Full of adventures - Explore Dwellingup, only 100 km south of Perth
The charming country town of Dwellingup, only a short drive from Perth and Mandurah, is always worth a visit with so many exciting things to do!
Check out the Dwellingup Visitor Centre, the Forest Heritage Centre and the newest attraction Trees Adventure, the closest treetop experience from Perth.
The treetop adventure park is built around the beautiful pine and jarrah trees of Nanga Mill Campground, with exhilarating views as you zip through the treetops on a flying fox or quickly stop to catch your breath in the middle of one of the suspended bridges! Take on over 80 challenges incl. over 1 km of flying foxes when climbing in the jarrah treetops. There are 9 challenging levels to choose from including levels for kids from the age of 4.
Australian Trains 69 - Hotham Valley Railway Steam Ranger 12/07/2017
A ride on the Hotham Valley Railway steam ranger service.
Steam has returned as summer has gone, and its very wet LOL
this is our first visit tot he steam railway, in Western Australia. Located in Dwellingup, this is one of the services run on the line. They also run a dining service, and a woodland service, and details can be found on their website
There are several loco's parked around the station site, but it is unfortunate that they are not on general display for the public to view whilst waiting for the train, that said, the staff were very nice and did let me get some photo's of the shunting locomotives outside the shed.
The locos on the train were an ex midland railway, English Electric F class loco number F40, and the steam loco was W class W920
The line runs down hill from Dwellingup, but on return, the steam loco has a challenge climbing the 1:30 grade, but does have a little assistance from the F class. Unfortunately 2 coaches were removed from this trip, as the first trip had 5 coaches plus the locos, which would have made them work harder.
all video was done with my iPhone, and trying to keep the water out of it was a challenge.
Dwellingup 2017
Devastated by fires , Dwellingup rebuilt and is now a great spot for families with the added bonus of a fabulous heritage railway operated by passionate volunteers.
Bookings essential for services on railway - 6278 1111
WA Weekender Season 2 EP4 - Rail Heritage museum
Dwellingup
Hotham Valley Railway's Forest Train clankity clank along the 8km of track from Dwellingup to Etmilyn.
V4 is seen departing dwellingup station on the Hotham valley forest train
HVTR Etmilyn Forest Tramway 1996 Western Australia
Family Day on the 'Forest Tramway' train from Dwellingup to Etmilyn on Sunday May 19 1996. Hotham Valley Tourist Railway (HVTR) in Western Australia.
Our loco is WAGR G Class number G123. This 4-6-0 locomotive, with a four wheel inside-framed leading bogie, was purchased from Dubbs & Co of Glasgow, Scotland and placed in service by the Western Australian Government Railways during 1897.
The 8½ kilometre, approximately 30 minute journey heads into dense bushland with the occassional bridge. On the out journey to Etmilyn we travelled in an open coverted ex WAGR RA wagon, and returned in slightly more comfort in a standard restored carriage.
PM706 departing Fremantle Station 10-09-2002.mpg
Hotham Valley PM 706 departs Fremantle station on Wizards Express Special to Pinjarra on the 10-09-2002 (note the Fremantle rail yards are yet to be redeveloped & old Walk way)
Still Steaming ...
Explores the Hotham Valley Steam Railway in Western Australia
Hotham Valley Steam Ranger
My trip in 2016 where I got up nice and close to a running Steam Train. This was my first experience with a running Steam Train and one ill never forget. Filmed in Dwellingup, Western Australia
A Visit to the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway (November 16th, 2019)
The 3rd day of the Northland trip consisted primarily of a trip to Kawakawa, the purpose of which was to ride on the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway. This is currently a 3 kilometre line running from Kawakawa to Taumarere, and it is notable for the short street-running section in Kawakawa.
Originally the line was part of the 19 kilometre long Otiria to Opua branch, which was connected with Whangarei in 1925. Previously a tramway had been built from Kawakawa to the wharf at Taumarere. This was upgraded to railway standards in 1877. When the line was extended to Opua in 1884, the wharves were closed and replaced by the new port.
Between 1925 and 1956, a steam-hauled passenger service (The Opua Express) ran between Auckland and Opua. When diesel railcars took over in 1956, the service started running to Okaihau instead of Opua. Passengers from Kawakawa had to ride on mixed trains instead. These trains lasted until 1976 (the railcar serving having ceased in 1967). After 1976, the Opua line remained in operation to serve of the dairy factory at Moerewa and an AFFCO Meat Works. By the 1980s, containerisation was establishing itself as a new means of transporting goods, and less ships made the trip to Opua. This resulted in the decline of freight trains beyond Kawakawa.
1985 was the last time regular freight trains ran to Opua. From then on, it was leased to the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway to operate heritage passenger services from Opua to Kawakawa.
For a while, the track from Otiria to Kawakawa was retained as a link to the national network. This has since been dismantled and is now used as a footpath connecting Kawakawa with Moerewa.
Tourist trains from Kawakawa to Opua shut down in 2001, when the line's operating licence was withdrawn. Train services have since been re-instated over the 3 kilometre section from Kawakawa to Taumarere.
The engine running on this occasion was a Drewry 0-6-0 diesel shunter. Two engines of this design were built in 1949, originally for the Whakatane Board Mills Railway. The pair appear to resemble the New Zealand Railways DS class, and the British Rail Class 03. In 1999 the engines were withdrawn from Whakatane service, and sent to Forest Loaders of Portland. There they stayed until 2017, when they were transferred to their new home in Kawakawa.
