Sunday History Photo / NSW

Submitted: Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:38
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The Silverton Tramway was an Australian 56-kilometre long 1,067 mm narrow gauge railway running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970 it served the mines of Broken Hill, and formed the link between the standard gauge New South Wales Government Railways and the narrow gauge South Australian Railways. The line was owned and operated by the Silverton Tramway Company.
The Silverton Tramway was conceived as a way to transport ore from the newly discovered ore deposits at Silverton, to the smelters at Port Pirie, with the line later extended to Broken Hill with the discovery of that field in 1883 by a boundary rider called Charles Rasp .

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The need for a private line was in part due to the NSW Government refusing to allow the South Australian Railways to complete their narrow gauge link across the border. The Silverton Tramway Act was passed by New South Wales in 1886, permitting the narrow gauge line to be built. The Act also permitted the New South Wales government to buy out the company and assets after 21 years, provided a payment of 21 times the average of the previous seven years, and that the Company could be obliged to alter the track gauge at any time at its own expense. The line was built in twelve months at a cost of 125,000 pounds.
Once opened, major traffic on the line included passengers, livestock, bullion, ore and concentrates. In 1913, 844,477 tons of ore and concentrates were carried on the tramway and another 843,307 tons of other goods including coke, coal, timber, crude oil and livestock, and by 1933 twenty steam locomotives were owned by the company, along with 660 goods wagons. Passenger services were operated by the South Australian Railways, who paid the Company to access the line, the main passenger terminal in Broken Hill being at Sulphide Street. By the 1950s the Company was also providing a shunting service on 40 km of sidings in Broken Hill, and was also operating steam locomotives up to 62 feet long and weighting 97 tons. Diesel locomotives were delivered from 1961, appearing in the yellow and blue colours some years later.

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(Note: The lower photo above shows what was the Tom Mann train, special trains were run to Cockburn to listen to the speeches by Tom Mann to the Strikers in 1909, the reason was that Mann was banned from giving speeches in NSW so they all went over the border into SA.)

The New South Wales government did not wish the Company to remain as a main line operator, or to purchase it themselves, while South Australian train crews were not happy to work trains across the state border due to a loss of favourable industrial conditions. When the Company purchased its diesel locomotives, a number of structures, including bridges, were modified to carry standard gauge, as the company ordered the wider bogies needed to operate on standard gauge. By 1967 the Silverton Tramway Company offered to build a standard gauge line for a fixed sum, and transfer the line to New South Wales soon after. This line would run from Cockburn to Broken Hill on an alignment that had some interaction with the existing Crystal Street station, but the Commonwealth Government rejected it as they wished for the line to be built on a totally new alignment away from the Company lines. By 1968 South Australia believed that they would have gauge converted their portion of the line before the short section to Broken Hill was even finished.
Silverton Tramway, The standard gauge line was finally opened in 1970 on a new alignment which led directly to the New South Wales-operated Crystal Street station, taking one year and over $2 million more than if the Silverton proposal was carried out. The Silverton Tramway Company's business was lost to the South Australian Railways, with the company closing its narrow gauge shortline business, and returning the permanent way to the Crown.

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The company then reinvented itself as Silverton Rail, a short haul rail operator servicing the mining industry in and around Broken Hill. Since 1886 the company hauled some 90 million tonnes of bulk and general freight and 2.8 million passengers over an aggregate of 19 million kilometres.

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Reply By: On Patrol & TONI - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:50

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:50
Well done Doug & on time, amazing, LOL. Colin
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Follow Up By: Member - MUZBRY(Vic) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:58

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:58
Gee Colin,

your reply didn't have to go far...





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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 08:03

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 08:03
MUZBRY
Just goes to show how lazy he is, he could have walked over here.
But it is Sunday morning , he's probably still in bed.

.
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Reply By: Member - Bruce Y (Vic) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:56

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:56
Thank you Doug for another very interesting article, I don't know where you fit in time for doing the research, But I do enjoy the reading and the historical photo's very much.

Thanks Again Doug....

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Reply By: Member - MUZBRY(Vic) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:57

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 07:57
Gday
Thanks Doug, another good one ...



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Reply By: Ray - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 08:09

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 08:09
Just goes to show how the early railway engineers stuffed up our railway systems with all different gauges and how it cost so much to rectify later.
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Reply By: Member Bushy 04(VIC) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 09:01

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 09:01
Thanks Doug another great article.

Bushy
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Reply By: slave - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 10:33

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 10:33
Doug may be interested in this story that appeared in the local paper after his post last Sunday on 'Sunday History"


Reg Saunders

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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 11:50

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 11:50
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for that Doco'

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Reply By: Member - Bruce C (NSW) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 11:59

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 11:59
Morning Doug,
Great Story and very relevant given the meeting of the clan there in Sept ish.

I was given a book called 'History of Iron and Steel in Australia' and covered that area extensively. Very interesting read if any one is interested.

Thanks again Doug,
Cheers, Bruce.
At home and at ease on a track that I know not and
restless and lost on a track that I know. HL.

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Reply By: Member - John Q (QLD) - Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 19:23

Sunday, May 01, 2011 at 19:23
Hi Doug,

Another good Sunday read from you.

There is a book "Rails to Wealth" written by a Mr L Roberts on this operation. Dave B has a copy & it is truely a good insight into the Tramway along with many photos from older days.

John
just crusin & smelling the flowers

1. At Halls Creek (Is he really lost?)
2. East of Cameron Cnr


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Reply By: vk1dx - Monday, May 02, 2011 at 21:30

Monday, May 02, 2011 at 21:30
We almost stayed in his old cottage. Unfortunately the neighbours, who refused to answer their door, had parked their car in the driveway and the motel girl could not get us in.

Now that I have read this I am disappointed that we didn't just drag the car out. Or at least let all four tyres down. It would have been interesting.

Phil
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