Ballarat Engine
Today, the first steam locomotive used in Western Australia, Ballarat Engine, rests in Victoria Square, Busselton. However, from 1871 to 1886 it led a busy life, hauling timber for the Western Australian Timber Company to the Lockeville Landing in Geographe Bay - or, as it was known later, the Ballarat jetty.
The Western Australia Timber Company was financed by the businessmen of Ballarat, Victoria. George Simpson, manager of the mill, also came from there, so, not surprisingly; the Victoria foundry in Ballarat was selected to build the locomotive, which was designed by Mr J Robinson. The cost was 780 pounds, delivered in Melbourne. Its length was 15 feet, nine inches over buffer beams, its weight, seven and a half tons, and it was proudly claimed that the 15 horsepower engine could pull 150 tons on a level track at 10 miles per hour.
When the mill finally closed and the 300-foot jetty crumbled away, the Ballarat stayed at Lockeville, until presented to the town of Busselton by the owner of the property Mr Percy Reynolds. The engine is now on display in the Park opposite the Busselton Visitor Centre.
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