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Photographs of Perth, Western Australia Home | Locality A-Z | Notes Swanview This suburb is east of Midland and is adjacent to the John Forrest National Park |
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Swanview - National Park The train line has gone but the railway reserve still exists. In the old days the line ran from Midland up to Mundaring, Chidlow and beyond. This section of the line is where it passed into John Forrest National Park. Feb 2008 |
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Swanview - Old Train Line Further along the reserve we encountered this cutting. If we'd kept walking for another 5-10 minutes we would have come to the old tunnel. February 2008 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel Well back in 2008, in the above picture, I could have walked on another 100 kilometres and not gotten to the tunnel. The tunnel is actually down this much smaller track which branches off the main track only a hundred metres or so into the Park. Here is a series of photos showing the old tunnel. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel A little further along the track - only perhaps 50 or so metres from above. The rock sides are steep and there is a feeling of being more and more closed in. You can glimpse the start of the tunnel in the distance. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel So, here we are - this is the western portal of the railway tunnel. Etched in the rock up above the portal is the year 1895. The tunnel opened one year later. Men camped in tents west of here, away from their families, and carved out the cutting and the tunnel using pick-axes and dynamite - very hard work. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel And, inside the tunnel. You can see the light at the eastern end some 340 metres away. The tunnel was lined with around 330,000 bricks to shore up the loose rocks up above and to prevent cave-ins. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel After walking through the tunnel - it's dark but quite navigable - here we emerge at the eastern end. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel In this photograph we look back at the eastern portal of the tunnel. The tunnel was built under the direction of C.Y. O'Connor - well known for his Perth - Kalgoorlie water pipeline. The big problem with this tunnel was smoke emitted by locomotives which actually asphyxiated some rail crews. The tunnel closed as late as 1966.May 2011 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel Another view of the tunnel's eastern portal this time taken from a little bit further back. Look at those sheer rock faces. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Rail Tunnel Again inside the tunnel. Along both walls are many of these small alcoves. Safe areas for anyone to go to when inside the tunnel when a train was approaching. This is a "flash" photo. Inside the tunnel I couldn't actually see the alcove, only feel it. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Train Station Just off Curve Road is this replica Swanview train station. On the same site as the original, it was completed in 1996 as a project between local, state and commonwealth governments. May 2011 |
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Swanview - Train Station Another photo of another section of the Swanview train station. May 2011 |
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