For more than 100 years, Collie has dug up coal. But Australia's demand for the black river of gold is drying up.
The lights, the bells, and the boom gate coming down.
It's a sight that forces traffic to a halt in town six times a day.
From his backyard 5 kilometres from town, Trevor Aramini catches the toot of the train's horn in the distance, leans back and smiles.
"No one here gets sick and tired of stopping for those trains," he says.
"They know that what that train is carting is the very thing that supports this town."
Coal has been mined in Collie since the early 1900s.
Local legend suggests a local stockman made the chance discovery along a creek bed in 1883, with the first mine opening in 1927.
With construction of the town's first coal-fired power station in 1931 and in the decades since, Collie's coal has powered Western Australia's energy grid and the town's bustling economy along with it.
The future of coal in Australia is uncertain
Like countless other coal towns around the world, the community is caught on a changing tide.
Right now, fossil fuels are in the firing line, with the United States, the UK and Europe in recent months stepping up pressure on Australia to sign up to the Paris 2050 target for net-zero emissions.
In Collie's home state of Western Australia, during the election campaign, both sides of politics declared policies where the future for coal looks bleak.
The current WA Labor government announced it will close half of the state-owned Muja power station by 2024, impacting an estimated 80 workers.
The WA Liberals have proposed shutting the door on all state-owned power stations by 2025 with the broader aim of reaching a net-zero carbon emissions electricity system by 2039.
The timelines of both parties are being exacerbated by what the current government deems an "unprecedented transition in the way electricity is supplied and used", hastened along by WA's seemingly insatiable appetite for renewable energy.
A quarter of the state's estimated 1,000,000+ households have already installed solar systems with small to large-scale renewable generators powering an ever-increasing number of businesses.
Coal mining is the family business in Collie
Trevor's attachment to Collie's coal industry strikes a familiar chord around town - he and his brother followed his father into the industry.
"It was always like that, everyone knew everyone, or everyone got their start because they had a family member put in a good word," he says.
"A lot of that had to do with no-one from outside wanting to come to Collie.
"But that's changed now, you got workers coming from all over the place just to work here now."
Like many in town, Trevor says he is under no illusions coal production in Collie will one day come to an end, but for now it's a prospect that weighs heavily on his mind.
"I'll be disappointed, heartbroken really," he says.
"I've had a great life out of coal, and it would be great if my kids and grandkids could benefit from coal.
That's what concerns me most, what industry is going to replace it?"
Collie's two main open-cut coal mines can be found either side of the highway at the eastern end of town.
The industry conducted within their huge expanse and the associated power stations sustain an estimated quarter of the town's 7,000 residents including many families like the Araminis.
Collie's coal is solely used for WA's domestic market.
The majority is allocated towards power generation of the state's energy grid, with the remainder used commercially on industrial processing.
On a global scale, and even nationally, Collie could hardly be considered a big player.
Australia produces about 500 million tonnes of coal each year, 300 million tonnes of which is thermal coal for the production of energy and the remaining 200 million tonnes metallurgical, or coking, coal used for the production of steel.
Collie contributes just 8 per cent toward the 300 million tonnes annual thermal coal haulage, about 200 million tonnes of which is exported.
But while it's small potatoes globally, the end of Australian demand for this product could decimate towns like Collie.
Retraining offers come too late for some
In WA, both parties are offering millions of dollars to upskill the workers directly employed in existing coal mines and power stations and many millions more to attract new industry to town.
Luring large-scale industry to town isn't proving easy.
The state government redirected $60 million in funding from its last budget to that end, following stalled plans for the establishment of a biomass energy plant and solar farm in Collie which could have delivered up to 200 jobs.
It has so far cut a cheque for $2 million to part-fund a medicinal marijuana facility the government says will create 24 permanent jobs and a slew of "considerable flow-on effects for the Collie community".
For 22-year-old Jack Hollins, the help hasn't come soon enough and he's had to leave town to find work.
