35-428: The Flinders Bay branch railway , also known as the Boyanup to Flinders Bay section ran between Boyanup and Flinders Bay , in South Western Western Australia . The section from Flinders Bay to Busselton has now been converted into a rail trail for bushwalkers and cyclists, called the Wadandi Trail. The first section of this line was constructed between Karridale and Boranup in May 1884, forming part of
70-617: A fire burnt 65 metres of jetty to the water-line incurring damage totaling $ 900,000. By 2001, the Busselton Jetty Preservation Committee had raised just A$ 14,000 — a rate of A$ 1,000 per year since its founding in 1987. In 2001, a new community-development Non-Government Organization (NGO), named "The Busselton Challenge", assisted the Committee in designing and executing a new fund-raising project that raised A$ 220,000 in just six months — 440 times
105-426: A length of 1,841 metres (6,040 ft). The last commercial vessel called at the jetty in 1971 and the jetty was closed the following year. It passed into the control of Busselton Shire and has been gradually restored and improved since. The jetty has survived Cyclone Alby in 1978, borers , weathering, several fires, and the threat of demolition, to have become a major regional tourist attraction. The jetty features
140-510: A natural spring, sometimes known as Bessonnet Springs, and a permanent billabong . Bessonnet named his farm Boyanup . Bessonnet left the colony in 1849 aboard Despatch . Location 54 proved to be "too far from anywhere to be workable and eventually the bush took it back". A road survey in 1869 shows the town name as "Boyinup". In 1894 the South Western Railway was completed from Perth to Bunbury. The Bunbury to Boyanup section
175-547: A rail line along its length, a relic of the railway line into Busselton from Bunbury . The line now carries tourists along the jetty to an underwater observatory, one of only six natural aquariums in the world. In 1839 Governor Hutt appointed "the place in Geographe Bay opposite the Settlement at The Vasse to be the legal place for the loading and unloading of goods". Construction of the jetty – originally known as
210-547: Is a jetty located in Busselton , Western Australia . It is the longest timber-piled jetty ( pier ) in the Southern Hemisphere at 1,841 metres (6,040 ft) long. The jetty is managed by a not-for-profit community organisation, Busselton Jetty Inc. The jetty's construction commenced in 1864 and the first section was opened in 1865. The jetty was extended numerous times until the 1960s, ultimately reaching
245-658: Is located 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) from shore – almost at the end of the Busselton Jetty – and can accommodate up to 40 people at a time in its 9.5-metre (31 ft) diameter observation chamber. Descending 8 metres (26 ft) below sea level, visitors can view the corals and fish life through eleven viewing windows. The onshore facility, located in the nearby Railway House, features interactive displays and immersive exhibits of Australia’s offshore marine parks. It has been partially designed to cater to visitors when inclement weather forces jetty-based attractions such as
280-688: The Flinders Bay-Margaret River Railway Act 1913 , and was run as an isolated system by the Public Works Department for a few years. After some years of no service, the railway south of Witchcliffe was rehabilitated, including the construction of a realignment north of Jarrahdene. It was formally taken over by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) and opened for service on 1 April 1925. This followed
315-503: The M.C. Davies Timber horse-drawn tramway system, which soon ran between the jetties at Hamelin Bay and Flinders Bay . Access to both jetties allowed timber to be loaded onto ships in all seasons, as the original west-facing Hamelin Bay jetty typically experienced poor conditions during the winter. Some parts of the system were originally constructed using wooden rails and along steep alignments, oriented towards lower cost, rough workings of
350-633: The traditional owners of the area, the Wadandi people, whose name means "people of the sea". The track is being extended from its current length of 54 km (34 mi) (across two separate sections) to the entire 109 km (68 mi) distance from Busselton to Flinders Bay, making it one of the longest rail trails in Australia. This aligns with the track being a core priority in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste 2050 Cycling Strategy, forming
385-521: The Committee to attract funding for a A$ 27 million refurbishment project and enter the jetty into the State Register of Heritage Places, thereby securing its future. On 9 February 2006, the Queen's Baton Relay passed through Busselton. The baton was taken along the Busselton Jetty and then taken underwater by a scuba diver. The baton passed by the underwater observatory during its swim to allow
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#1732771891151420-618: The Flinders Bay Jetty. At one stage in the 1970s, Railway Bus Drivers had the opportunity to stay overnight in a small railway cottage/shed at the bay-side edge of the Flinders Bay yard. As operated by the WAGR, the line was 93 miles 61 chains (93.76 miles, 150.90 km) from Boyanup to Flinders Bay. Only the first section of the line (Boyanup to RGC) remains in place, although disused, with few changes since it
