The
Port Dock Est.1856
DJ Gordon who wrote in 1908;
The honour of building the first State-owned railway in the British Empire belongs to South Australia! ... it can be established without doubt. ... South Australia leads the World as a builder of railways.
Adelaide is the only Australian town, in which the American system of buying land, and making a railway to bring population to it, has been carried out.
The Port
Dock Station 1950
Extract from the Encyclopaedia Britannica
Port Adelaide, Chief port of South Australia, on an estuarine-tidal inlet of Gulf St Vincent. Visited in 1831 by Capt. Collet Barker, the harbour, sheltered by a long sand spit to the west, was made the port for Adelaide in 1837.
Port Adelaide was incorporated as a town in 1855 and became a city in 1901.
Port Adelaide chosen by Colonel Light as the most suitable port
for the province.
He surveyed the road from Adelaide (named after Queen Adelaide,
wife of King William IV.) to Port Adelaide in 1837.
The Port Adelaide River bar was
deepened in 1839
Making
way for the Port Docks to be constructed (McLaren Wharf)
The Port Dock (Rail yard) was originally the first
railway yard in the Port Adelaide area.
The
first publicly owned railway line in the British Empire.
It
was built by the colonial government to the then ‘Australian Standard’ of
1600mm. (5 ft 3 inches, Broad gauge)
The Adelaide to Port Adelaide Railway line built in the
1850’s and opened on 19th April 1856 was used to transport freight &
passengers between the Port of Adelaide & the City of Adelaide.
The
first line in South Australia to carrying steam powered trains on 21 April
1856 between Adelaide and Port Adelaide.
Port Adelaide Timeline
1837
Officially
declared Port Adelaide - replacing the old name of "Port Misery" 23
May
1839 The
Port Adelaide River bar was initially deepened
1840 Opening of the road from Adelaide to Port
Adelaide - 14 October.
1843
First steam
engine in the colony erected by Messrs Wyatt.
1855 First
electric telegraph in South Australia commences operation between Adelaide and
Port Adelaide, being a private enterprise of James MacGeorge - 26 November. Strung across private backyards and scrub, lt was
eventually bought out by the then South Australian Government
1856
First Government telegraph in South
Australia opened (Adelaide to Port Adelaide) - 18 February.
1856
The Adelaide to Port Adelaide Railway line built and
opened on 19th April 1856
1859
The Port bridge is
built from the western end of St Vincent St to connect to Semaphore on the
other side.
1860 Adelaide Milling Company
established, this siding was still in use till the early 1980’s, the building
can still be seen today on the corner of the Princess & North Parade
wharves (Mundy Street)
1873 The original Port Dock Goods Shed (now part of the National Rail
Museum) are built.
1878
Railway Line from Port Adelaide via St
Vincent Street opened
Jervois Bridge built, carried
the railway line to Semaphore. (replacing the Port Bridge)
The first Jervois Bridge remained in service till
the 1950’s where it was replaced with the present day structure. The original
Jervois Bridge Gantry can be seen today standing at the back of the Port Wharf
Markets.
1881
Railway line extended
to Largs Bay
1899
South Australia's first power station
began operating in Port Adelaide.
1916 Semaphore/Outer Harbour Railway re-routed via
Commercial Road Station.
1941
New Semaphore Railway Station opened
1957 Gillman yard takes over as the major
marshalling yard in the Port Adelaide area.
1975
South Australian
Railways freight infrastructure
handed over to the Commonwealth Railways which later formed Australian
National Railways (Metropolitan passenger services remained with the South
Australian Government as a separate service from the freight and was called the
‘State Transport Authority’ later renamed ‘TransAdelaide’.
1978 Australian National Railways Commission
created 23 May
197? Glanville Signal Cabin Closed
1978 Semaphore to Glanville railway line closed
1981
Semaphore to Glanville line removed.
198? Osborne Signal Cabin & Yard closed and
demolished, was situated between today’s TransAdelaide Lines and ARTC mainlines
near Mersey & Veitch Rds Osborne, access to Osborne & Outer
harbour now thru Birkenhead via Glanville
1982
SACBH (Ausbulk) build Block 5 at Port
Adelaide Silos, Lines 5 & 6 added, new Rail shed for discharge built (3
wagons at a time), New yard added to the Port Flat to handle increased grain
traffic.
1990 On the 30th July, 1991, the Special Premiers
Conference signed an agreement to form a national rail corporation (NRC) to
market and operate interstate rail freight throughout Australia, from February,
1992.
1992 The
Old Yard “the Port Dock” closed for shunting purposes. Only Museum Rds remain.
1995
Gillman Yard Marshalling Yard Closed, Wharf
Access ceased.
1997 Australian National ceases existence Nov 17, Australian Southern
Railways takes over freight operations and EDI the maintenance
2004 Rail crossing and rail connections
The rail component encompasses connections to the existing rail network on the eastern bank, a rail bridge and connections to the existing line at Elder Road. It includes the provision of a single-track rail bridge across the Port River adjacent to the road bridge, again with an opening span.
For more information visit the Port River Expressway Project section of the Transport SA website.
The Old Yard consisted of:
“
C “ Cabin
No.1
– No. 4 Loop
No.1
– No. 9 Stores
Jacketts
Stoney
Stoney
1
No.1
- No. 2 Shed
Water
Column Rd
No.3
- No. 4 & No.7 Rd
The Ramp
Southside
Email
The
3 Freezers rds
Eldersmith
Goldsbrough Mort
Crane
Shed
Over
the Canal (Where K-Mart is now)- Thomas
milling co, Bunge millers, Australian timber, SA Flour Mill,
The
‘Old Yard’ as it became known, once Gillman Yard became the major shunt yard
for the Port Adelaide area, is now home to the National Railway Museum,
(formerly the Port Dock Station Railway Museum) & the Port Adelaide Police
Station and courthouses.
Take
a trip into railway history at Australia's top railway attraction. The National
Railway Museum, houses the largest undercover collection of locomotives,
passenger carriages and freight vehicles in Australia.
All three railway gauges used in
Australia are represented. The collection comprises steam engines and the
diesel locomotives and railcars, which replaced them.
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