According to Wikipedia page for Yarloop, Western Australia, two brothers started a lumber business in 1894, it grew until "At their peak, they employed over 500 people in the Yarloop area. By the 1930s, they boasted the largest private railway in the world with eight railway systems and 25 locomotives."
The Yarloop Steam Workshops built and repaired everything needed to keep the mills and railways operating. Up until recently everything was still there in place on the site, just as it had been for a hundred years.
Jon, a reader and visitor to the site says, "What we saw was as though the workers had just moved out, leaving everything behind. There had been some conservation work done on the site but when we visited the old chaps were saying that they couldn't get enough volunteers to keep the place going much longer as a visitor attraction. If this place was in Britain it would have been thriving.
Just everything was still there including a lot of paperwork still under the benches in the store rooms. As you can see all the patterns and coreboxes were there in abundance. It was such a shame more wasn't being done with it all." Photo essay here.
Unfortunately on January ,7 2016 the whole town was burnt down by a bush fire, including the workshops. There is a hope that the workshops can be rebuilt as a museum and plans are in process, but what a loss!
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| Thanks, Jon! |
Geeze who woulda know this place even existed without Mr. G? What a fantastic photo essay that captured it before the fire. Thanks again Mr. G for bringing us this! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteAmazing place ! Even the book selection in the library seems fairly high brow.
ReplyDeleteWhat a loss.
I have to thank a reader, Jon for this sad story. Good thing people recorded it on camera, before the disaster.
ReplyDelete