Museum Precinct - Tower Street

The Transport Shed houses the Leonora tram and “Midland”, the woodline locomotive.

Midland was one of the steam engines operating on the woodlines, which were railway lines to timber cutting settlements that supplied the Sons of Gwalia mine with timber for fuel and the supports for underground tunnels.

The woodline engine was built in 1934 and initially named “KEN”, an acronym derived from the surnames of three directors of the Sons of Gwalia Mine - Kluge, Edquist and Newman. It was later renamed “Midland”, consistent with company’s tradition of naming its locomotives after the places in which they were built.

The Leonora Municipal Council purchased the private tramway in 1903 and established a service between Barnes’ Federal Theatre in Leonora and Gwalia's State Hotel. The aim was to encourage Gwalia residents to shop in Leonora and provide transport to Sons of Gwalia workers who lived in Leonora.

The slower steam-driven tram was replaced in 1908 by the electric service, cutting the trip time to just 10 minutes.

The tram service ceased in 1921 and today the Leonora tram overlooks the open cut mine.