Gawler-Angaston Train line

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:39): On this day 110 years ago, the Gawler-Angaston train line was officially opened by the then state Governor. Over the past 110 years, this line has played an important role in serving the people of the Barossa, but its future now is in doubt because the current Liberal government has endorsed state-sanctioned vandalism to the track and rail corridor. Sadly, this government is determined to erase the line from the history of the Barossa. A brief history of the line is as follows, and I am indebted for the research undertaken by Mr Peter Hoye on which this speech is based.

During 1857 a railway line was laid in three sections from Adelaide, then to Salisbury, then to Smithfield and finally to Gawler. During this same period, from about the 1840s, predominantly Lutheran migrants were establishing themselves in the Barossa Valley area along with their agricultural-based industries which flourished very quickly. Charles Hargrave, a civil engineer and surveyor, was commissioned to explore various options to get a railway into the Barossa Valley.

Roads at the time were virtually non-existent bullock tracts, slow and tortuous. The year of 1874 saw a royal commission recommend the building of a railway line into the Barossa Valley, yet by the 1880s still no action had been undertaken. In 1889, the Hon. James Martin MLC, a resident of Gawler, moved a motion in state parliament to get things moving in line with the recommendations of the 1874 royal commission, and 1897 produced the first Angaston Railway Bill, which gave the opportunity for the Commissioner of Public Works to start gathering firm estimates for the construction of the line.

The Angaston Railway Bill underwent a second reading during which such matters as 'ruling grades' and 'track curvature' were hammered out, along with multitudes of railway-related matters. The final Angaston Railway Bill was then passed at the end of 1909 to include the Angaston extension. Construction of earthworks began in September 1909 by the contractor Smith and Timms Co., which had won the contract to build the line from Gawler to Angaston.

Considerable numbers of men were equipped with just picks and shovels to create the necessary embankments and cuttings required along the route. Soil was transported from A to B as required by horse and dray. Hundreds of tonnes of soil were dug and then transported and shovelled to level, all by manual labour. Work continued at different positions along the route, so progress was quite rapid as the corridor for the track itself was formed. Meanwhile, during 1910 jarrah sleepers and rails were being stacked near the Gawler station and were soon being laid down to form the new railway track.

Smith and Timms estimated that 16 kilometres of track could be laid each month. Shortly after the line had reached Lyndoch, a dispute over workers' rates of pay threatened to bring the project to a halt. Four parties were involved, being Smith and Timms, all their subcontractors, the workers’ union and the South Australian Government Railway Commissioner. The then state Premier, the Hon. John Verran (a Labor premier), replied that all piecework let out by him (the contractor) would be arranged at prices that would enable an able-bodied man to earn a least seven shillings for every full day's work of eight hours. Even then we were talking about insecure work for people.

Nevertheless, construction continued with such a pace that Nuriootpa saw its first passenger train departing en route to Gawler on 15 February 1911. The train was operated by the contractor with passengers being charged four shillings each way. Finally, the very first test train carrying engineers and various work group bosses steamed into the brand-new Angaston station on 25 August . The official opening of the Gawler-Angaston railway line occurred on 8 September 1911. Interestingly, the builder of the whole line, Smith and Timms, continued to operate passenger and goods trains to a rough timetable well into 1911 using their own locomotives and rolling stock.

The hire of the contractor's trains was rapidly becoming the norm for special tourist and sporting events, resulting in a good income for Smith and Timms as well as the Tanunda wineries and local businesses. Very quickly local businesses, clubs and organisations, plus the public, began to place more demand on the railway. Picnic trains were being organised, as were tourist trains by local wineries and children's parties and school outings.

A major flaw in running mixed trains was that the goods had to be unloaded and loaded, or trucks had to be shunted into sidings. This, or course, became an inconvenience and annoyance to passengers on the same train. From November 1911, a new passenger timetable was produced with a reviewed goods timetable.

My electorate office has organised a photographic and artefacts exhibition providing glimpses into the history of this wonderful train line. The exhibition will be officially opened by the executive officer of the National Rail Museum, Mr Robert Sampson.