2026 Heritage Festival
18 April to 18 May 2026
Footpath Trail
Boulder Power Station
The new Power Station on Hamilton Street, beside the Railway Reserve, consists of a steel-framed main engine room built by J. Flett of Kalgoorlie for Harris, Scarf & Sandovers Ltd., with plans prepared by Hobbs and Winning Architects. The engine room measures 36 ft by 75 ft, with reinforced concrete flooring raised 12 inches above ground level and Fibrolite walls and roofing. A 5-ton, hand-operated double-gantry crane runs on rails mounted 14 ft 3 in above the floor. Large reinforced foundations were constructed for the four generating units, with provision made for a possible fifth.
A lean-to wing includes offices, a meter testing room, a store, and a fitting shop, and the entire structure features a brick façade.
The plant comprises four Ruston & Hornsby diesel engines (11 in. bore, 14½ in. stroke, 428 rpm), each directly coupled to Lancashire Dynamo & Crypto D.C. generators producing 480 volts. Units 1 and 2 are 3-cylinder engines rated at 165 b.h.p./104 kW, while Units 3 and 4 are 6-cylinder engines rated at 330 b.h.p./212 kW, for a total output of 990 b.h.p./632 kW. The engines feature enclosed forced lubrication systems, filters, thermostatic controls, and instrumentation. All units are set at 12 ft 6 in centres.
The Boulder Subway
The Boulder Subway provides the only known example in the State of a subway built to its particular specifications, in particular regarding length, the number of tracks and the roadway carried by a bridge. The use of brick façade parapet beams and semicircular floor troughing is unique in Western Australia.
The Riveted girder construction, gravity brick abutments and retaining walls of Boulder Subway represent a nineteenth century form of construction that is now obsolete and is becoming increasingly rare in Western Australia as subways are gradually being replaced to meet town planning and railway requirements.
Boulder Subway provides the only known example in the State of a subway built to its particular specifications and demonstrates technical expertise in the riveted plate bridge girder construction. The use of brick faced parapet beams and semi-circular floor troughing is unique in Western Australia.
