I bought my own 4WD in 2011, after moving on from motorcycles and looking to my next passion. I chose a 1998 Toyota Landcruiser HZJ105 as the vehicle to get me out there. Right from the start we have made our 'thing' to be Remote Area Traveling, and try to get as isolated as we can. Our maiden voyage was along The Anne Beadell and Connie Sue Highways and onto Surveyor General's Corner.
My wife Susan and I have made it our goal to do a major trip into Central Australia at least once a year. I have recorded all these trips, using video and still images, and began cobbling them together purely for my own enjoyment - so I could relive the experiences in an armchair on a rainy day.
Over the years, they have varied from distinctly amateurish home movies to something that I'm not afraid to show others, due to my increasing skill level (though it's still pretty low) and improvements to cameras, sound recording (my biggest bug bear) and updates to the video editing software that I use.
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Scenic views from the cottages along the line, but would be more interesting if the cottages were in a better condition, it’s just a little bit shocking to see them crumbling away.
Thanks for the kind words Jason. Compiling this series was a great way to keep the memories alive and to re-live a great trip. We are going to do it again in ‘25. I believe you’ll be able to take in what I have called “The Oval”, but which seems to have become known as “The Football Field”, as a track has since been cut to it with signage erected. I also believe that some corrections have been made to the Madigan sites marked out by the Owen-Correa expedition that I followed, and it’ll be interesting to see these changes. I wish you all the best on your journey later this year. Cheers
Thank you
You clearly put a lot of effort into editing this series. Job well done. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm crossing the Madigan in August 2024. looking forward to it. Thank you and thanks again
Great job, can you imagine how much time would be saved if the railway line was still running? It was in many ways the vital infrastructure organ for the area. The Algebuckina Bridge was a marvel.
What do you think might happen to the old fetters cottage at Commodore? Looks pretty much ready to collapse at any time, it would take a miracle to prevent it from falling apart.
I think you'll find that the Commodore cottage has already pretty much collapsed, with only the remnants of an end wall standing. As I remarked several times throughout the series, I believe it is the eroding mortar at the base that is the cause of their demise. Once the base can no longer support the weight above, that portion of the wall collapses. If it occurs near an adjoining wall, it will drag that down too, until there's nothing but rubble left. Remediation and strengthening of the bases are the only things that will prevent those few that are still standing from succumbing to the inevitable. Sadly, there is no one organisation that has the restoration of them in their sights (and if there is, I'm not aware of them). What work has been done, is the effort of individuals on a piece-meal basis. The manager at Anna Creek station for example, has intentions of continuing the stabilisation of at least one of the sidings on their property, but they are probably in the minority. That was one of my driving motivations - to document what was left ASAP, before they're ALL gone.
Why on earth would you build a replica of Stonehenge and not reconstruct it accurately? Its got concrete rebar foundations for goodness sake!
maybe a safety thing
There is a proposal from the Farina people to steal the Goods Shed from Eurelia and relocate it to Farina. This Goods Shed was also used a Refreshment Room back when Passenger trains ran.
As far as I know, Commonwealth Railways did not use Date Nails, SAR only.
That’s probably quite correct. Thinking back, the lines that I’ve found them on were all old, regional ones. WA also used them, and that’s where I first learned about them. I just assumed from that that it was a general rail ‘thing’ across Australia, to keep track of how long the sleepers had been down. Like the fettlers, they obviously became defunct when they switched to concrete supports. Thanks for your input.
In many places nature seems to be reclaiming its place where the railway bridges and lines used to be along with other railway infrastructure, sad to see the remains of the old Ghan line disappearing into oblivion.
When you see the amount of graffiti vandalism in some of the old stone buildings along the line it’s enough to make you shudder, it would cost a fortune to get rid of that amount of graffiti vandalism.
I couldn’t agree more mate. My blood boils every time I see mindless drivel painted all over an obviously old and historic building/bridge/thing. And the cretins have to go to some amount of trouble just to get there, and have spray cans handy.
Not much left of the railway north of Marree, it’s a shame the line was ripped up. Without a many of the places that served the line would either struggle to survive or die out.
The journey would have been a nightmare for cattle drovers between Port Augusta, Marree and Alice Springs without the railway, you would imagine what would have happened when floods made the journey a nightmare of living hell, same when the weather in summer saw temperatures over 50 degrees.
Nothing much left of the old fettler’s cottage at Commodore, just a big pile of rubble.
Good job, you would think that the sidings and cottages north of Quorn would be restored, it would be sad to see the sidings between Quorn and Hawker vanish into obscurity.
Sadly there is little but rubble remaining of the 3 sidings between Quorn and Hawker, so there's really nothing to restore. They'd have to be rebuilt, and I don't think that there's any interest (or money) to do that. Pity.
The Outback Ball at Curdumurka sounded like fun. The funny thing is why build the line so close to Lake Eyre?
