The Yarloop Workshops are situated in the town of Yarloop

Yarloop, Western Australia

Yarloop is a town located in the South West of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, between Waroona and Harvey. At the 2006 census, Yarloop had a population of 545.-History:...

 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...

, where they operated from 1901 to 1978. Originally built by Millers on the site of the first timber mill in the area, the operations expanded to become the support facility for Millers' 26 timber mills and the rail network that connected them. The workshops hand-crafted most of the parts necessary to maintain the equipment rather than experience delays in obtaining parts from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. After suffering extensive damage from Cyclone Alby

Cyclone Alby

Severe Tropical Cyclone Alby was regarded as the most devastating tropical cyclone to impact southwestern Western Australia on record. Forming out of an area of low pressure on 27 March, Alby steadily developed as it tracked southwestward, parallel to Western Australia...

 in 1978, Millers moved their operation to a site just outside the town on the South Western Highway

South Western Highway

South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the National Highway 1 network for most of its length...

. The site then changed ownership a number of times until it was brought by Bunnings in 1983.

History

In 1895 Miller brothers built a timber mill (?) on the site and as production increased the need to maintain equipment meant that the place was expanded to incorporate the various machinery workshops until 1901 when the site sole function was for the maintenance of Millers equipment. During both World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

the workshops were converted to manufacture armaments. In the 1930s the timber industry in the region peaked with Millers operating 26 saw mills and an extensive private railway system to support the mills. The workshops became the centre of the operations employing in excess of 100 people, the workshops included a foundry making the parts as necessary, as part of this an extensive collect of wooden patterns were made and are still retained on site in the workshops.

External links

• Yarloop Workshop Inc.