Springdale Miniature Railway

Springdale Miniature Railway is a private 7 1/4" (184 mm) gauge railway located near the town of Denmark in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia.

The main line was completed in February 2024 giving a loop of approximately 270 m of track (see Track Plan), with a 40 m spur into a garage where the train is stored.

The name Springdale comes from the nearby Springdale Beach where there was once a small station on the now-closed railway from Elleker, near Albany, to Denmark and Nornalup.

Photo by Rosemary Thomas

Construction of the miniature railway commenced in mid-2023.  Trackwork is now complete apart from installation of an additional point (currently on order) to convert the existing siding into a passing loop.  Rollingstock currently consists of:

• Maxitrak Planet 2 battery-electric 0-4-0 locomotive
• 1.2 m long driving wagon with lever-operated handbrake
• 2.0 m long utility wagon 
• 1.1 m long ballast wagon

The three wagons are home made, mostly from wood, in order to quickly establish basic operations.  When not required for ballasting duties, the ballast wagon, with ballast hopper removed, can double as a short utility wagon.

Seating for driver and passengers is fairly primitive and is in the form of plastic step stools.

Two gondola style passenger wagons are currently on order from Mini Train Systems.

Track and points are by Mini Train Systems.  The minimum curve radius is 10 m.  Maximum gradient is 1 in 33, with 1 in 50 wherever possible.

A replica of the original station building is presently under construction in 1/3 the original size, although tracklaying is currently taking priority.  When completed, the station building will be installed next to the track, most probably adjacent to the dam.

3D design for station building

Please refer to the Index of Blog Posts.

For further information, you can post a comment below or email me at richardestallard@gmail.com.

This page updated 8 April 2024.