Australian Trains 71 - Hotham Valley Railway, final W920 Steam Ranger service 2017
A video of the last day of steam on the Hotham Valley Railway’s 2017 season
This video also includes some English electric thrash from the F class locomotive
The last clip,well it was great, the loco sounded great,I framed it beautifully, but didn’t press record.so unfortunately the best clip of the day got replaced by a clip of the floor ????
Blue Mountains, Australia 2013
Our weekend camping trip to the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia.
Dwellingup Hotham Valley Tourist Railway
Dwellingup Hotham Valley Tourist Railway
Hotham Valley Railway drivers view - Isandra to Dwellingup
A Hotham Valley Railway drivers view of a trip from Isandra to Dwellingup.
Filmed from the cab of ex Midland Railway F40, we get a drivers view as W945 'Banksiadale' leads us and five passenger cars up the steep grades of HVRs line to their station at Dwellingup.
The Hotham Valley Tourist Railway, October 2005.
Something a little different that I found in the video vault.
My wife's parents went for ride on the HVTR in Oct 2005, and we spent the day chasing the train. The HVTR runs from Pinjarra in Western Australia, up the lightly-laid former timber logging line to Dwellingup. The line runs over the steepest section of railway in WA, so on peak days two locos are used, and worked hard. The light axle loading of the W class engines leads to some spectacular slips, and an incredible aural experience.
The first shot is on the flat just beyond Pinjarra, with the engines beginning to pull as the line steepens. A few minutes later, though, they came to a stop with what appeared to be a brake hose issue between the second loco and the carriages. After a few machine-gun slips the train headed off up the hills, where the line follows the road some way.
The road crossing is just after the steepest section of track, and is one of the best spots to see the engines working at their hardest, and sounding spectacular. The non-HD video may be a little grainy, but the sound is excellent!
At Dwellingup the line climbs into the station over a crossing that was then un-gated. The train runs gingerly into the station with some more impressive slips (one right next to my camera).
The Etmilyn Forest train is seen arriving pulled by veteran Glasgow-built G123, and the locos were turned while we had lunch in the excellent Dwellingup Hotel. This was before the H&S obsessed culture of today and the locos were turned on a triangle which ran (unfenced) around the picnic area. Nowadays they return to Pinjarra tender first.
The next shot shows the train leaving for the return to Pinjarra, whistling impressively and delighting a small boy who insisted on talking to me while I was filming! My then three-year-old son blagged a ride back to PJ with his grandparents and can be seen waving out of the train window.
Finally a couple of shots of the train running (with boy waving!) through the bush.
The line was devastated by a vast bush fire a couple of years later, but is now rebuilt and recovered and a modified service is now running.
Serpentine Falls National Park
It's been a popular spot for families for over a century and you can see why.
Long before the arrival of the Europeans, the Nyoongar Aborigines of the Whadjuk and probably the Bindjareb tribes hunted and camped in the woodlands regions that lay between what is now Perth and Pinjarra. It was the Nyoongars of the south-west who used fire sticks to burn parts of the forest, and over thousands of years, the scrub fires created some areas of open forest and grassland.
The Serpentine River, the surrounding hills and wetlands of the coastal plains, provided the Nyoongar with fresh water and food, including fish, tortoises, lizards and birds. Fish traps were constructed on the river, downstream from the falls and where it flows through a chain of small lakes, on its journey to the Peel Inlet. With the start of the winter rains, tribal groups from the north, east and south, would gather near Barragup to catch the fish that were driven downstream by the fast flowing waters.
Many of the streams flowing off the scarp supported family groups during different seasons of the year. The two streams that flow into the Serpentine above the falls were named Carralong and Gooralong, and an area between them, later to be known as Spencer’s Flats, was reputed to have been used for corroborees.
First discovered by Europeans two months after the Swan River Settlement was established in July 1829, the Serpentine River and surround area attracted those seeking land, timber and precious metals, such as gold and silver. There is doubt about whether the reported gold strike was genuine, but the remains of several mine shafts can still be seen in the park.
By the 1890s, so much land had been cleared for farming, cut for timber or mined, that people began to realise that the native flora and fauna was disappearing. In 1894, the state’s first reserve for flora and fauna was proclaimed - 160,000 hectares between Pinjarra, North Dandalup and Bannister. The demand for timber pushed to reduce this area, and the reserve was subsequently cancelled in 1911. It was noted, however, that the falls, which were placed in a reserve for public recreation, were visited by ‘trainloads of excursionists... every flower season’ and needed some management presence to protect them from overuse. Over the years, various blocks of land were reserved and in 1957, they were all vested together and renamed ‘Serpentine National Park’.
There is no record who named Serpentine River, but it was first recorded by Captain Mark Currie in 1892, although the name first appeared on a map published by the Royal Geographic al Society in 1832. The park is named after the river.
Open daily, there is an entry fee per car.
We paid $12 today to enjoy the picnic area amongst the kangaroos and many visitors and walked up to the falls where my kids and their friends enjoy a swim during summer.
Diving is a no no as there have been a dozen deaths in just 40 years.
I recommend Serpentine Falls for the family and it is so close to Perth.
Hotham Valley Railway Pinjarra
Hotham Valley Railway operate out of Dwellingup maintaining an aging collection of locomotives and wagons.
Let's hope the government realise they need assistance to save our rail heritage before it is too late.
4wd Jarrahdale
I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (
Bennet Brook Railway
Hello and welcome back to another amazing video being produced by the one and only WA_Transport_films and today you'll see many videos of BBR's loco Planet seen shunting around and running trains out of Whiteman park village along with some amazing horn shows
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