Beechina (1) - SignallingWA

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Beechina (1)

Signal Cabins in WA

BEECHINA (1)

WAGR - Eastern Railway (E. R.)

Mileage:  See text below

Location Map

Next Down Station:

Next Up Station:

WOOROLOO

CHIDLOW

Quick Facts

Opened

Closed

?

?

Mechanical

Electrical

No. of Levers ?

Signal Panel ?

Fate: Unknown


The Beechina story is a classic example of the maxim "geography makes history" for its existence, in its three incarnations, was due to a quirk of topography that the original builders of the Eastern Railway were not able to bypass or overcome with the resources available to them. This quirk was, and is, located east of Chidlow, and consists of the valley of one of the tributaries of Wooroloo Brook into which the surveyed line had to descend before resuming its climb to the top of the grade at the location that was ultimately to become Koojedda.  As the valley could only have been avoided by routing the line many miles to the south of the surveyed route, at a cost well beyond the amount the local legislature was prepared to authorise, the surveyors had no alternative but to place the line through the valley on such a route that minimised the grades as much as the budget allowed.

The route of the Eastern Railway as surveyed and built involved a steep climb from Bellevue
to Chidlow, where the grades eased somewhat. After leaving Chidlow, the line climbed on a shallow grade to the 1050 foot map contour, before descending  over the next  6 and a half miles to Wooroloo some 300 feet  lower. The decent was by no means uniform. Approximately three and a half miles east of Chidlow the line descended a steep bank, with a ruling grade of 1 in 30 and an average grade of 1 in 35 for over a mile. Such a grade might have been tolerable in the 1880s but became unacceptable during the booming years of the Gold Rush. Although most of the traffic passing over the Eastern Railway during the gold rush period was eastbound, there still remained a considerable amount of westbound traffic for which this bank presented a significant impediment to efficient and low cost train working.

As part of the programme of improvements to the Eastern Railway that began with the opening of the Parkerville
deviation in 1896, during 1901 the Railway between Wooroloo and Chidlow.







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This required the line to be deviated to a new alignment to ease the grade from a crippling 1 in 30 to a less unpleasant, but still steep, 1 in 45. This realignment consisted of a deviation of the track along a more curved alignment to the west and was to see the opening of the first Beechina. For convenience in this article the expression Beechina shall mean the first Beechina, unless stated otherwise.

The deviation left the original Eastern Railway at a point a short distance past the 43 mile peg, before sweeping round to the left to bring the lines alignment to due North, the deviation then curved to adopt a generally North East alignment, joining the original Eastern Railway at a point approximately 2 miles on the Perth side of Wooroloo. Beechina was located a straight section of track, near where the deviation commenced its northerly heading.


It appears that Beechina was originally to have been called Manaring; however, this name was never adopted. The first official reference to Beechina’s existence was is to be found in Weekly Notice No. 52 of 1901 which announced that, with effect 19 December 1901, a Train Electric Staff station at the "43 mile" was to be called Beechina, and that it split the single line Chidlows Well to Wooroloo section, Chidlows Well being the original name for Chidlow.  The notice stated that only ballast trains could use the loop, no doubt severely restricting its usefulness as a potential crossing place.  Following some fiddling with the roads through the location, involving traffic being diverted from one road to the other, Beechina became operational as a crossing place on the 14 th March 1902, the event being reported in Weekly Notice No. 13 of 1902. The Weekly Notice entry included advice of the facilities at Beechina, the entry reading as follows:


Beechina
This Station is provided with up and down roads.

As this station is approached by a falling gradient on both sides engine drivers and guards must have their trains well under control when entering this station.
Runaway catch points exist on the up road a short distance in advance of the Up starting signal. Engine Drivers must not, under any circumstances, set back when any portion of train is on such points, or a derailment will ensure. These points are not connected to the interlocking.
They must not be fouled in the rear of an Up train which is travelling away from the station until the "arrival" signal has been received from Chidlow’s well or intimation received from the signalman that the train has arrived at his home signal.


Engine whistles
Main Line  …………………………………………………………………………………  1 long



Unfortunately, the Progress Plan for Beechina No. 1 does not appear to have survived, making it impossible to determine the precise track layout and signalling arrangements at this location. However, a copy of the McKenzie and Holland (the WAGR's Signalling Contractor) signalling Plans and Estimates Book has survived. Its pages were prepared to show the plans of various station layouts and the estimates of costs for alternate interlocking schemes at various WAGR locations. One plan shows Beechina Number 1 (which the plan describes it as being at 43mile 65 chains from Fremantle) with clearly annotated Up and Down roads and a set of points (unconnected to the interlocking) on the up main leading to what can only be a runaway road. Given the plan closely corresponds with the description in the Weekly Notice; it is probable that the signalling arrangements were as described in the plan.  

