Forrest (Western Australia)

Forrest is a tiny place in the Australian state of Western Australia.

Location

The place is located in the Nullarbor Plain or desert about 1150 kilometers east of Perth, 1100 km west-northwest of Adelaide and 190 kilometers north of the coast of the Indian Ocean on the Great Australian Bight at an altitude of 150 m. The place name is on the Australian explorer and politician ( the first Prime Minister of Western Australia ) Sir John Forrest due.

Importance

Forrest has hold its own railway station on the Trans- Australian Railway, at the several times a week passenger trains. The town was founded in the wake of railway construction as a supply station and is located on the longest straight railway track in the world through the Nullarbor desert. It still hold some weekly trains here.

In Forrest is an airfield ( Forrest Airport ) is located with a paved runway, which is an important stopover for Australian transcontinental flights had since the late 20s of the 20th century, as a non-stop flight at the time was not yet possible. This was the heyday of Forrest, as it were, for example, here's a hotel and a ( modest ) infrastructure and considerably more inhabitants. Today, the runway is used only as Notflugplatz and is only flown a few times a week for refueling of short-haul aircraft. Nevertheless, it is still the longest illuminated runway outside of an Australian metropolitan area.

The place Forrest after the automation of the weather station today (as of 2005) only two inhabitants: a couple who is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the airfield. The surrounding countryside with enclosed living in the administrative area of ​​Forrest 18 inhabitants ( 2006).

Trivia

The location is included despite its not just impressive contemporary importance and number of inhabitants in a number of school atlases (eg Diercke World Atlas, 4th revised edition 1996 ( ISBN 3-14-100600-8 ), page 180).