The coal industry had been a great start for Jac. At just 22 years old, he's managed to buy a house in the coastal town of Binningup that he's doing up with his father Michael, who also works in coal.
But after completing a four-year apprenticeship as a heavy diesel mechanic at Premier Coal late last year, Jack was told the company was reducing its workforce.
He's managed to find more work as a diesel mechanic in the neighbouring town of Waroona, an hour's drive away.
While happy he has another job to move on to, Jac concedes he's facing the reality of having to leave Collie for good as positions in his hometown dry up.
"I'm appreciative for what the coal industry has given me and if the opportunity were to come up again, I would love to come back here," he said.
"To be honest, I would come back in a heartbeat.
"But what are you going to do? I have to follow the work and if it's not here, it's not here."
Town needs new industry to step into the breach
Collie Shire President Sarah Stanley believes the town is ready to meet the challenge of change.
"Collie actually got its start in the timber and railway industry well before coal entered the picture, so we're not exactly strangers to change," Ms Stanley says.
"Yes, coal mining plays a big role in what gives Collie its character but . those who work in the coal and coal-fired power industry are under no illusions that it will carry on forever.
"Those who are directly impacted by the changes in the energy landscape are already beginning to think what their next moves will be."
Ms Stanley believes a mix of industries will be key to the reinvention of Collie, and says green shoots are already beginning to sprout.
"We don't think there is going to be one silver bullet that will save the town," she said.
"And that's not what we want, anyway, it's simply not good for a town to have all of its eggs in one basket.
"We are looking for different roles in professional and creative services, in agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and tourism.
"A whole bunch of different areas so that ultimately, Collie is a very sustainable and prosperous community."
Could tourism future-proof the town?
Black Diamond and Stockton lakes are old mine pits filled with water that turns an azure blue in the sun and attracts instagrammers keen on swimming, mountain biking, kayaking and hiking.
Simone Fraser opened an adventure business 18 months ago aimed at exploiting these, and says she has seen growing demand for Collie's unique waterways and surrounding bush trails.
"There is a lot of room for growth in the tourism sector in Collie," Ms Fraser says.
"We have the venues and infrastructure is beginning to take shape and we are starting to see an evolving market of tourists who are looking to go somewhere other than the usual spots like Margaret River."
Michele-Maree Gannaway re-opened the doors of Collie's oldest pub as short-stay accommodation nine years ago.
Built in 1897, the Colliefields was once one of 25 hotels spread throughout Collie's town centre.
She said continued interest in Collie as a tourist destination provided the confidence to add a cafe to the venue with plans now afoot for further expansion.
"You are beginning to feel a change coming to town and you can see it by the different types of people passing through," Ms Gannaway said.
"Whereas once it would be visiting workers, now it's tourists from Perth and before COVID, lots of backpackers from overseas.
"Yes, there is genuine concern about what the future of Collie will look like but it's a town that has always embraced a challenge."
Several doors up the road is another relic of Collie's past, the Crown Hotel.
Manager and "chief chef" Shiree Smith says she fell in love with Collie after arriving 25 years ago with her husband, who had been contracted to work on the construction of Bluewaters Power Station.
"Coal played a huge role in employment at the time, just about everyone you knew worked in it, or knew someone who did," Ms Smith says.
"It's always been a hard-working town, but it's also been a very versatile town too."
Neither Ms Gannaway nor Ms Smith view the end of Collie's coal industry as the death knell for the town.
While it supplies passing trade to both business owners, neither say they are dependent on it.
"Tourism will play a big part in terms of jobs in the short term and getting the word out about Collie," Ms Smith said.
"I don't think tourism alone will be enough but new industries will come along and take the place of coal.
"For those that don't want a part of it, there is still the option of fly-in fly-out type work.
"Coal has equipped a lot of young people with the type of skills where they can get jobs pretty much anywhere."
Credits
- Reporting: Anthony Pancia
- Photos: Hugh Sando and Anthony Pancia
- Editor: Rebecca Trigger