Upper Darling Range Railway

Engine G 118 on display at the Kalamunda Historical Village which is at the site of the Kalamunda station, this image includes the third station built at Kalamunda

Upper Darling Range Railway
Legend To Perth Guildford Forrestfield freight line To Northam Bushmead Ridge Hill Statham's Quarry Kalamunda Zig Zag Bottom points No 3 points Top points Gooseberry Hill Kalamunda South Kalamunda Walliston Bickely (formerly Heidelberg) Carmel Pickering Brook To Barton's Mill Canning Mills Karragullen

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 section' (referring to the section of line in Gooseberry Hill. At the time of construction it was the only section of railway in Western Australia to have had a zigzag formation.

History

Completed in 1891, the Upper Darling Range Railway line in Western Australia was built by the Canning Jarrah Timber Company to supply railway sleepers to Perth's growing railway system. It ran from Midland Junction through to the Darling Ranges and up into Kalamunda. It was later extended to Pickering Brook and then on to Karragullen. From Pickering Brook, the line was also run to Bartons Mill. In 1903 the line was taken over by the Western Australian Government Railways and became known as the Upper Darling Range Branch, which ran it until 1949 when it was closed.

Stopping places

Gradient profile map

Named stopping places and locations on the line included :

Name	Previous name(s)	Distance from Perth		Height above sea level
Midland Junction Railway 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)
Ridge Hill (lower section of Zig Zag)		27 km	17 mi
Bottom Points (possible same as Ridge Hill)
Statham's Quarry	Perth City Council siding (1920–1949)	28 km	17 mi
Number 3 Points
Top 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

The line was closed and pulled up in 1949.

See also

• Darling Scarp

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 0959583106
• Steele, Ken.(1993) Zig Zag to Kalamunda : the story of the Upper Darling Range Railway Lesmurdie, W.A.: Drillmark Publications Division. ISBN 064616323X
• 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

• Kalamunda Zig-Zag Page
• Kalamunda Zig-Zag Page with model photos of stations