This important work, which connects Adelaide with the principal watering place in the colony, and supplies a desideratum which has long been felt, was successfully inaugurated on Saturday, 2nd August, when the line was formally declared open, by his Excellency the Governor. The line, which, is at present laid from the south end of Victoria square, Adelaide, to the jetty at Glenelg, is six miles and fifty chains in length, or, with sidings, seven miles.
It traverses country which is almost level, and which presents no engineering difficulties. The total ascend from Glenelg to Adelaide, a distance of nearly seven miles, is 138 feet, and the steepest gradient on the line is 1 in 169. There are four bridges, spanned by iron girders, and 15 culverts, spanned by red gum beams, on the line. There are six open public road crossings and twelve private crossings. The sleepers are of sawn red gum, 8 feet long, 9 inches wide, and 4 inches thick, and the rails, which weigh 40 lb. to the yard, are laid to a gauge of 5 feet 3 inches. The line is well ballasted, and, without entering into any technical description of it, it may be stated briefly that the whole of it has been well and substantially laid.
The principal buildings on the line, and indeed the only buildings, are those in the Adelaide yard. Here there is a carriage house, 183 feet by 31 feet, built of stone and roofed with iron; also a store, 30 by 15, together with coke ovens, tanks, ashpits, &c. There is also an engine turntable at the Adelaide yard and one at Glenelg.
The rolling stock of the company consists at present of only two locomotive engines, by R. Stephenson and Co., of Newcastle on Tyne, and two commodious passenger carriages, constructed by Messrs. R. Cottrell and Son, of Adelaide; but other stock has been shipped, and in the course of two or three months the carrying capabilities of the line will be increased to something like 800 or 1000 passengers per hour — a capacity which is likely to prove quite equal to the demands that will be made for a considerable time. The engines have outside cylinders, 11 inches in diameter and 18-inch stroke; three pairs of solid wrought-iron wheels, with crudible cast-steel tires; leading wheels three feet diameter, on a Bissell bogle; driving and trailing wheels four feet diameter, and coupled; copper fire-box, brass tubes. Giffard's injectors, cabhouse, smoke-consuming apparatus, central buffer at each end, combined with drag, cow-catcher, coke box, and side tanks.
To avoid grass fires in summer the engineer has provided that the ash-pans shall hold three inches of water; also spark arresters and spray-jets in the chimneys. To enable the engine to be stopped quickly in the streets, he has also provided a steam brake, in addition to the usual block brakes. Duplicates of all parts which can possibly require replacement within say two years have also been obtained. The greatest weight on the drivings will be 3 tons 2 cwt.
The passenger carriages, which have been constructed in the colony, were the subject of general laudatory remarks. Their dimensions are 25 by 10½ feet, with a platform at each end and steps on each side down to the ground.
Each carriage is divided into ten compartments, each of which will accommodate six passengers, and by a simple arrangement, the sitting accommodation can be increased to seventy. There is a passage down the entire length of the carriage, so that the conductor can travel from one end of the train to the other to collect tickets. The carriages are well lighted and ventilated, and are made to run remarkably easy, so that not only are passengers saved the unpleasant feeling which is experienced on some of the Government railways, but they are also enabled to converse during the journey with ease and comfort, a fact the importance of which persons who have travelled on the Port and Northern railways will readily appreciate. This result has been attained by placing india-rubber pads between the body and the frame, which seems effectually to check the rattle and noise which are sometimes so disagreeable.
Notwithstanding the increased cost of rails and fittings, the cost of the railway, as originally projected, exclusive of land, fencing, and rolling-stock, has been only £2000, per mile, including a third of the contingent expenses, which expenses would not have been more if the line had been twenty-nine miles in length. The rolling stock would be also sufficient for a line of twice the length, and the land purchased, being all suburban, has cost three times as much as country lands would cost.
Noon was fixed as the hour for the inaugural ceremony, and as that time approached a crowd of people began to collect in King William-street south to witness the novel sight of a locomotive train passing up and down that line thoroughfare. His Excellency the Governor, accompanied by his private secretary and the aide-de-camp, arrived at the appointed time, and the engine, to which both carriages were attached, almost immediately started.
Some persons have expressed fear that, the presence of a locomotive in the street would have the effect of frightening horses and making traffic dangerous, but the results showed most conclusively that their surmises were unfounded, and that if ordinary care is taken there is no likelihood of accident. There were many horses about, but the tram was taken slowly along, and although the animals in some cases showed a little shyness they were easily controlled.
A slightly increased speed was afterwards put on, and the time occupied in travelling from South terrace to the Pirer Hotel, Glenelg, was about twenty minutes. The noise made by the motion of the train is so slight as to be scarcely perceptible, and the scenery on each side of the line is exceedingly beautiful. This seaside town, which is now brought within easy distance of Adelaide, was on Saturday wearing its gayest colours in honour of the opening of the railway. Flags were flying in all directions, and the people mustered in good numbers to cheer the visitors.
Source: The Opening of the Adelaide and Glenelg Railway (1873, September 9). Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (Melbourne, Vic. : 1867 - 1875), p. 154.
Note: A high resolution copy of the above picture can also be downloaded from the State Library of Victoria.
Picture: The Opening of the Adelaide and Glenelg Railway - Courtesy the State Library of Victoria
Picture: The Opening of the Adelaide and Glenelg Railway - Courtesy the State Library of Victoria
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