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14-628: Spencers Brook (or Spencer's Brook ) is a waterway, locality and a district located within the Avon Valley in Western Australia . The locality is sited between the towns of Northam and York , about 95 kilometres (60 mi) east of the state capital, Perth . It is a part of the Central Ward administered by the Shire of Northam. Spencers Brook can be accessed from Clackline to the west or Northam to

28-474: A remnant of the railway nevertheless remained open until 1981 servicing iron ore trains via Northam and Spencers Brook to an iron and steel foundry located at Wundowie . After 1981, all associated rail infrastructure was removed and nothing remains today of the Spencers Brook junction/station except for the former Stationmasters residence and remnant concrete foundations for the locomotive turntable. However,

42-728: Is as high or higher than the mean annual rainfall. The river has three main sub-catchments: catchments for the Mortlock, Yilgarn, and Lockhart rivers. The river flows past County Peak , creating a picturesque view from the top. Thirty creeks and rivers flow into the Avon; some of the larger tributaries include the Dale River , Brockman River , Mortlock River and the Mackie River . Most of these watercourses are ephemeral and only flow after rain in winter and spring. Some permanent pools exist along

56-532: Is drained by the rivers: Stream flow measured in the Yilgarn and Lockhart Rivers since 1976 shows there to be annual flow through these systems, although flow volume is highly variable. Annual flow in the Lockhart River was in excess of 10 gigalitres (350,000,000 cu ft) in seven out of the 25 years of record, while in 10 years it was less than 1 gigalitre (35,000,000 cu ft). Studies in 2008-09 gave

70-745: The Muresk Institute , Curtin University 's school of agribusiness, applied biosciences and environmental biology. The closest commercial centre is Northam , located approximately 15 kilometres north of Spencers Brook. It was an important rail junction, being the point at which trains from Perth diverted south to the Great Southern Railway (Beverley to Albany) or east to the Eastern Goldfields Railway (Northam to Kalgoorlie). Spencers Brook railway station originally opened in 1885 with

84-563: The Shire of Wickepin is the point of origin for the upper Avon River, and the catchment size above the confluence with the Salt River at Yenyening Lakes is 91,500 square kilometres (35,300 sq mi). The basin covers much of the Western Australian wheatbelt and extends beyond that in some areas near almost-always-dry Lake Moore in the northeast, water is received regularly from only

98-522: The soils in the basin (which is on the extremely ancient Yilgarn Craton ), the rooting density of native flora is very high and its average specific discharge is probably the lowest of any basin of comparable size in the world. The extreme age of the soils also means that, at least after clearing for agriculture, almost all rivers in the basin have salinities above 0.3% (one-tenth that of the oceans and eight times that necessary to qualify as "fresh" water) and some much more than that. Passing through some of

112-524: The Great Southern Railway does still arc through the Spencers Brook locality between the towns of Northam and York. During World War II Spencers Brook was the location of the Australian Army 7th Supply Depot (7SD), operated by 8 Supply Personnel Company, which stored material such as clothing, medical supplies and food etc. for storage and distribution. The depot was serviced by a spur line from

126-447: The completion of the Perth line to York, with a spur line from Spencers Brook to Northam completed the following year in 1886. It was operating as a railway stopping place at 50 miles 44 chains (81.35 km) from Perth until 1966, incorporating a railway yard, refreshment tearooms and a watering tank tower. With the 1966 official closing of the line from Spencers Brook through to Midland,

140-569: The course of the river including Burlong Pool , Robins Pool, Long Pool, Cobblers Pool and Jimperding Pool. The Avon River Valley is the third and final route for the Eastern Railway line through the Darling Scarp between Midland and Northam , having been constructed in the 1960s. It is the site of an annual whitewater boating event, the Avon Descent . Due to the extraordinary age of

154-401: The extreme western edge of the basin. Indeed, until an abnormally wet year in 1963 it was not realised that the northeastern part of the basin beyond Wongan Hills ever drained water into the river. Under present climatic conditions, it is almost impossible to produce runoff from anywhere outside the extreme west of the basin because the amount of rain required to fall before runoff would begin

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168-422: The north, via Spencers Brook Rd, or from York to the south via Spencers Brook-York Rd. At the 2006 census , Spencers Brook had a population of 195. Spencers Brook, as a locality, was originally named Brookton by the landowner, Thomas Wilding, who built the historical Brookton Hotel in 1884 (renamed Spencers Brook Hotel in 1920) and which continues to trade to this day as Spencers Brook Tavern; it also features nearby

182-526: The oldest settled European agricultural areas in Western Australia, the catchment area has extensive soil salinity issues, which have attracted governmental programmes to alleviate the loss of agricultural lands. Catchment groups that oversee projects in the tributary parts of the river have had considerable support and funding from commercial and non-governmental sources as well. Lockhart River, Western Australia The Lockhart River catchment area

196-549: The then Eastern Railway and remains of the depot can be seen on the right travelling toward the railway crossing on Spencers Brook Road from the Tavern. Avon River (Western Australia) The Avon River is a river in Western Australia. A tributary of the Swan River , the Avon flows 240 kilometres (150 mi) from source to mouth, with a catchment area of 125,000 square kilometres (48,000 sq mi). Lake Yealering in

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