Transaustralian railway centenary peter treloar mp. A history of rail in south australia 1917 the commonwealth railway is formed upon completion of trans australian railway construction port augusta and port pirie is linked by standard gauge. As a result, many fine buildings were built as the town expanded. The trans australian railway was first opened in 1917 and provided a rail service between eastern and western australia. In line with the societys primary role to research and publish railway history, arh will contain only historical articles to complement the societys current affairs magazine, railway digest. Welcome to australian railway history the bulletin of the australian railway historical society. Centenary of the transaustralian railway first coins. South australias rail history began with a horsedrawn railway in 1854, running between the ports of goolwa and port elliot at the mouth of the murray river. Quorn, south australia simple english wikipedia, the. The golden west 1940 clip 2 on aso australianscreen. This runs parallel to the trans australia railway line. It includes a 478kilometre 297 mi stretch of deadstraight track, the worlds longest, between the 797 km 495 mi post west of ooldea and the 1,275 km 792 mi post west of loongana the line forms an important freight route between western. Perth australia, city in southwestern australia, capital of western australia, on the swan river. Aboriginal people to refer to the australian bustard ardeotis australis.
After arriving in rawlinna swings back along the trans access road towards kalgoorlie. It is one of the few truly transcontinental trains in the world. There are many passenger train and tram operators in australia offering services intensive suburban trains and electric tramways in major cities, to commuter trains and long distance interstate and luxury transcontinental journeys. Starting in august 1929, the ghan first ran on the central australian railway. View the full record at encyclopedia of australian science resources for trans australian railway. The ghan simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For example the entire line never had to cross a major watercourse, summer daytime temperatures were well above 40 degrees celsius then there were. The road runs alongside the transaustralian railway line which was constructed in 1917. Around 80 per cent of freight travelling easttowest in australia travels on the transaustralian railway. Both extend through the heart of the nullarbor plain from kalgoorlie to port augusta in south australia. The rail line was built along the khwae noi kwai river valley to support the japanese armed forces during the burma campaign. Though officially named the rawlinnawarburton road, it is better. This made quorn an important town, as everyone travelling eastwest or northsouth in australia passed through quorn. The transaustralian railway line radically shortened travel and communication time.
These transcontinental journeys offer you a comprehensive, authentic, australian experience through a vast variety of landscapes. More than 12,000 allied prisoners of war pows and tens of thousands of forced labourers perished during its construction. Subscription for australian railway history is available for. As at 2018, the australian rail network consisted of a total of 36,064 kilometres 22,409 mi of track on three major track gauges except for a small number of private railways, most of the australian railway network infrastructure is governmentowned, either. Institution of engineers, australia transaustralian railway plaquing nomination at a time of high unemployment among itinerant rural workers, due to the 191416 drought over most of southern australia, construction of the railway provided jobs for up to 3000 men at the peak of construction. The train first ran in february 1970 after the completion of gauge conversion projects in south australia and western australia. Commonwealth government records about south australia. Privately owned and operated to service the a pit coal mine. Railway books and train books available in australia at 30% below the rrp. The posters convey the optimism and aspiration of the new rail service. The bustard is an important food source for aboriginal people ziembicki, 2009.
The transaustralian railway national library of australia. It was a milestone in australian rail history as it was the first track to be laid with iron. Order from our australian book shop for free shipping australia wide. Memories of the transaustralian railway by philippa. This is not to be confused with the australian brush bush turkey alectura lathami, which inhabits more temperate and wet tropical areas. In 1957, the 1,436 mm 57 in standard gauge stirling north to marree line opened, so the train only ran north of marree. Trans australian railway passenger timetable 1 st february 1960 tar psgr timetable 19620801. The stamps were designed by john white of the australia post design studio. Approximately 650 km long and running northsouth, it lies entirely in the state of western australia and crosses the nullarbor plain and the great victoria desert.
There are two major trans australian railway jouneys. Read our other posts, where we discuss the history of the transaustralian railway and the era of mail by rail. Published every month, each issue of the magazine contains. Before federation in 1901, western australia had made the construction of a railway linking the nations eastern and western colonies a condition for joining the commonwealth. In october 1980 a new standard gauge line was built to.
In 1917, quorn became the crossroads of the northsouth central australian railway and eastwest transaustralian railway between port augusta and kalgoorlie. The transaustralian railway crosses the nullarbor plain of australia from port augusta in south australia to kalgoorlie in western australia. In 1872 an effort was made to organize a company to undertake this enterpriseone much greater than any railway yet. The train commenced operating between port augusta and kalgoorlie in 1917 following the completion of the transaustralian railway. The promise of a federally funded eastwest rail link was one of the deciding factors for western australia agreeing to join with the eastern states.
