Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 16 March 1939, page 31


Floods and Washaways im North Australia?

RAILWAY DISORGANISED BY FLOOD. The recent heavy rains in the Far North isolated Alice Springs and other northern towns. The railway service was interrupted for about six weeks, telegraph lines collapsed, and aerodromes were rendered unfit for landing. / Workmen repairing the Alice Springs line at the scene of a washaway.

' PIGSTY ' BRIDGE. The bridge over Stevenson Creek was washed away, and the repair gang built a pigsty bridge — sleepers built in sections of four— in which more than 600 sleepers were used. When the express crossed, hardly any movement was observed.

TEMPORARY RAILWAY CROSSING, constructed over the Alberga, For months the creek bed had been composed of dry sand, but the rain converted it into a river a quarter of a mile wide. Picture shows a temporary lite laid across the creek to enable the express to pass over.

WASHING DAY FOR PASSENGERS. While the train was held up near the Alberga River, waiting for repairs to be effected to the line, passengers ran out of clothes, and a washing day was improvised. Drying clothes on the train.

WATER TANK OVERTURNED. When the Alice Springs train was derailed by floods near Abminga, a tank containing 4,000 gallons of water was overturned. The water pouring from the truck.

TO REPAIR THE RAILWAY. A repair train with breakdown outfit standing ready at Oodnadatta to proceed to the scene of the rail washaways on the Alice Springs line as soon as conditions permit.

REPLACING THE TRACK. Another scene on the Alice Springs railway, showing workmen replacing a section of line over a culvert, after it had been washed away by floodwaters.

STORES FOR THE NATIVES. A police camel train leaving Oodnadatta with stores for the native camp on Macumba station. ^91