Oliver Hill Railway

Oliver Hill Railway
	Oliver Hill railway station in 2011 with the railcar Captain Hussey
Location	Rottnest Island; Western Australia
Website	www.rottnestisland.com

The Oliver Hill Railway is a heritage railway on Rottnest Island, Australia.

History

In 1935 construction commenced on a nine kilometre military railway to service two 9.2-inch guns at Oliver Hill and two six inch guns at Bickley on Rottnest Island.^[1] Two light diesel locomotives named Crab and Crayfish were used. It had fallen out of use by the 1950s.^[2]

In 1966 the Rottnest Island Board of Control purchased the line with a petrol locomotive and eight wagons from the Australian Army with the aim of reopening it as a scenic railway.^[3] However it wasn't until 1993 that work began to restore 6.5 kilometres of the line with track recovered from the Miling line.^[4]^[5] It was officially opened by Premier of Western Australia Richard Court on 3 July 1994.^[6]^[7]

The initial rolling stock was two former Western Australian Government Railways 4wDH shunting tractors loaned from Rail Heritage WA. In 2003, a new diesel railcar built by Gemco Rail, Forrestfield named Captain Hussey, after Frank Hussey who oversaw the construction of the original railway, entered service.^[8]^[9]

Arc Infrastructure undertakes an annual maintenance program on the line.^[10]^[11]^[12]

References

^ Still running Track & Signal issue 19/4 November 2015 page 99
^ The Rottnest Island Defence Tramway Light Railways issue 46 Summer 1973 pages 3-9
^ Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 342 April 1966 page 8
^ Westrail helps to rebuild the historic Rottnest railway Westrail News April 1993 page 12
^ Oliver Hill Railway The Westland issue 101 June 1993 page 12
^ Rottnest Island Railway Opening The Westland issue 115 August 1994 page 7
^ Rottnest Island Tourist Railway Continental Railway Journal issue 100 January 1995 page 103
^ Oliver Hill Railway, Rottnest Island Continental Railway Journal issue 135 October 2003 page 52
^ News in brief Railway Digest January 2004 page 15
^ Arc Infrastructure invests $300,000 in WA's Oliver Hill Railway Rail Express 19 November 2019
^ Preserving a piece of history on Rottnest Arc Infrastructure 28 October 2022
^ Extended scope of works at Rottnest Island Arc Infrastructure 3 November 2025

External links

Media related to Oliver Hill Railway at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Still running Track & Signal issue 19/4 November 2015 page 99

[2] The Rottnest Island Defence Tramway Light Railways issue 46 Summer 1973 pages 3-9

[3] Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 342 April 1966 page 8

[4] Westrail helps to rebuild the historic Rottnest railway Westrail News April 1993 page 12

[5] Oliver Hill Railway The Westland issue 101 June 1993 page 12

[6] Rottnest Island Railway Opening The Westland issue 115 August 1994 page 7

[7] Rottnest Island Tourist Railway Continental Railway Journal issue 100 January 1995 page 103

[8] Oliver Hill Railway, Rottnest Island Continental Railway Journal issue 135 October 2003 page 52

[9] News in brief Railway Digest January 2004 page 15

[10] Arc Infrastructure invests $300,000 in WA's Oliver Hill Railway Rail Express 19 November 2019

[11] Preserving a piece of history on Rottnest Arc Infrastructure 28 October 2022

[12] Extended scope of works at Rottnest Island Arc Infrastructure 3 November 2025

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Railway lines in Western Australia
Main lines	Eastern Goldfields Eastern Railway Great Southern Railway South Western Railway Trans-Australian Railway
Goldfields–Esperance	Esperance Hopetoun–Ravensthorpe^† Kalgoorlie–Gnumballa Lake^† Kanowna^† Leonora Malcolm–Laverton^† Kambalda–Redmine
Great Southern	Donnybrook–Katanning^† Nornalup^† Ongerup^† Pingrup^†
Mid West	Avon Yard–Mullewa^† Cue–Big Bell^† Dongara–Eneabba^† Geraldton–Ajana^† Geraldton–Mullewa Karara Meekatharra-Horseshoe^† Millendon Junction–Narngulu Mullewa–Meekatharra^† Sandstone^† Upper Chapman Valley^† Wiluna^†
Peel	Waroona–Lake Clifton Pinjarra–Narrogin^†
Pilbara	Fortescue Goldsworthy Hamersley & Robe River Marble Bar^† Mount Newman Roy Hill
Perth	Airport Armadale Belmont^† Ellenbrook Fremantle Kalamunda Kwinana Mandurah Midland (country) Midland (suburban) Mundaring Mundaring Weir Rocky Bay Spearwood–Armadale^† Thornlie–Cockburn Upper Darling Range Yanchep
South West	Brunswick Junction–Narrogin^† Donnybrook–Katanning^† Flinders Bay^† Nannup^† Northcliffe^† Pinjarra–Narrogin^†
Wheatbelt	Avon Yard–Mullewa^† Bonnie Rock^† Brookton–Corrigin^† Brunswick Junction–Narrogin^† Goomalling–West Merredin^† Hyden Kalannie Merredin–Narrogin^† Merredin–Yilliminning^† Pinjarra–Narrogin^† Newdegate Miling Wagin–Bowelling^† Wyalkatchem–Southern Cross^† York-Bruce Rock^†
Tourist and heritage railways	Bennett Brook Hotham Valley Oliver Hill
Timber railway lines	Ballaarat tramline Jarrahdale–Rockingham
Trams and tramways	Baldivis tramway Broome Tramway Carnarvon tram Trams in Fremantle Trams in Kalgoorlie Trams in Perth
Approved by Parliament but not constructed	Boyup Brook–Cranbrook Brookton–Dale River Manjimup–Mount Barker Southern Cross southwards Yarramony eastward Yuna-Dartmoor
^† Denotes railway is closed, partially closed or has been removed See also: Agricultural railways ♦ Wheatbelt railways