Fact sheet fac trans australia rail access road trail. It was extended to port pirie in 1937 following the conversion of this line to standard gauge initially the train was hauled by g class locomotives and from 1938 by c class locomotives. It is an important railroad hub and, with nearby communities, forms the principal commercial, manufacturing, and cultural center of the state. Brochure for the transaustralia railway, which includes a separate timetable for the transaustralia railway express passenger service, dated 14 february 1966. This was a 1,070 mm 3 ft 6 in narrowgauge railway that went to alice springs.
Centenary of the opening of the trans australian railway. The ghan from darwin to adelaide and the indian pacific from perth to sydney. Trans australian railway passenger timetable january 1953 tar psgr timetable 19600201. The first railway line in south australia is constructed a horsedrawn tramway between goolwa port of the river murray and port elliot. Transaustralian railway 19172017 engineers australia. Commonwealth railways g class locomotive with a westbound passenger train is stopped at tarcoola, south australia, on the transaustralian railway, around 1925, a view that would have been similar in 1918. Australias passenger railway system is a safe and convenient form of travel. Burma railway, also called burmasiam railway, railway built during world war ii connecting bangkok and moulmein now mawlamyine, burma. The commonwealth railway is formed upon completion of trans australian railway construction port augusta and port pirie is linked by standard gauge. The first steam powered train was introduced in 1856 and ran between adelaide and port. Brochure transaustralia railway, commonwealth railways. Commonwealth railways extend their trans continental line from port augusta to port pirie creating meeting of three different gauges at port pirie. Five days later, the first passenger train set off from port augusta, arriving at kalgoorlie 42 hours and 48 minutes later.
Siding for the transaustralian railway bates, 1938. Transaustralian railway national museum of australia. Throughout there are compartment sleeping cars, and. On october 17, 1917, construction crews building the rail line from both the east and from the west met at the exact point near ooldea where the monuments are located, and joined the rail line. Unfortunately the different australian states began railway construction, as in other countries, using different gauges, so that it is still necessary to change cars several times on account of the difference in gauge. Railways have an extremely long life time and are constructed to withstand natural.
The 1,051 mile or 1,691 km railway was built through some of the worlds most inhospitable and largely uninhabited country. A guide to train travel in australia train routes, times. So from that date, a single, standard gauge rail line joined the continent from one side to the other. Rail transport in australia is a crucial aspect of the australian transport network. The last railway spike was hammered into place outside the tiny settlement of ooldea in south australia on 17 october 1917. The trans australian railway is a 1693km rail line that stretches from port augusta south australia all the way to kalgoorlie western australia, crossing the nullarbor plain. Comrails commonwealth, australian national and south. Opening of the tom diver derrick bridge consists of a single track, dual.
Locomotives and rail cars publication its08 march 2011 control no. Perth, australia travel photos by galen r frysinger. It includes the worlds longest stretch of deadstraight track, a 478km stretch between the 797km post west of ooldea and the 1,275km post west of loongana. Railways in australia date from the 10 december 1831 when the australian agricultural company officially opened australias first railway, located at the intersection of brown and church streets, newcastle, new south wales. The centenary of the transaustralian railway youtube. Trans australian railway passenger timetable 1 st august 1962. Standard gauge railway project western australian government railways wagr pdf.
Buy memories of the transaustralian railway by philippa rogers from boffins books in perth, australia. Des smith is a former chief civil engineer of australian national railway who joined the commonwealth railways in 1955. A crowd had gathered and as per mint tradition the first 100 mint visitors received a certificate denoting their place in history. The opening of the transaustralian railway in late 1917 enabled travel across australia by train. The great southern railway train, the indian pacific, which runs between sydney and perth, calls at the siding twice a week in each direction.
Joining this vast and isolated 1,693kilometre stretch required 2. It would be nearly 30 years after this film was made before indigenous australians were recognised as australian citizens. With the addition of british columbia, canada extended from the atlantic to the pacific. T wikipedia citation please see wikipedias template documentation for further citation fields that may be required. It includes a 478kilometre 297 mi stretch of deadstraight track, the worlds longest, between the 797 km 495 mi post west of ooldea and the 1,275 km 792 mi post west of loongana. To maintain that vast area and to ensure its independence from the united states, it was necessary to build a railway to the west coast. From ooldea it takes about 45 minutes to drive to the barrier gate at maralinga, so this is. Latest research full length articles on historical railways. The transaustralian railway crosses the nullarbor plain of australia from port augusta in south australia to kalgoorlie in western australia, and includes the worlds longest stretch of deadstraight railway track, 478 kilometres in. It was also the location of one of the few permanent sources of freshwater ooldea soak, which made it an important drought refuge for many aboriginal peoples. Aboriginal astronomical traditions from ooldea, south.
679 118 4 124 763 412 861 779 1474 405 577 248 915 1122 658 1519 454 846 246 1372 520 117 1406 1229 1343 192 19 993