Lineside Liaisons #25 Boyanup

The South West Western Australian town of Boyanup.

Venturing to the other side of the country over the summer of 2017/2018 enabled me to explore the abandoned railway lines of Western Australia's South West Region. The town of Boyanup a short 22 km drive by car south of Bunbury was once the junction point for the railway lines to Northcliffe and Flinders Bay. After the station was closed, a preservation group and museum was formed back in 1985, collecting bits and pieces of former WAGR rollingstock with the aim of seeing these old trains run once more. Today, the museum may be closed to the general public, but the South West Rail and Heritage Centre who now maintain the site schedule several 'open days' throughout the year to view their vintage collection.

Although my visit never coincided with one of these open days, standing on the forlorn platform of Boyanup's now bare station site did inspire the poem Junction of Broken Dreams, featured in my book Last Train to Bunbury, available direct here.