Wednesday, 21st February 2007
Well, Quantas staff can be relied upon to lift your mood on any flight, so I arrived at Perth late at night but fairly content. A bit of a wait for taxis to the city but before midnight I was in a comfortable room at the Duxton hotel.
Thursday, 22nd February 2007
A few hours of sleep, an excellent buffet breakfast and a bit of internet work at the Perth Convenience Store, just across the road from the hotel. This is about the best Internet Shop I've come across anywhere - only four seats but all the equipment works and it's quite a fast internet connection, so I've uploaded some photographs to my travel site. Check out 'Stop Press' and 'Antartic Dream's Engine Room'.
I make telephone contact with my friend Keith Watson, whom I've yet to meet in person and arrange to go to his home at 10:00 am. In the meantime, I renew my acquaintance with the city centre and the railway station. The day is starting to warm up nicely. The hotel arranges a taxi to take me to Keith's but, to my surprise, the taxi driver gives me his Gazetteer and suggests I navigate to where we're going. But we get there without incident and I meet Keith, his friend Dennis and Sharon the 'Staffy' dog. Keith has laid out an intensive day for me, so we're soon heading South on State Route 20 to Yarloop. Yarloop is about 75 miles South of Perth through tinder-dry bush. The road was temporarily closed a few days ago because of bush fires.
Yarloop is the home of 'Yarloop Workshops', an industrial museum. In 1895, the Millar brothers arrived from England and obtained a contract to build railways for the state of Victoria. The complex they established at Yarloop eventually became the biggest timber centre in the world and home of the biggest private steam railway in the world. The vulnerable wooden preserved workshops at Yarloop include sawmills, locomotive workshops, pattern stores and hold a history of the Company Town of Yarloop, including almost all of the town's original library collection. It's a fascinating place.
Enthusiasts have brought together a group of working steam stationary engines which the volunteers are preparing for the next public steaming day and I meet Colin, Roger and the rest of the crew. They've done some remarkable work here and I am proud to be invited to share lunch with them. I clamber over everything in sight, particularly Colin's splendid re-creation of a Sydney steam Tram. I meet Geoff Fortune, who has written the Guide Book to the museum, together with 'Yarloop, No Better Place' (ISBN 1 876760 095), a detailed history of Yarloop.
There's a short piece about Timber Production in Western Australia here and my pictures of Yarloop are here.
All to soon, Keith and I are re-tracing our steps to Pinjarra, home of a major preserved railway: the Hotham Valley Railway (see www.hothamvalleyrailway.com.au). It's not part of their operating season, but we're able to go round their locomotive workshops and check out a remarkable survivor built by Dubs. Their preserved line runs from Pinjarra to Dwellingup but is currently divided in three places where floods have taken out timber trestle bridges. I understand funds are available for the repair of perhaps one bridge. The relatively remote location of Pinjarra means that the railway has a major problem getting sufficient working volunteers. Pictures.
Closer to Perth, we inspect a 7.25 inch gauge railway being built around a new Nature Park at Byford. We meet Roger again and he shows me the quality of the work which has been completed (engine shed, carriage shed and extensive yard) and also the scale of the remaining task. All very impressive. Pictures.
Then it's back to Keith's home to meet Fhines, enjoy a meal together and spend an evening yarning about railways and engineering, joined later by Keith's friend Anthony.
[Links added 21-Jun-2016]
