Walkaway, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Walkaway is a small town in the City of Greater Geraldton
local government area of Western Australia
. At the 2006 census
, Walkaway had a population of 262.
Its name is a corruption of the native "Wagga wah", referring to the bend in the nearby Greenough River
, and was originally given to the railway station when a line was built from Geraldton in 1887. In 1894 it was linked with Midland Junction
by the building of a private line - that of the Midland Railway Company
, constructed by an engineer and later the first General Manager of the Company, Edward Keane. With the railway and an expanding agricultural area, the township grew until with the dieselisation
of the railway systems, and the take-over by the State of the Midland Railway in 1964, decline set in. This was also accentuated by the gradual absorption of the original smallholdings into the larger holdings of today's farming demands.
City of Greater Geraldton
The City of Greater Geraldton is a Local Government Area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth on the Indian Ocean...
local government area of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Walkaway had a population of 262.
Its name is a corruption of the native "Wagga wah", referring to the bend in the nearby Greenough River
Greenough River
The Greenough River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia.-Course:Nominally located at , Greenough River has its headwaters near Woojalong Hills on the Yilgarn Plateau. It runs in a south westerly direction through deep valleys for approximately , passing through the Waterloo...
, and was originally given to the railway station when a line was built from Geraldton in 1887. In 1894 it was linked with Midland Junction
Midland, Western Australia
Midland is a suburb in the Perth, Western Australia metropolitan area, as well as the regional centre for the City of Swan local government area that covers the Swan Valley and parts of the Darling Scarp to the east. It is situated at the intersection of Great Eastern Highway and Great Northern...
by the building of a private line - that of the Midland Railway Company
Midland Railway of Western Australia
The Midland Railway of Western Australia was a privately built and operated railway in Western Australia, operated by the British-owned Midland Railway Company of Western Australia...
, constructed by an engineer and later the first General Manager of the Company, Edward Keane. With the railway and an expanding agricultural area, the township grew until with the dieselisation
Dieselisation
Dieselisation or dieselization is a term generally used for the increasingly common use of diesel fuel in vehicles, as opposed to gasoline or steam engines.-Water Transport:...
of the railway systems, and the take-over by the State of the Midland Railway in 1964, decline set in. This was also accentuated by the gradual absorption of the original smallholdings into the larger holdings of today's farming demands.
Further reading
- Gunzburg, Adrian (1989) The Midland Railway Company of Western Australia - Locomotives Melbourne, Vic : Light Railway Research Society of Australia. ISBN 0-909340-27-7 (Includes a condensed history of the Company from 1886 to 1964)
- Heritage Council of W.A. (1988) Greenough/Walkaway heritage trail : settlement of the Greenough River Flats : a Commonwealth/State Bicentennial Project. Perth, W.A.: Heritage Council of W.A..
- Heritage Council of W.A. (1999) Heritage trail, Greenough/Walkaway : settlement of the Greenough River Flats. East Perth, W.A. : Heritage Council of Western Australia. - Part of the Heritage Trails Network.