Don Rhodes Mining and Transport Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Don Rhodes Mining and Transport Museum

A view of two of the locomotives on display.
Location	Wilson Street, Port Hedland, Western Australia
Type	Mining museum Transport museum
Owner	Town of Port Hedland
Nearest car park	Adjacent (no charge)

The Don Rhodes Mining and Transport Museum is an awesome outdoor park in Port Hedland, Western Australia. It's a place where you can see huge old mining machines and railway trains that are no longer in use.

This museum is located on Wilson Street. This street connects the town to the Great Northern Highway and North West Coastal Highway. The museum is right across from Nelson Point Yard. This is a big train yard where trains from the Mount Newman railway finish their trips.

History of the Museum

The museum is named after a very important person, Don Rhodes. He was a pioneer in mining and transport in the Pilbara region. A pioneer is someone who is among the first to explore or develop something. Don Rhodes was also responsible for getting the first modern Australian-built roadtrain made.

The Amazing Rhodes Ridley Roadtrain

When Don Rhodes was working with manganese mines, he used trucks from England. But these trucks weren't strong enough for the tough work. So, he asked his main engineer, Harold Ridley, to design a super-strong truck. They built a huge 70-ton vehicle called the Rhodes Ridley roadtrain.

This amazing machine was finished in 1958. It was so powerful it could pull 100-ton crushing machines! But there was a problem. The government at the time wouldn't let the Rhodes Ridley drive on public roads. It only traveled about 3,000 miles before it had to stop working.

Cool Exhibits to See

At the museum, you can see three large trains. These trains are called locomotives. They are on display right in the middle of the museum. Each of these trains used to work on one or both of the big mining railways that end in Port Hedland. These railways are the Goldsworthy railway and the Mount Newman railway.

Here are some of the trains you can explore:

No.	Locomotive	When it started working	Who built it	Fun Facts	Picture
0002	Goldsworthy Bo-Bo	1965	English Electric	This train helped build the Goldsworthy railway. It ran between Mount Goldsworthy and Finucane Island. In 1966, it pulled the very first train full of ore from Mt Goldsworthy!
5451	EMD F7 Bo-Bo	1951	Electro-Motive Division	This train first belonged to the Western Pacific Railroad. Then, in 1967, Mt Newman Mining bought it. It helped build the Mount Newman railway. After that, it carried supplies until it retired in 1971.
5497	M636 Co-Co	1975	ALCO / Commonwealth Engineering	This train was first owned by Mt Newman Mining. Later, it was owned by BHP Iron Ore, a big mining company.

See also

• Silver Star Cafe (Port Hedland)