Description
“Steam to Eurelia”
By Steve McNicol
Paperback cover 20 pages black/white photos
INTRODUCTION
In the late 1800s the South Australian Railways were caught up in the ‘railway mania’ of the time and embarked on an ambitious period of railway construction. Railways would open up new lands, bring civilisation to the outback and provide a means of rapid transit for goods and people between centres. With such a vast area of land to cover and with such a small population the S.A.R. adopted two railway gauges. The broader gauge lines of 5ft 3in radiated out from Adelaide (including the main line Melbourne) as well as penetrating the mid north and the Mallee. As railways pushed further away from the city, with localised isolated lines built in sparsely populated areas, the cheaper narrow gauge (3ft 6in) lines were constructed. This immediately caused transhipment problems when both gauges met, but at the time labour was cheap.
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