Hotham Valley Railway

Hotham Valley Tourist Railway (WA) Inc. has its origins in a small group of enthusiasts who met together in 1974 with the object of preserving steam locomotives and the railway line from Pinjarra to Dwellingup.

Typical Operations

Today, Hotham Valleys operations are based around their facilities at Pinjarra, and the Hotham Valley Railway between Alumina Junction and Etmylin.

In past years, the organisation ran a number of trains across the WestNet Rail narrow gauge network. This included tour trains to such destinations as Albany, Northam, Geraldton or York. Steam trains run during non-summer months including regular services from Pinjarra to Dwellingup. Like many other tourist railways, escalating insurance costs, and human resourcing issues, contributed to a curtailment of its operations from the broader network to the Hotham Valley Line

From the Dwellingup station, Hotham Valley run the Etmilyn Forest Tramway, which runs 8km east to Etmilyn. This service includes the perennially popular "Etmilyn Forest Diner".

Hotham Valley locomotives have also recently been contracted for infrastructure trains, for example running rail trains to Geraldton. An interesting working occurred in June 2003 when light diesel locomotive Z1152 was transported by road to the new Nowergup railcar depot to assist with the placement of the overhead wiring.

Locomotive Roster

* C class diesel - C1701 (spares), C1702, C1703
* G class diesel - G50
* G class steam - G123
* Pm class steam - Pm706
* V class diesel - V4, V5
* W class steam - W903, W920, W945
* XA class diesel - XA1401, XA1411 (spares)
* Z class diesel - Z1152

External links

* [http://www.hothamvalleyrailway.com.au/ Hotham Valley Railway]

Further reading

* Watson, Lindsay and J.C. Purcell (1981) "Hotham Valley Tourist Railway : guide book" Pinjarra : Hotham Valley Tourist Railway W.A. Inc.
* Purcell, John, (1991 "Hotham Valley Tourist Railway : souvenir book" Perth, W.A.: The Railway. ISBN 0646060201