Esperance Branch Railway
Encyclopedia
The Esperance Branch Railway is a railway from Kalgoorlie to the port of Esperance
in Western Australia
.
It was lobbied for by Esperance residents to be linked into the WAGR
railway network to provide land transport to their region
Esperance, Western Australia
Esperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The shire of Esperance is home to 9,536 people as of the 2006 census, its major industries are tourism, agriculture,...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
It was lobbied for by Esperance residents to be linked into the WAGR
Western Australian Government Railways
Western Australian Government Railways was most common name of the Western Australian government rail transport authority from 1890 to 1976. It is, in its current form, known as the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia....
railway network to provide land transport to their region
Gauge and Route
It was originally built as narrow gauge, but with gauge standardisation of the main interstate railway in the late 1960s, it was converted to standard gauge to, so as not to become a gauge orphan. The route was also changed somewhat with standardisation, with a junction at Kalgoorlie replacing the junction at Coolgardie.Selected stopping locations
- Kalgoorlie
- MenziesMenzies, Western AustraliaMenzies is a town located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, east-northeast of the state capital, Perth, and north-northwest of the city of Kalgoorlie...
- Grass PatchGrass Patch, Western AustraliaGrass Patch is a small town in the Mallee region of Western Australia, located 79 km north of Esperance on the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway. The town was named after a nearby farm of the same name that had been settled around 1896 and was renowned for bountiful crops and good grass...
- ScaddanScaddan, Western AustraliaScaddan is a small town in Western Australia located east of Perth situated just off the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway between Norseman and Esperance in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia....
- Gibson, Western AustraliaGibson, Western AustraliaGibson is a small town in southeastern Western Australia, about north of Esperance. At the 2006 census, Gibson had a population of 475.-History:...
- 1800m crossing loop built 2009. - EsperanceEsperance, Western AustraliaEsperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The shire of Esperance is home to 9,536 people as of the 2006 census, its major industries are tourism, agriculture,...
Further reading
- Affleck, Fred N.(1978) On track: the making of Westrail, 1950 to 1976 . Perth: Westrail. ISBN 0-7244-7560-5
- Quinlan, Howard & Newland, John R. (2000) Australian Railway Routes 1854-2000 ISBN 0-909650-49-7