Avon Yard

Avon Yard, originally known as the Avon Marshalling Yard (also sometimes known as Avon Railway Yard) is a railway yard west of Northam, Western Australia.

Avon Yard
Looking across Avon Yard from the west, October 2013
Location
LocationNortham, Western Australia
Details
Built1966
Operated byRemaining parts used by Arc Infrastructure, Watco Australia (CBH Group), and Aurizon (no longer staffed)
Type of harborDry port
Rail gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

It lies on the southern side of the Avon River, and is on what is known as the Eastern Railway between Toodyay and Northam.

It was built by the Western Australian Government Railways,[1] as a marshalling yard for the standard gauge railway project in the 1960s.[2][3]

It originally was a dual gauge yard, with both narrow (1,067mm) and standard gauge (1,435mm) track laid. It is now mainly standard gauge.

The yard has been modified at various stages, as the different operators dealt with the services required.[4] It has also been considered as redundant grain receival or storage location with some arguments for bypassing the facility and railing direct to Fremantle.[5][6]

CBH 001 in Avon Yard, April 2014

It ceased being used as an operational yard by Aurizon in 2013, however it is still used to store withdrawn rolling stock. Watco Australia also uses the depot to maintain its CBH Group locomotives and rolling stock.

Large CBH grain holding silos are located on the southern side of the former marshalling yard, with Watco servicing its rolling stock at this location.

Track work in Avon Yard, April 2014

References
  1. Aerial Surveys Australia; HRRC (1966), Aerial photographs of the Avon Marshalling Yard under construction, 29 Jan. 1966 [picture], retrieved 25 May 2014
  2. Western Australian Government Railways Commission; Institute of Transport. Western Australian Division (1967), Inspection tour of Avon Valley Railway, Avon Yard and Northam by Western Australian Division of the Institute of Transport, Monday, 29th May, 1967 : itinerary, Western Australian Government Railways, retrieved 25 May 2014
  3. "Avon Valley Railway Route". The Beverley Times. 61 (2). Western Australia. 21 January 1966. p. 6. Retrieved 18 October 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. An example of how it looked in 1992: Woldendorp, Richard (1992), Aerial photograph of the Avon Marshalling Yard, Northam [picture], retrieved 25 May 2014
  5. Hatton, P; Johnston, R; Westrail. Operations Branch; Westrail. Business Development Branch (1991), Report on Central District narrow gauge grain by-passing Avon Yard to Kwinana, Westrail Operations Branch, retrieved 25 May 2014
  6. Bell, M. J. (Michael John); Westrail. Business Development Branch (1992), Bypassing Avon grain transfer facility, Westrail Business Development, retrieved 25 May 2014

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