Upper Darling Range Railway

The Upper Darling Range Railway (also known as the Upper Darling Range Branch) was a branch railway from Midland Junction, Western Australia, that rose up the southern side of the Helena Valley and on to the Darling Scarp via the Kalamunda Zig Zag. At the time of construction it was the only section of railway in Western Australia to have had a zig zag formation.

For the Upper Darling region of NSW and Queensland, see Darling River.

Upper Darling Range Railway
G118 at the Kalamunda Historical Village on the site of Kalamunda station
Overview
System	Western Australian Government Railways
Status	Dismantled
Termini	Midland Junction Karragullen
Operation
Opened	July 1891
Closed	22 July 1949
Technical
Line length	35 kilometres
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

History

Completed in July 1891, the Upper Darling Range Railway line was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to supply railway sleepers to Perth's growing railway system. It ran from Midland Junction railway station through to the Darling Ranges and up into Kalamunda. It was later extended to Canning Mills and in 1912 to Karragullen.[1] From Pickering Brook, a line branched off to Bartons Mill.[2][3]

On 1 July 1903, the line was taken over by the Western Australian Government Railways and became known as the Upper Darling Range Branch. The last service ran on 22 July 1949. The line was formally closed by the Railways (Upper Darling Range) Discontinuance Act 1950; it was dismantled in 1952.[2][3][4][5]

Upper Darling Range Railway
to Perth Guildford Forrestfield freight line to Northam Bushmead Ridge Hill Statham's Quarry Kalamunda Zig Zag No 1 points No 2 points No 3 points No 4 points Gooseberry Hill Kalamunda South Kalamunda Walliston Bickely Carmel Pickering Brook to Barton's Mill Canning Mills Karragullen

Stopping places

Gradient profile map

Named stopping places and locations on the line included:[6]

Name	Previous name(s)	Distance from Perth		Height above sea level
Midland Junction station	Helena Vale	15 km	9.3 mi	15 m	49 ft
Bushmead (now under Roe Highway)	Waterhall	17 km	11 mi	26 m	85 ft
Rifle Range	23 km	14 mi	104 m	341 ft
Poison Gully Creek (scene of 1904 crash)
Number 1 Points Ridge Hill (lower section of Zig Zag)	27 km	17 mi
Number 2 Points Statham's Quarry	Perth City Council siding from 1920	28 km	17 mi
Number 3 Points
Number 4 Points (upper section of Zig Zag)	Possibly known as The Knoll
Gooseberry Hill	30 km	19 mi	242 m	794 ft
Kalamunda	Stirk's Landing	32 km	20 mi	242 m	794 ft
South Kalamunda	Guppy's Siding	35 km	22 mi	283 m	928 ft
Walliston	Wallis's Crossing	37 km	23 mi	311 m	1,020 ft
Bickley	(named Heidelberg between 1904 and 1915)	38 km	24 mi	318 m	1,043 ft
Carmel	Green's Landing	40 km	25 mi	286 m	938 ft
Pickering Brook	Pickering Junction	42 km	26 mi	282 m	925 ft
Canning Mills	Canning Timber Station	48 km	30 mi	254 m	833 ft
Karragullen	50 km	31 mi	300 m	980 ft

References

1. Upper Darling Range Extension Act 1911 Government of Western Australia 9 January 1912
2. Bromby, Robyn (1988). Australian Rail Annual 1988. Sutherland: Sherbourne Sutherland Publishing. pp. 115–120. ISBN 1 86275 004 1.
3. History of the Railway Pickering Brook Heritage Group
4. Railways (Upper Darling Range) Discontinuance Act Government of Western Australia 29 December 1950
5. Complaints About New Railway Bill The West Australian 1 December 1950 page 4
6. Part of this table is sourced from:- Slee, John (1979) Cala Munnda pp.55-56

Further reading

• Gunzburg, Adrian (1967) Upper Darling Range Railway: WAGR held at Battye Library
• Price, Eric T. (1983) The Canning jarrah line, 1891-1903 Western Australia : E.T. Price
• Slee, John. (1979) Cala Munnda : a home in the forest : a history of Kalamunda Kalamunda, W.A. : Shire of Kalamunda. ISBN 0-9595831-0-6
• Steele, Ken.(1993) Zig Zag to Kalamunda : the story of the Upper Darling Range Railway Lesmurdie, W.A.: Drillmark Publications Division. ISBN 0-646-16323-X
• Watson, Lindsay (1995)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.
• Webb, E.G. (Eric Godfrey) & Kalamunda and Districts Historical Society (1996). Rails in the hills : a history of the railway from Midland to Karragullen, 1891-1949 Kalamund & Districts Historical Society, Kalamunda, W.A

External links

• Kev's Workshop Kalamunda Zig-Zag Page