455-643: The North-West (a rare occurrence) and destroyed a large part of the shore end of the jetty. Subsequently, townspeople banded together to try to save the jetty and eventually persuaded the State Government and the Shire Council to provide some much needed funds for repair. Rebuilding the timber jetty proved expensive and funds soon ran out. The Jetty Preservation Committee, formed in 1987, resorted to community fund-raising. In December 1999,
490-514: The Vasse Jetty – commenced in 1864 after persistent pressure by settlers, among others timber merchant Henry Yelverton and magistrate Joseph Strelley Harris ; Yelverton's company was awarded the tender for construction. In 1865 the first section, approximately 176 metres, of the jetty became available for ships to moor. In 1875 an additional 143 metres was added to the original structure, as over 10 years' accumulation of drift sands had made
525-653: The area was Lieutenant Henry William Bunbury , who in December 1836 explored the route from Pinjarra to Busselton and thought it to be ideal for farming. In 1845 Dublin solicitor James Bessonnet took up Location 54 in the Wellington District , consisting of 385 acres through which the Preston River flowed and the new road from Bunbury to the Blackwood had just been completed. The land also had
560-565: The foreshore, turning south through what is now the Busselton Health Campus. Heading west again along the route of what is now the Bussell Highway, the line served Vasse and Quindalup before turning south towards Flinders Bay. The line passed through forested and agricultural areas, including several municipally heritage-registered mill sites in the M.C. Davies timber concession area south of Margaret River. This line
595-820: The former railway reserve into a recreational, tourism, and educational trail . Initially the track was called the Rails to Trails track. The City of Busselton and the Shire of Augusta–Margaret River developed the rail alignment into the Wadandi Track rail trail, finishing on the Busselton foreshore . The sections from Busselton Jetty to the Carbunup River east of Marybrook and Cowaramup to Witchcliffe were completed in August 2020. The track takes its name from
630-422: The important Msa garratt steam engine to be able to move the loads over steep and difficult gradients. Most of the railway formation and structures were removed close to closure. The Flinders Bay engine shed, and some parts of the railway yard were not immediately removed and remained intact until the late 1950s. A limited number of photographs exist of the stopping platform at Flinders Bay, but very few exist of
665-586: The jetty on 17 October 1971. On 21 July 1972, the jetty was closed to shipping by Governor 's Proclamation in the Western Australian Government Gazette after more than a century of use. Once closed, government maintenance of the jetty ceased and it began to deteriorate, suffering attack by wood borers, rot and the occasional fire. On 4 April 1978, Cyclone Alby swept south down the Western Australian coast from
700-499: The jetty to create an artificial reef and diving trail. In July 2024, the Marine Discovery Centre was opened. A boatshed-style Interpretive Centre is located 50 m offshore. The Interpretive Centre features a museum that gives visitors a glimpse into the jetty's past and its future, and also contains a gift shop and a point of sale for tickets for the train and underwater observatory. The underwater observatory
735-551: The jetty. In February 2012 the Busselton Council limited the placement of such plaques to "exceptional circumstances", for people who had made significant contributions to or associated with the jetty. In 1981, a waterslide opened adjacent to the landward end of the Busselton jetty, called the Nautical Lady. It was built wrapping around the existing lighthouse tower and was driven by pumped seawater. In 2011,
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#1732771891151770-465: The line traverses predominantly agricultural land to a few kilometres beyond Capel, where it terminates at the former Iluka Resources RGC site. From here, the line continued through a mix of agricultural and forested land to Busselton. Part of the corridor west of Wonnerup has been used to accommodate the widening of the Bussell Highway . Within Busselton the line ran past the jetty and along
805-582: The mainline. Many of these mills operated extensive timber tramways that fed significant quantities of timber to the railway. The section from Witchcliffe to Flinders Bay was originally built as an M.C. Davies horse-drawn tramway, before being bought by the Government and upgraded to a WAGR line in 1925. In 2012 the Adelaide -based firm Mulloway was creating an interpretation plan for the Busselton to Flinders Bay Railway Rail Trail project, that would convert
