Northern Australian Railway

The narrow gauge (3 foot 6 inch), Northern Australian Railway (NAR) opened in 1889 linking Palmerston (renamed Darwin in 1911), on the north coast of Australia to Pine Creek, 145 miles to the south. By 1929 it had been extended to Birdum, 171 miles further south. Birdum is in the middle of nowhere and right from the early 1900s there was talk of extending the NAR another 1000 km to Alice Springs to join the narrow gauge Central Australian Railway which linked the centre to Adelaide. In fact it took another 100 years for the gap to be filled with the opening of the standard gauge line from Adelaide to Darwin in 2004. In the early days of the Northern Territory (NT), the NAR was an important communication and transport link for both the pastoral and mining industries. Its heyday however, was during the 2nd World War when it was critical to the movement of troops and equipment defending northern Australia and beyond, with its most active year being 1944 when as many as 247 train movements occurred weekly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Australia_Railway). This is pretty amazing considering its location, but says something about the strategic importance of this almost forgotten line. The NAR closed in 1976 after a reduction in iron ore traffic from the Frances Creek mine north of Pine Creek. Nature, with a bit of help from man, quickly dominated, with infrastructure succumbing to floods, the odd fire and to vandals. This pictorial was taken in the central section of the line between Adelaide River and Mataranka between 1978 and 1981 when the NAR was photographically interesting but very much unloved. I was accompanied on much of my exploration by Watho who had arrived in town in his trusty yellow Suzuki about a week before I did and had similar interests in local history. Roll onto the present and there is some good news. Local communities and the National Trust have taken up the mantle to preserve some of the history of the NAR and it is now possible to visit the Adelaide River, Pine Creek and Katherine Railway Stations to hear of their glory days, or to walk across the Katherine River Railway Bridge which is part of a local walking trail and a good spot to check on the height of the river in times of flood.

The NAR south of Adelaide River, NT

A Royal Australian Navy armaments depot was built at Snake Creek, 2 miles north of Adelaide River, between 1943 and 1945. A loop from the NAR (Mile 74) was built to the the site in 1942.

Snake Creek RAN Armaments Depot

A level crossing on the NAR around Adelaide River, NT

Adelaide River Station (Mile 76)

Adelaide River Station

Level crossing on the NAR, south of Adelaide River, NT

Exploring the NAR in Wathos mighty Suzuki

Exploring the NAR

Look out for trains

Entering Goodilla (Mile 86) on the NAR. The termites dominate.

Miners or fettlers shack, Goodilla

Howley Siding (Mile 100)

Burrundie Station (Mile 123), goods shed and siding loop

Burrundie Station

Communications box at Burrundie

Arriving in Pine Creek (Mile 145) . The NAR reached here in 1889.

Pine Creek Station is now on the National List of Significant Places at the National Trust

Pine Creek Station

Nature on the move, Pine Creek Station

Pine Creek store shed

No more use-Pine Creek Station

Warnings-Pine Creek Station

A long way from home-Pine Creek Station

Casting-Pine Creek Station

Wheel-Pine Creek Station

If only it could talk

Pine Creek Station

'Sandfly' was built in the USA in 1886 and worked on the construction of the Northern Australian Railway from Darwin to Pine Creek from 1887 and then continued in service on the NAR until 1943. In 1980 it was on display at the Port Augusta Railway Station in SA, but in 2004 was returned to Darwin on the rear of the Ghan passenger train for display at the new Berrimah passenger terminal.

Crossing the Katherine River. The bridge was opened as part of the NAR extension to Birdum in 1926. Prior to this the southern terminus of the line was on the northern side of the river at Emungalan (Mile 199).

The rail bridge also doubled as the road bridge in times of flood when the low level road bridge downstream was under water. This continued until the opening of the high level, Eugene Betti Bridge in 1976. The rail bridge is now part of the Katherine Rail Trail which includes the railway station and many other points of historic interest.

Katherine Station (Mile 200) in a sad state in the early 80s but now supported by the local community and the National Trust

Waiting, Katherine Station

Nature is winning. Mataranka Station (Mile 264)

Bogies and carriages, Mataranka

You may also like