It does seem odd, and I have no real explanation as to why they took it so close to Lake Eyre. However up until 1949 it had never been known (by European settlers) to have filled. So perhaps they thought the route they took was far enough out of 'harm's way'? Since 1949 it has flooded several times in little more than fifty years, spectacularly in 1974. That was the year the Algebuckina bridge nearly went under
At least in many places you can see the old stone building standing there although it’s gradually crumbling down, in many other places there is not much or nothing left to see. Good job.
Good to see the restoration of the town of Farina has been making steady progress through the years, hopefully things keep going smoothly.
It should do, Brendan. The Farina Restoration Group is a fairly robust organisation with a lot of drive and enthusiasm. Though having said that, they DO rely heavily on volunteers and donations, so if yourself or anyone reading this has the ability to help, either physically or financially, I'd encourage them to visit farinarestoration.com/
I'm an aging Aussie living in Canada, and I am so glad that I found your series of videos of the Port Augusta to Alice Springs original route of the Ghan railway. It is very carefully researched and I also enjoy your commentary and sense of humour. The history of this route is not only intriguing, but basically unknown to me, and your videos make it come alive. Thank you.
Well, thank YOU Trevor. I had a lot of fun and more than a couple of adventures travelling the route over a few years, and it took me forever to create the videos. I don't know how regular KZreadrs manage to churn them out week after week? ... But nevertheless, I DID enjoy doing it, and having validation like yours has really made it all worth while. As I have said to others, and in some of my spiel, I thought that a record such as this just HAS to be made, before they are all crumpled to rubble, and I'm really pleased that you got something out of it. If I was to live anywhere else in the world, Canada would certainly be in the top 3 places I'd want to do it, and so trust you have made a great life there. May you continue to do so. Cheers mate, and all the very best from back home in Oz.
They upgraded the line to standard gauge for Leigh Creek coal mine and extended that to Marree, bypassing Pichy Richy line through Quorn. That’s why they had the dilemma of what to do at Marree; they had to unload the train (and freight) and at one point they loaded the narrow gauge wagons on standard gauge trailers to speed up the transition at Marree. Check “The Ghan is Going” 4 part series which has some fantastic footage.
G'day Richard. Thanks so much for your suggestion regarding "The Ghan is Going". What an absolutely fantastic record and some great footage of some of the places that are either gone, or in very bad repair, Just a pity that there wasn't more of it. I think I will probably add it to my public playlist of these videos. Thanks again.
Thankyou so much for documenting such a significant yet dare I say "small" part of our countrie's heritage. It's such forgotten/overlooked "small" things such as these amazing past monumental huge undertakings, incredibly hard times that we truly can be thankful to those whjo went before. 2018 was my first time back to Darwin, so of course my Super Roo (1996 Outback) and I finally got to ride the "new Ghan" up from Adelaide. Driving back down I headed up through Woomera/Roxby Downs and joined the Oodnadatta track above Maree. Turning left got me to William Creeek, which is indeed quite a fascinating goldmine of past exploits. If I had a younger actual 4x4 I would have ventured to the Pink Roadhouse, but instead backtracked to Marree, where I camped in the back of that magnificent hotel, which has soooo much historic content and regional connection. Finally back to Adelaide via Wilpena Pound etc, then on home via Sydney to Coffs Harbour.
And thank you for taking the time to watch them. My amateurish efforts fail in some areas, but I thought it important to record all these places for posterity. I don't think it's been done before (I could be wrong), and I'm only sorry that it wasn't done much earlier. Although I certainly never had the skills, equipment or technology to have achieved this 20-30 years ago, as I doubt few people would have. The Leyland Bros, perhaps? Good luck on your own journeys, and happy travels mate.
Great video, but unfortunately you have fallen in to the trap of local pronunciations. apart from the Ghan (already corrected). Hookina is often pronounced more like hookna or hooknuh Similarly Kanyaka is often said kanaka. with hard a , and much further south is Pekina, and, you guessed right, it sounds the same way as Hookna. Maybe that enabled a speaker to talk with out sucking in flies!
Thanks for that Bryan. Pronunciation, ey? It can be a nightmare, especially where local dialects get into the mix; and don't get me started on aboriginal placenames! With nothing else to go on, and not hearing anyone else speak of them, I was left with my own interpretations. As a kid, growing up in the bush without television, I only had comics to go on. For a large part of my childhood I thought Yosemite Sam was pronounced "Yose-mite", as it's spelled, not Yo-sem-ity as it's said, lol. There are many other examples and you'll all just have to forgive me and concentrate on the content, which is what it's really all about. I only hope that I got Algebuckina correct in Parts 7 & 8? Thanks for watching.
Good job! It's a shame that so much has been lost already.
