The First Route was opened on 11 March 1884.
The principal contractor of the works was J.W. Wright & Co. The route ascended the escarpment around Greenmount Hill passing through Boya, Darlington, Glen Forrest, Mundaring and Sawyers Valley before turning north to Mount Helena, originally known as White's Mill then as Lion Mill.
A significant delay in construction was experienced at a site that became popularly known as Devil's Terror - a location between Darlington and Glen Forrest.
Clay was struck when a cutting was under construction followed by a subsurface spring.
The resulting flooding turned the clay into a bottomless bog.
The rail alignment had to be moved 100 metres south along the bed of Nyaania Creek, which was diverted into a specially constructed channel.

Source: West Australian Government Gazette of 1885, 5 January
It soon became apparent that this route was too steep for the increasingly heavier trains and engines required for the route.
 As a result, another route was quickly devised in the 1890s.

After the completion of the Second Route, this line became known in Western Australian Government Railways records as the Smith's Mill Branch, then the Mundaring Branch, and later as the Mundaring Loop.

Passenger traffic ceased between Boya and Mount Helena on 24 January 1954 and the route was closed from Koongamia to Mount Helena on 12 March 1965.

The current condition of the stations on this route today are as follows:
The Eastern Railway was then later extended beyond Northam to the Kalgoorlie goldfields.
The line was known as the Eastern Goldfields Railway.
The First Route was opened on 11 March 1884. The principal contractor of the works was J.W. Wright & Co. The route ascended the escarpment around Greenmount Hill passing through Boya, Darlington, Glen Forrest, Mundaring and Sawyers Valley before turning north to Mount Helena, originally known as White's Mill then as Lion Mill. A significant delay in construction was experienced at a site that became popularly known as Devil's Terror - a location between Darlington and Glen Forrest. Clay was struck when a cutting was under construction followed by a subsurface spring. The resulting flooding turned the clay into a bottomless bog. The rail alignment had to be moved 100 metres south along the bed of Nyaania Creek, which was diverted into a specially constructed channel.
Source: West Australian Government Gazette of 1885, 5 January
It soon became apparent that this route was too steep for the increasingly heavier trains and engines required for the route.  As a result, another route was quickly devised in the 1890s.
After the completion of the Second Route, this line became known in Western Australian Government Railways records as the Smith's Mill Branch, then the Mundaring Branch, and later as the Mundaring Loop.
Passenger traffic ceased between Boya and Mount Helena on 24 January 1954 and the route was closed from Koongamia to Mount Helena on 12 March 1965.
The current condition of the stations on this route today are as follows:
The Eastern Railway was then later extended beyond Northam to the Kalgoorlie goldfields. The line was known as the Eastern Goldfields Railway.
Eastern Railway (Western Australia)