel to Eneabba *Other traffics from Kewdale to Geraldton and vice versa The report concluded that the extension would be viable if "other traffics", Western Ti Mineral Sands and at least one other project got underway.

Privatisation and closure

In December 2000, Westrail's freight operations and a 49-year lease of Westrail's freight network, including the Dongara–Eneabba railway line, was sold to

Australian Railroad Group Australian Railroad Group (ARG) was an Australian rail freight operator. It began operations in Western Australia on 17 December 2000 following its purchase of the Westrail freight business. It was purchased by QR National in June 2006. The mai ...

(ARG), a joint venture between

Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...

and

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom; and formerly in Australia. ...

. ARG set up a subsidiary, WestNet Rail, to manage the below-rail operations. In February 2006, it was announced that ARG would sell WestNet Rail to

Babcock & Brown Babcock & Brown LP (B&B) was a global investment and advisory firm, established in 1977, based in Sydney, Australia, that went into liquidation in 2009. Babcock & Brown Securities LLC is an active investment banking firm focused on equipment an ...

, and the above-rail operations would be sold to

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both Commuter rail, suburban and Regional rail, interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well ...

. Babcock & Brown Infrastructure was renamed Prime Infrastructure in October 2009, and in 2010, the company merged with

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. is a publicly traded limited partnership with corporate headquarters in Toronto, Canada, that engages in the acquisition and management of infrastructure assets on a global basis. Until a spin-off in Janua ...

. In August 2011, WestNet Rail was rebranded Brookfield Rail, and in July 2017, Brookfield Rail was rebranded as Arc Infrastructure. Services were suspended in September 2010 and resumed in January 2012 due to a revival of the mine. The final train ran on the Dongara–Eneabba railway line in February 2013, coinciding with the mothballing of the mine. As of 2018, the level crossings along the railway line still retain their flashing lights. Major roads that cross the railway include

Indian Ocean Drive Indian Ocean Drive is a coastal highway in the Australian state of Western Australia which services the coastal communities along the Indian Ocean immediately north of the state capital Perth, linking the northern suburb of Yanchep with the Br ...

and Kailis Drive.

Description

History

Construction

Potential extension to Gingin

Privatisation and closure

References

Further reading