Koolanooka is a small town 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 is situated between Morawa and Perenjori just off the Mullewa-Wubin road. At the 2006 census, Koolanooka had a population of 46. In 1932 the Wheat Pool of Western Australia announced that the town would have two

grain elevators A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding.

Name

Originating as a station on the Mullewa to Wongan Hills railway line, it was initially known as Bowgada when it was planned in 1913. The name Bowgada was taken from the pastoral

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 ...

located nearby. Shortly before the line was opened in 1914 the name changed to Koolanooka and the next station south on the railway line was named Bowgada instead. The townsite was gazetted in 1916. The town takes its name from the nearby Koolanooka Spring. The word is Aboriginal in origin and means ''place of plenty wild turkeys''.

Iron ore mining

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

mine was opened in the area in 1965 along with the associated railway

spur line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

, powerhouse, port facilities at

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 ...

and housing for workers in Morawa. The original 1966 Koolanooka iron mine was the first iron ore exporting mine in Western Australia. In 2006 iron ore mining was re-commencing at the location.

Transport

It has a railway station on the

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 ...

, originally

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 ...

now

Arc Infrastructure Arc Infrastructure, formerly Brookfield Rail and WestNet Rail, is a rail infrastructure manager and access provider in Western Australia with a long-term lease on the network from the Government of Western Australia. It operates approximately 5 ...

network, on what was known as the Mullewa line.

Adjacent railway stations

* Morawa (north) * Perenjori (south)

References

{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Shire of Morawa