The plan shows the cabin was located on the east side of the track. A loop was provided, this being the down road. An 8 lever frame was installed, working Up and Down Home Signals, Up and Down Distant Signals and an Up and a Down Starting Signals. The runaway siding trailed from the Up road via a set of balanced points a short distance from the eastern loop points,  ensuring that any runaway  wagons running downhill from Chidlow would be deflected  into a dead end and not continue on to Wooroloo. The presence of the catch points effectively meant that bi-directional running on the up road was impossible, giving Beechina a feature that it shared with Karrijine.

Apart from the similarity in layout, Beechina was to share a number of similarities with Karrijine. Both were located on deviations of the original main line. Both were installed to divide long sections over steeply graded sections of track. Both were to have short lives due to the advent of duplication, and both were to serve as the junctions of double to single line working for the duplication that was to end their existence. Finally, both were to have their name perpetuated after their respective boxes closed, although Beechina’s name was to be used for many years after Karrijine had been forgotten.

A Station Master was appointed to oversee the efficient dispatch of trains through Beechina
, the first such gentleman (a Mr. H. H. Hardy) being posted with effect 19 December 1901. He remained at Beechina until October of the following year when he was replaced by Mr. J. H. Howe, who remained at Beechina until its closure. Mr Howe remained with the WAGR until 1932, spending the bulk of his post Beechina career at Hovea. Both gentlemen were assisted in their duties by Night Officers, a very necessary requirement, at what must have been a busy location.

Beechina
was to have a short life. In 1904 a start was made on duplicating the Eastern Railway eastwards from Lion Mill (later named Mount Helena) and by December 1905 the duplication had reached Beechina. On Sunday the 10th December, the double track to Chidlows was opened. A temporary junction, where the double line became single, was opened the "43 and a half mile" and called, appropriately, the "Beechina Temporary Junction". Whether the junction was located at the half mile peg, or this distance was a rounding to the nearest quarter mile is not readily apparent, making it difficult to determine its location relative to the cabin. An Up Home, Distant and Starting signals, along with Down Distant and Home signals were installed. The frame in the cabin clearly was redundant, as the points and signals were worked from a ground frame located on the Up side. However, the cabin was probably retained to protect the staff and block instruments, as it is very difficult to see how the cost of installing a new cabin - or even a hut - to protect the instruments could be justified when the junction was only to have few weeks’ life at most. By the time of the temporary junction opening double line block working (almost certainly using Winters two-position Instruments) was in force between Chidlow and Beechina. The relevant Weekly Notice (No. 50 of 1905) announced these additions and advised train crews that as Beechina was approached on a falling grade from the Down direction trains should only be accepted on "section clear but junction or station blocked" working, a  feature of double line block working only. Electric staff working was retained on the section to Wooroloo.


Duplication of the line from Beechina
to Wooroloo was completed in mid-December 1905, with the official opening occurring on the 20th December 1905. The signals and points were withdrawn from use and removed.  Beechina continued to be used as a stopping place for the next few weeks; however, by mid-January 1906 this practice was discontinued and Beechina was expunged from the WAGR s operations. However, as is related in the page dealing with the second Beechina the second decade of the 20th century was to see the locality reopened as a safe-working location, which, like its predecessor was to be eliminated by the WAGRs efforts to overcome the operational difficulties imposed by the geography that determined this locality’s history.


Information researched and interpreted by Justin Smith of the Signalling Interest Group of W. A.

Any additional information on this signal cabin would be most welcome - please use the e-mail form provided on this page.

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BEECHINA (1) Employees

This list may not be complete and does not yet include employees who worked here without being appointed.
Where an appointment date is unknown, the Weekly Notice (WN) date advising of the appointment or other official documentation, i.e. Certificate of Competency (CC) will be used.

Name

Appointed

Position

Hardy, H. H. 19/12/1901 Offier-in-Charge
Howe, J. H. October, 1902 Officer-in-Charge
     Is a name missing?
Please submit any corrections / additions with suitable evidence using the e-mail form above.
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