Collie Railway Memorial

Statement of Significance

Railway Memorial, 156 Throssell Street, Collie (Collie Visitor Centre) has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
• The steam trains were used to transport coal out of Collie (Hocking)

Physical Description

The Railway Memorial comprises a collection of three railway engines:
Polly
‘The small locomotive known as Polly originally began life as a traction engine and arrived in Fremantle from the UK in 1880 after being purchased by Mr Alexander Buckingham
For some years Polly worked in Mr Buckingham’s mill located in the hills east of Perth, hauling logs to Perth until she was sold.
Two of Mr Buckingham’s sons became saw millers and the engine was repurchased and relocated to the new site located 11 miles east of Collie in 1910.
In 1912 the engine was fitted with locomotive wheels and a winch and railway lines were laid out to enable Polly to haul logs to the new mill. As the cutting areas expanded the distance Polly had to travel each day became too gret for the water supply carried in her tank and she was replaced.
Polly continued to be used as a winch to load logs at the bush landings until she was eventually retired in 1953.’
W Class Steam Locomotive
‘The W class locomotives were constructed in 1951-52 and arrived in Western Australia partially assembled from the UK.
The original design, in particular the firebox, had to be revisited to take into account the properties of Collie Coal which was used to fuel the State’s locomotive fleet at the time.
The W class was known for its availability across the entire WA Government Rail Network and had a reputation for being free steamers and strong pullers.
They gave excellent service until their retirement in 1971’.
V Class Steam Locomotive
‘The V class locomotive was utilised by WA Government Railways from 1955 until 1973 initially to haul coal between Collie and Perth.
Only twenty four units were built under sub contract by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn Ltd at their Darlington works.
The locomotive was of a modern design with high superheat and large combustion chamber and had a rated load capacity of 1320 tonnes. This represented a significant upgrade in capacity on the S and F class locomotives’.
A 54 Rushton Bucyrus excavator is also located on the site (see Place Number 81).

History

The site contains three railway engines used, and representative of those used in the region.

Integrity/Authenticity

High/ High

Condition

Fair

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.