Timber railway lines of Western Australia

Timber railway lines of Western Australia

The network of railway lines in Western Australia associated with the timber and firewood industries is as old as the mainline railway system of the former Western Australian Government Railways system. The timber industry relied predominantly upon the Jarrah forests of the Darling Range and the Karri forests of the Southwest Australia region.

Timber Industry

*Millars Empire
*Bunning Brothers
*State Saw Mills
*Adelaide Timber company [ Austin, Jeff.(1980) "Adelaide Timber Company tramways". Wilga. Witchcliffe.Light railways, No. 107, Jan. 1980, p. 23-24, ]
*Kauri Timber Company

Firewood Industry

*Kalgoorlie Woodlines [ Saunders, S.J. (1956) The history of the woodlines and their association with the gold mining industry - adress to members of the W.A. Historical Society ] [ Bunbury, Bill (2002) "Timber for gold : life on the Goldfields woodlines"North Fremantle, W.A. : Fremantle Arts Centre Press, ISBN 1863683720 ] [ Gunzburg, Adrian (1999) "In search of the woodlines". Account of 1999 expedition to locate remains of various firewood company railways in the Eastern Goldfields.Lakewood Firewood Company. West Australian Goldfields Firewood Supply Co. Pty. Ltd. Kalgoorlie & Boulder Firewood Co. Light railways No. 147 (June 1999), p. 10 - 13 ] [ Phil Bianchi, Peter Bridge, Ray Tovey (eds) (2008) "Early woodlines of the Goldfields : the untold story of the woodlines to World War II" Victoria Park, W.A. : Hesperian Press (Second edition) ISBN 0859054322 ] were lines that spread throughout the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia - in all directions from the centre of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder region. Commonly known as "the woodlines" they sustained a population of railway and timber workers in mainly temporary railway networks that moved regularly from the early twentieth century to the 1960's.

Companies

The main companies were:-
* The West Australian Goldfields Firewood Supply Ltd (WAGFS) formed in 1899 Kurrawong later to Lakewood in 1937 closed in 1964/1965
* The Kalgoorlie and Boulder Firewood Company formed in 1902 Broad Arrow later to Lakeside and part of the 1919 combine
* The Westralia Timber and Firewood Company worked between 1902 -1920 at Kanowna later to Kurramia (aka B.T.Henderson’s Tramway)
* The Lakeside Firewood Companies was the combination of the latter two businesses and existed for a short time between 1919-1924

Woodline strike

A significant event in the woodlines history that affected the region was the industrial action that became the Woodline strike between the 1st of July through to 14 August 1919 over the attempt at post war reduction of wages for workers. The strike brought the goldmines of Kalgoorlie to a standstill as a result.(Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper stories reported the event)

Notes

Main reference

* Gunzburg, Adrian and Austin, Jeff (2008) "Rails through the Bush: Timber and Firewood Tramways and Railway Contractors of Western Australia" Perth, W.A. Rail Heritage WA. ISBN 978-0-9803922-2-7

Further reading

* Fall, V. G. (1972) "Cargoes of jarrah". History of the jarrah timber trade in W.A. and of the ships which carried jarrah cargoes. Includes a detailed account of one voyage of the Monkbarns. Early days, Vol. 7, pt. 4 (1972), p. 39-65

ee also

* Jarrah Forest