Ballarat Tramline Print Page

Engine wheel and concrete base with plaque commemorate the centenary of the first railway in Western Australia.

The first railway in Western Australia was a private timber railway from Lockville to Yoganup, south of Perth.  The West Australian Timber Company (referred to as the Ballarat Company in one contemporary account) was granted a concession of 181,500 acres at Yokanup (now referred to as Yoganup) with its seaport at Lockeville. 

Governor Weld officially opened the railway line on 23rd December 1871. The locomotive was originally named ‘Ballaarat’ by the Mayor of Melbourne after the original spelling of the town of Ballarat.  By 1887, the WA Timber Company was in financial difficulties and in 1888 it was liquidated, the mills closed and the company assets auctioned in Melbourne.

In November 1897, the concession was then leased to the English based Jarrah Wood and Saw Mills Co. Because the WA Government Railway had by that time built a line to Busselton (in 1894) the Company only needed to build a private railway line from the Wonnerup siding, following the route of the W. A. Timber Company, thus by-passing Lockeville altogether.

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