Yes, and they are crumbling at an accelerated rate, due to weathering at the base of the remaining walls. It won't be all that long until they are mostly all just rubble; which is why I so wanted to document them. It's something that I don't think has been done until now - at least I've not seen it.
magic colours
Great video. It is pronounced as "GAN" not "GARN".😃 Take it from a former Commonwealth Railway/Australian National employee.
It probably is, but that’s how I’VE pronounced it all my life, so what can I do?
I've gone through the footage that I've uploaded since your embarrassing enlightenment, and corrected by either deletion or voice-over where I can, but some of the to-camera stuff still has my bumbling mistake preserved for posterity. It's the best I can do, sorry.
Another good video. Well done
Thanks again Sharon. Cheers!
Excellent footage. Well done.
Why, thank you Sharon 🙂
One of the saddest events I can remember in the outback I believe there car is still there… Was last time I went down the Birdsville track in the late 90’s
I’ve plotted where I reckon the rough location of where they broke down is, from the descriptions of the tragedy in the reports at the time. However, I would be very surprised if the car was still there, but I’ve also never gone looking for it. I might have a go at locating it on the next trip up the track. Are you able to give me some insight into why you think it’s still there?
@@78Bonne as I remember it was on the right hand side going south , up on top of a mound … As I remember, it was approximately 100 meters from the track… Could be seen from the track… This was a long while ago, so my memory is not that accurate It had been vandalised quite a bit… But was quite identifiable as a mainline ford ute from the fifty’s… Apparently the gearbox was damaged coming up the track and it was stuck in 2 nd gear … This caused it to use much more fuel than expected … The car simply ran out of fuel… Then the disaster happened… Could happen to any one in the outback … A very lonely place in mid summer and way back in 1963 …
I'm not sure it's the same car. The Pages were in a Ford Customline sedan and it was still under hire purchase, so the company sent someone to repossess it and drive it back. Apparently, they had to hotwire it because the keys had been in Ernie's pocket when they buried him.
@@libertyordeaf as I understand they were in a custom line ute… There used to be a custom line ute on a small mount back off the side of the road … This was back in the 90’s Things may have changed… The vehicle I had witnessed definitely was a ute … I have photos somewhere
@@batmanlives6456 There's a few sources on the web that say they were in a '57 Customline sedan towing a small trailer. Not sure how reliable they are but hard to imagine they'd be driving those distances in scorching weather in a ute with three kids, some of whom would have to be in the tray.
Hi Alan, great to see your footage of Madigans Camp on the section which traverses the Hay River track. We were there this time last year. Beautiful country, I feel privileged to have experienced it.
Thanks for this. I remember when it happened, was a teenager at the time.
What your doing by putting steel peg in your savings some one life in the future, the people who may get into trouble can say where there at, for those people who destroy the pegs,please stay away from the outback,and stay in your city.
P r o m o S M 😳
Super Awesome and what a ride , I'm in awe !!!! Killer 👍
Oh to be back in 1941.
Yep! I KNOW I was born in the wrong era 🥴
Dont know if I was that brave Al. But you breezed it in.
How long is the trip from birdsville to poepell corner mate? How many hours
G'day Danny, on this particular trip, we did this leg in one hit. We left Birdsville at 0930 and got to Poeppel Cnr at 1630, which meant it took us a smidge over 7 hours to cover the 166km, averaging 23kph.
I also visited Corunna Downs in 2017 and found it an emotional experiance. It is sad that so little of our history is known and like you wondered at hard it must have been in that enviroment. I was saddened to hear that Mining will commence at this site and it is my hope the airfield will not be destroyed. What little I could find online suggests the mining will be about 10km form the airfield but I did find reference to Runway North and South rock dumps. I hope this important piece of history is preserved. Apparently only one public comment was recieved about the effect on the airfield by the EPA and the reply was it recieves very low numbers of vistors. It is still quite a remote location and largely unknown by most people, however that does not negate its historical importance.
That's very true John, it IS of huge historical importance, and sad to think that, once again, mining may take precedence over everything. I'd imagine that they would want to develop the airstrips to use themselves, as it would save a lot of work, as it's basically already there. I would hope that they would stay away from all the areas containing artifacts though. My big fear is that they would claim it, fence it off and stop the public accessing it completely - similar to what's happened to the other 'famous' WWII RAAF airfield at Truscott in the far north of WA.
Great stuff 'Les'....haha. Mate I think at 08:55 you would have got airborne if you engaged the Flux Capacitor. 😝😝
Great clip mate, I spent plenty of time around Nulligine and Marble Bar back in the early 80's and we new off the famous old Corunna Downs airforce base but just never had the time to get out there, its still on our list, and after watching your clip makes me keener to get out there and check it out. Good job mate.
Glad you enjoyed it Gary. It IS a fascinating place (if you like that sort of thing, haha)
Fantastic Doco , Love Military History , .
Yeah no probs mate....easy in the finish...LOL