Father Worked on the Pichi Richi Line

READER’S LETTER: To “Scope” Editor September 1973

FATHER WORKED ON PICHI RICHI LINE

Sir — In the July issue of Scope Ray Edwards produced a nice piece of reading on the Pichi Richi railway line, but also he made a couple of errors regarding its history. I believe he has been misin­formed by having read what had been written earlier by someone who in my opinion has quoted assumptions and not facts.

There are two statements that are definitely incorrect. The first being that the "Chinese were responsible for building the attractive stone­work of the railway bridges."

The truth of this is that the stonework along this railway line was done by stone masons and stone dressers from the British Isles. These men are the ones who should, for the sake of history, be given the credit for the work that has been so excellently done in the mortarless stone retaining walls along the embankments, as well as the perfectly-fitting stonework in the bridge abutments.
My father worked with one of these stone workers whose name was Paddy Casey. They both told me in my younger days that they had worked on the construction of the railway line between Woolshed Flat and Quorn and they had built the mortarless stone retaining walls that exist between Wool-shed Flat and the bridge under which the roadway runs, about two miles toward Quorn.

Other stone masons and cutters were known as Paddies, Micks, Taffies and Cousin Jacks, which suggests: that they were definitely from the British Isles. On the old ⁵ narrow gauge line other examples of their excellent work can be seen as far north as Oodnadatta, in bridge abutments and station houses and buildings such as the goods shed and station house at Hawker, the Beltana railway station, and station-master's house and crews rest houses at Beltana, Copley, Farina and Oodnadatta.

By no stretch of the imagin­ation can it be claimed that the Chinese were responsible for the erection of those build­ings.

The Chinese who were employed on the railway construction between Port Augusta and Quorn were laborers only and not trades­men. They did a good job by moving the material for forming the embankments and track bed, in baskets and deep pan-shaped containers.

The second erroneous state­ment is that the line between Port Augusta and Oodnadatta was taken over by the Commonwealth from the South Australian Government in 1925 the Commonwealth Railways took over adminis­tration of that line on January 1, 1926; this I know for certain as I was personally concerned in the take-over. Further proof of the correct­ness of my statement can be gained by reference to the records of the Commonwealth Railways.

The Commonwealth Gov­ernment took over the respon­sibility of the line, I believe, in 1911, when that government assumed, control of the North­ern Territory from the South Australian Government. The SA Railways carried on the administration of the railway between Port Augusta and Oodnadatta until the close of the business at midnight on December 31, 1925. I worked on the last Ghan train from Quorn to Oodnadatta in 1925 as a member of the staff of the SAR and returned on the first Ghan train from Oodnadatta to Quorn in 1926 as a member of the staff of the Common­wealth Railways. The change­over of administration oc­curred during the time I was away from Quorn on the train.

In my opinion there is a third error where it is stated that “It was on the present site of Quorn railway station that the Chinese first camped ".

Until now I have been under the impression that the Chinese ‘first camp was in the vicinity of Port Augusta, that they were brought by boat from Victoria to Port Augusta and then worked their way to Quorn in the course, of the construction of the railway station.

Harking back to the take­over by the Commonwealth Government of the line be­tween Port Augusta and Oodnadatta, I believe that the agreement between the two governments contained vari­ous terms, one of which required the Federal Govern­ment to build a railway continuing on from the then existing route, to connect with the railway that was then extending southward from Darwin. This I relieve was the reason for the present line linking Oodnadatta and Alice Springs and the reason for railway not being completed through to the one extending southward from Darwin was that there was not any completion date agreed between the two governments.

In 1926 the present line from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs was started by the Commonwealth Railways when 21 miles of track was built from Oodnadatta to Wire Creek, where a material depot was established for the construction contractors to operate from.

The Victorian Construction Company was the company to win the contract and the line was completed to Alice Springs in July 1929.

 A. C. WILLIAMS.

Kirkham avenue.
Wilsden. 5700

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PRRPS Members No 209

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'Pichi Richi Patter' - Spring 1978 

Our First Life Member

 One of the best known names in the Society is that of George Williams, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone when he was recently made our first Life Member.   George began work in the South Australian Railways in 1922, transferred to the Commonwealth Railways in 1926 and had risen to the rank of Locomotive Inspector when he retired in 1970.   With the formation of the PRRPS he again became active in railway matters and his expertise and advice has been invaluable to the Society.    It is fitting, therefore, that he should be chosen.

Printed below is George's appreciation.

I would be pleased if you could allow me sufficient space in the Patter to express my gratitude and appreciation to the members of the PRRPS for their action in bestowing on me the honour of their first Life Member.    I wish to especially thank those members who spoke so eulogistically in my favour that night and since.
I would also like to say that anything I may seem to have done to deserve this honour certainly reflects the efforts made by many of our other members as well.   I am extremely pleased to have had this great honour bestowed on me, and I am very happy to have been of help to the Society. I wish to apologise for my absence from the meeting at which it was decided to bestow this honour on me, but most members will, I feel sure, realise that my doctor's orders were being followed when I failed to attend that meeting.
I wish to inform the Society that, God willing, I hope to be of further service to them so long as I may live.

P. S.    This honour is especially pleasing to me in that it was made at the time of Quorn's Centenary celebrations