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Adelaide River is very fortunate that many of the
original artefacts remain on site from when the North Australian Railway ran
through the township. The Railway was built by the Government of
South Australia as at that time, the Northern Territory was indeed the
Northern Territory of South Australia. Adelaide River was 77 rail miles south of
Darwin. The gauge of this railway was 3'6" (1067mm)
Work started at Darwin in 1886
and the construction was carried out by the firm of C & E Millar of
Melbourne. The first engine arrived at Port Darwin and was called
"Sandfly"
." Sandfly" was a tiny 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive and it was used
originally to move the railway construction materials from the wharf to the
stacking yard. The 42lb/yard rails came from Krupp in Germany and the
pressed steel sleepers came from England. Today "Sandfly" is on display at
Darwin after spending decades at Port Augusta and Adelaide.
The construction of the line
continued and the first return service between Adelaide River and Darwin
commenced on Monday 16 July 1888. The railway reached Pine Creek in 1889.
.
By this time the Pine Creek gold rush, which had
been the reason for building the Palmerston-Pine
Creek railway, had declined to a low level of
activity. Adelaide River is half way to
Pine Creek and a Refreshment Room was
established to assist passengers endure the 10
hour journey to Pine Creek at a maximum 20mph.
The entire line was taken over by the Commonwealth of Australia in 1911
(when
South Australia gave the Northern Territory to
the Commonwealth). During WW1, Lord Vestey
offered to establish a meat works in Darwin if
the NAR was extended to Katherine to transport
the cattle. The Pine Creek to Katherine
extension was completed in 1917 and included the
major bridge across the Fergusson River which
has been reused for the new standard gauge
railway.
A further and last extension to Daly Waters was commenced in 1926 to connect
with the international air service. The line
construction got as far as Birdum when work
ceased during the Great Depression and was
opened in September 1929. The entire line closed
on 30 June 1976. A new standard gauge
railway linking Alice Springs to Darwin was
built in 2002 -3.
All the pictures are thumbnails
on this page and you need to click on the
picture to see a full size photograph. All
Photographs were supplied by Trevor Horman.
The Historic Adelaide River
Station Refreshment Building. The track in the
foreground is the new standard guage line to
Darwin. Note how close the new line is to the
old railway. The kitchen in the refreshment rooms has
recently been
fitted out with stainless steel benches
refrigerators, lights, power points drink
coolers and other fittings.
The photograph below is
an aerial view of the Refreshment Rooms taken in
the Wet season. The building has been renovated
and repainted in October 2005. The elevated
26,000 gallon elevated water tank stands in
front of the water reservoir.
The boiler and steam powered water
pump
(non-operational).
The track in the foreground
is the Adelaide to Darwin standard gauge track.
Adelaide River used to be a three road yard with
SAR triple throw points.
The 30psi boiler was made by James Martin at
Gawler in 1888 and the reservoir was excavated
with horse drawn skids.. Mick Kent is providing
an interpretive guide to visitors on the Railway
Picnic Day in August 2005
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