WARail & telegraph
Kalamunda
A timber railway up the scarp opened a home in the forest.
1891Zig Zag timber railway opens
WHAT STARTED IT
Kalamunda sits high on the Darling Scarp, in jarrah forest east of Perth. In 1891 the Canning Jarrah Timber Company’s railway climbed the scarp by a zig zag to carry timber and sleepers from its mills, and settlers followed the line into the hills.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The townsite was declared in 1901 at the request of 32 residents, and the hills became known for orchards of stone fruit, apples and pears. By the 1920s Kalamunda was promoted as a health and holiday resort, and the railway ran its last train in 1949.
TURNING POINTS
1891The Canning Jarrah Timber Company’s railway, climbing the scarp by the Kalamunda Zig Zag, is carrying timber from its mills.
1901The townsite of Kalamunda is declared on 13 December.
1903The government takes over the line on 1 July, celebrated with a luncheon at Kalamunda.
1949The last train runs on 22 July; its rails are later reused for a coal-mine line at Collie.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A hills suburb and the centre of the City of Kalamunda, edged by orchards and forest. It marks the northern end of the Bibbulmun Track.
KEEP READING · SOURCESLandgate · History of metropolitan suburb names (archived)Trove · The Daily News, 5 October 1891, ‘The Canning Jarrah Saw Mills’Trove · The West Australian, 2 July 1903, ‘Upper Darling Range Railway’Trove · The West Australian, 6 February 1906, ‘A Trip to the Hills. No. 2. The Kalamunda District’Trove · The Swan Express, 6 February 1925, ‘Health of Kalamunda’Trove · The Swan Express, 28 July 1949, ‘Kalamunda News’Trove · The West Australian, 1 October 1951, ‘Minister Officially Opens Centaur Mine at Muja’Bibbulmun Track Foundation · Kalamunda