840-442: The media to view the event. In 2011 the refurbishment project was completed and the pier and railway were reopened to the public. In 2017 the train was replaced with a solar-powered electric vehicle. In 2019, it was announced that Federal government funding for a new discovery centre to replace the underwater observatory had been secured. In early 2021, the design for the new A$ 32 million Australian Underwater Discovery Centre
875-466: The opening of the WAGR line between Busselton and Witchcliffe (along a new alignment between Margaret River and Witchcliffe) on 20 October 1924. Although a slow service due to the lighter rails and steep gradients, the branch was important for the dairy industry in the region. Usually known as the Flinders Bay branch , it ran until 1957. It was one of three branches in the WAGR system that relied on
910-400: The previous rate of fund-raising. April that same year also saw the opening of an Interpretive Centre and museum near the shore end of the jetty. On 13 December 2003, the underwater observatory opened at a cost of A$ 3.6 million. Further storm damage occurred in 2004, but the fund-raising project continued. The jetty was re-positioned as an important state and national resource, enabling
945-642: The primary cycle network spine between Busselton and Augusta. Boyanup, Western Australia Boyanup is a town on the South Western Highway in the South West agricultural region, 195 km south of Perth and 18 km south-east of Bunbury, Western Australia . The town is located on the Preston River . Boyanup is a Noongar name, said to mean "a place of quartz " as "Boya" means "rock" or "stone". The first European in
980-540: The timber tramway system. Locomotives were used instead of horses from 1895 and by the 1900 the network spanned from Flinders Bay to Margaret River . Following the opening of the Bunbury–Boyanup railway in 1891, a branch from Boyanup to Busselton was constructed by Smith & Tims, opening on 21 November 1894. The railway between Margaret River and Flinders Bay was purchased by the Government in 1912, through
1015-432: The train or underwater observatory to close, as well as those with limited time to explore. The sculpture reef consists of 13 underwater sculptures by Western Australian artists situated underneath and alongside the jetty. The sculptures form a diving trail as well as a habitat for sealife. Along one side of a section of the jetty are a number of memorial plaques, commemorating people whose ashes have been scattered from
1050-466: The water too shallow for mooring. The jetty was continually extended until the 1960s when it reached its current length of 1,841 metres (6,040 ft). Fires on the jetty were commonplace, with some attributed to fishermen carelessly disposing of burning cigarettes, dropping lit matches or to sparks falling from the train's fire box. Even while the port was operating commercially, maintenance costs were controversial. The last commercial ship visited
1085-571: Was also planned for the end of the jetty. However in 2022, construction of the Australian Underwater Discovery Centre was shelved after a blowout in costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic , though development of the village will move ahead and include a new onshore educational Marine Discovery Centre. In early 2023 a number of steel and concrete sculptures began to be installed underwater underneath and alongside
Flinders Bay branch railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-467: Was completed on 30 November 1887. The townsite was gazetted in 1894. A railway line extension between Boyanup and Bridgetown opened on 1 November 1898. The population of the town was 198 (103 males and 95 females) in 1898. The Yoganup North Mine site, located 5.1 kilometres (3 mi) north-west of the town and closed in 1997, is owned by Iluka Resources and where mineral sands were mined and separated. Busselton Jetty Busselton Jetty
1155-541: Was last operated. The remainder of the line has been lifted, although the rail reserve as far as Busselton remains under the control of the Public Transport Authority and is theoretically available for future rail uses. Like all railways outside of Perth , the line was predominantly single-track , with passing loops at various locations. The remnant section, from Boyanup to RGC, is controlled by Arc Infrastructure . Heading south west from Boyanup,
1190-576: Was revealed: a semi-submerged four storey whale-shaped structure, it was designed to have a higher visitor capacity and contain larger viewing windows compared to the original underwater observatory, and was to contain a gallery, exhibition spaces and a marine research centre. It was planned to be constructed in Perth before being towed out to Busselton, with an intended opening in 2023. In addition, an accompanying "village" containing food and beverage outlets as well as spaces for weddings and corporate functions
1225-610: Was the first branch from the Northcliffe line, at Boyanup, linking Busselton to the WAGR network. The only WAGR line to branch from this one is the Nannup branch, which runs south from Wonnerup to Nannup. This section of this line from Wonnerup to Maryvale follows the alignment of Western Australia's first railway - the Ballaarat Tramway. Several timber mills used to operate along the railway, each with their own access to
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